Minnesota Daily covering football team suspensions, possible bowl boycott

“We stated that we’d boycott all football activities until our 10 teammates had their suspensions lifted and and had a larger goal to have an open discussion about the lack of due process that occurs when an accusation is made against anyone”, Wolitarsky said. The team met with school administrators Friday. We’re concerned that our brothers have been named publicly with reckless disregard, in violation of their constitutional rights.

According to ESPN.com, Ray Buford Sr., the father of suspended defensive back Ray Buford Jr., said the suspensions were a result of a Title IX investigation with regard to an alleged sexual assault that occurred September 2.

According to the Star Tribune, a woman accused multiple players of sexually assaulting her at an off-campus apartment.

To understand the apparent frustration the football players are feeling, it’s worthwhile to go over the timeline of the case. Police say she told them that people had their phones out but she did not know whether videos or photos were taken.

The woman said she recalled at least three other men forcing themselves on her, including players Dior Johnson and Ray Buford Jr. A university investigation resulted in the new suspensions, and five of the players face expulsion.

In a statement released Friday, Kaler said, “One of my jobs as president is to put our institutional values at the forefront of all we do and ensure our actions are aligned with those values”.

The statement was a response to football team members’ appearance outside Minnesota athletic facilities Thursday night to pledge that they would not participate in football activities until the suspensions of 10 teammates were reversed.

Given the fact that the criminal justice system is plagued by implicit and explicit racism, it’s astonishing that the paper of record would ignore the racial implications of a university denying fundamental due process to 10 black students and then punishing them for sexual misconduct.

“We support Gopher Athletics’ decision because this is much bigger than football”, they continued.

“The football team action was in support of their teammates, it was not in support of sexual violence”, Eric Kaler, University President, said. His replacement, Coyle, was brought in with orders not to tolerate such behavior and played a key role in the decision to suspend the players. It’s important that we continue to work together as we move through this hard time.

The team is scheduled to play in the Holiday Bowl on December 27.

Pressed on whether any of the suspended players were key contributors, Claeys said: “I’m not going to answer any more questions about that. So (the players) are frustrated”, Sawvel said.

The players made an effort to acknowledge the victim in their statement on Saturday.

Minnesota coach Tracy Claeys had previously said he supported his players’ decision, but was not immediately available for comment Saturday regarding the end of the boycott.

Jerome Djam, the father of suspended player Carlton Djam, told ABC affiliate KSTP-TV that he was angry after learning of the school’s decision.

Among the players suspended is Antoine Winfield Jr., the son of former Minnesota Vikings player Antoine Winfield Sr. That doesn’t smell right. At the same time, they need to be responsible for their actions, and there are times in which those two demands put coaches in very hard positions, and I think some of our coaches around this issue were in that very hard position. To compensate for this, universities often hold their own hearings or investigations.