![]() Green brought up common phrases some fans have been lobbing at players who have openly expressed concerns on social media, quoting Eifler’s original tweet. The football player in me wants to put on pads right now.”Įifler’s concerns were immediately echoed by many of his teammates, including starting left guard and Peoria native Kendrick Green. ![]() “Is there a vaccine?” he asked, rhetorically. When he was asked about whether he would participate comfortably, Eifler had a telling response. Athletes began returning the week of June 8, but Eifler returned to campus from his hometown of Berkeley, California a week ago.Īlthough Eifler said would almost certainly be taking the field with his teammates, he was open about his issues with how college football is prepared to carry out a full season, especially as COVID-19 cases rise in dozens of states across the country. Last week, strength and conditioning coach Lou Hernandez said there were approximately 35 to 40 football players on campus participating in voluntary, socially distanced workouts. He said Smith reached out in an “understanding tone, like, ‘Hey, what’s going on? What’s going wrong?’”Įifler said on the call that he explained to Smith that he was “raising concerns for student-athletes across the country,” and that he felt good about the Illini’s return to training plan. Two hours later though, after Eifler spoke with coach Lovie Smith and athletic director Josh Whitman, he engaged in an hour-long Zoom call with the media, sharing his concerns while clarifying that he is “grateful for U of I athletics and the program here ensuring safety for the athletes.”Įifler, who is expected to start at outside linebacker for Illinois as a senior this fall, said Smith reached out to him to make sure he felt that Illinois was taking the proper steps to facilitate a safe training environment for players. The statement read, “We are taking this time to learn about Milo’s concerns expressed on Twitter.” Not long after Eifler’s tweets began making waves online, Illinois sent an email notice to the media that Eifler’s Zoom interview would be postponed. A new way of thinking as opposed to just going through the motions.” “The things we go through daily are never shown to the public, this is our chance to demand what’s right. “For those college football players out there, use your voice as a platform for change,” Eifler wrote. But schools around the country are showing blatant disregard for student athletes.”Įifler followed that up with a since-deleted second tweet encouraging other college football players to speak out on issues affecting them and society. “I understand that people want to see us play this season, but in reality how can a team full of 100+ student athletes fully function during a pandemic?” Eifler tweeted. NFL footage © NFL Productions LLC.CHAMPAIGN - About little more than an hour before he was set to speak to the media on Wednesday, University of Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler took to Twitter to voice concerns about playing during the COVID-19 pandemic. ![]() ![]() All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. NFL and the NFL shield design are registered trademarks of the National Football League.The team names, logos and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. ![]()
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