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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Minnesota coach Tracy Claeys spoke during a news conference for the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday in San Diego.
MINNEAPOLIS >> The entire Minnesota football team said Thursday that it is boycotting all football activities, which could include its bowl game, until it gets satisfactory answers from the university about the suspension of 10 players.
The school suspended the players Tuesday after an internal investigation into a sexual assault case. Police declined to arrest or charge any of the players, but the school suspended them based on its own standards for conduct.
The team’s players said they haven’t ruled out skipping the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27 against Washington State in San Diego. They asked the bowl’s committee to be patient while they work through the situation.
“The boycott will remain in effect until due process is followed and the suspensions for all 10 players are lifted,” senior receiver Drew Wolitarsky said, reading from a prepared statement while flanked by all of his teammates. “We further request that (President Eric) Kaler and (athletic director Mark) Coyle (apologize) and demand that these leaders are held accountable for their actions. This decision for the players to take this stance is not easy, but important to preserve the integrity of the program and ourselves.”
The university announced the suspensions Tuesday night without disclosing why. The incident at an off-campus apartment in September led to three-game suspensions of four of the players earlier this season. Another six were added to that list this week after the internal investigation for reasons that remain unclear.
A joint statement issued by Kaler and Coyle on Thursday night said the school’s decision was “based on facts and is reflective of the university’s values.”
“We understand that a lot of confusion and frustration exists as a result of this week’s suspension of ten Gopher football players from all team activities,” the statement read. “The reality is that not everyone can have all of the facts, and unfortunately the university cannot share more information due to federal laws regarding student privacy.”
Kaler and Coyle said they want to “continue an open dialogue with our players.”
Ray Buford Sr., the father of defensive back Ray Buford Jr., said the new suspensions resulted from an investigation by the university’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action that was separate from earlier investigations into the alleged assault in the early hours of Sept. 3.
Buford Jr., KiAnte Hardin, Dior Johnson and Tamarion Johnson were suspended for three games when their names came up in the police investigation. The players were not arrested, prosecutors decided not to press charges and the players returned to the team. The restraining order was lifted after a settlement on Nov. 2.
The other six players are defensive backs Antonio Shenault and Antoine Winfield Jr., running backs Carlton Djam and Kobe McCrary, and quarterbacks Seth Green and Mark Williams. Hardin and Winfield are starters and Buford and Shenault are key reserves.
The school has recommended expulsion for Buford, Hardin, Dior Johnson, Tamarion Johnson and Djam and one-year suspensions for the other five players.
According to police records released Wednesday, the woman told police she was drunk when she was sexually assaulted in Djam’s apartment by several men, including some of the suspended players. She said her sexual contact with two men may have been consensual, but her contact with four of them was not. Several players told police it was consensual.
The players boycotted practice Thursday, one day after meeting with Coyle. Then they all lined up in the team’s indoor practice facility, wearing their maroon jerseys with gold numbers and vowing to stay united.
“When we had questions for him, he basically told us that he didn’t have answers,” Wolitarsky said. “So that led us basically to believe that this is kind of unjust and he has the power to reverse this and he won’t.”
In recent seasons, big-time college football teams have been much more aggressive about exercising their collective right to protest by threatening not to play when they are dissatisfied with issues they confront on campus.
Just last season, more than 30 members of the Missouri football joined campus protests and threatened to boycott team activities unless school president Tim Wolfe resigned after his handling of several racially charged incidents on campus. The coaching staff and entire team threw support behind the boycott — which could have threatened a game against BYU — but the Tigers ended up never even missing a practice when Wolfe stepped down two days later.
When asked if the Golden Gophers would boycott their bowl game, Wolitarsky said they would take it “day by day.”
“The thing of it is, all these kids’ reputations are destroyed,” quarterback Mitch Leidner said. “Their names are destroyed. It’s extremely difficult to get back and it’s very unfair for them and that’s why we’re sticking together through this thing.”
There has been some confusion about whether Gophers coach Tracy Claeys backed the decision to suspend the players or not. Coyle and Kaler said he was consulted, but the players said Thursday night they did not believe their coach had a say in the matter.
“Have never been more proud of our kids,” Claeys tweeted. “I respect their rights (and) support their effort to make a better world!”
Former Minnesota Vikings star cornerback Antoine Winfield Sr. said his son did nothing wrong and blistered university leadership for what he said was a lack of communication.
“If the president and athletic director keep their jobs, my son, Antoine Winfield Jr., will not attend the University of Minnesota,” Winfield Sr. said.
When asked if he was concerned about the threat of the university pulling their scholarships in reaction to this show of force, Wolitarsky struck a defiant tone.
“We’re in this together,” he said. “What, are they going to pull 120 guys off the team? I mean, they’re not going to have a team if that’s the case.”
Holiday Bowl executive director Mark Neville said they were “monitoring it closely.” A request for comment from the Big Ten was not immediately returned.
Washington State sold out its 7,000-ticket allotment in less than two days and has already requested more.
Getting a team to fill the bowl spot on short notice would be difficult, if not impossible. But the next team in line to receive a bid is Northern Illinois, which finished 5-7 but has the highest Academic Progress Rate among teams with that record.
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AP College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo contributed to this report.
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More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP—Top25
I’m quite sure that Northern Illinois would appreciate and welcome the chance to participate and appreciate the benefits to their school and players in place of Minnesota. Minnesota can then hold their heads up high and diligently work thru resolution of the alleged incident without any undue influence(s) of a bowl game. If no opponent can be found than the payout for the Holiday Bowl could be paid out at 50% to Washington and the other 50% donated to a deserving cause…keeping in line with the spirit of the Holiday Bowl…just saying. 🙂
I admire this action. Players are unpaid, exploited peons. I wish more teams would strike.
Kick the whole team out if they support misconduct . Who cares about bowl freebies. Discipline rules.
Have we learned nothing from the Duke Lacrosse case? Criminal charges were never filed in the case, and the Hennepin County Attorney’s office declined to prosecute. Suspending players who are not guilty of a crime, while the university hides behind “student privacy” sounds like school lacks evidence of any wrongdoing.
How little you know. Police investigated and did not find any evidence to support prosecution. Basically saying the evidence supports the idea the lady is lying. She should be prosecuted for filing false charges.
I’m not sure exactly how it works but I’ve seen at least a couple TV programs that did stories of how, because of Title 9, all it takes is a woman’s accusation to have men suspended and dismissed from schools without due process. Many of the cases initially didn’t involve a complaint until someone in the school’s EEO&AA Department found out about it and filed a complaint. You don’t even know the whole story and you’re acting like many schools have.
I’ll take a wild guess that the Minnesota football players might as well call it a season and go home for the holidays.
This is an excellent opportunity for Minnesota University to “clean house” and suspend/end football.
Then.. in a couple of years, reinstate football with new coaches and players.
Having the players dictate is like a tail wagging the dog.
Actually this proves Minnesota University has utterly clueless and incompetent bureaucrats in charge. Only concerned with with CYA, taking care of #1. Total losers.
If they are not careful, players may file a lawsuit, take the university to the cleaners.
This doesn’t prove anything. Do we know the whole situation? No, we don’t. Sounds like the school reviewed some of the player’s behavior, and decided these guys had some serious unethical stuff going on. So what if the school decided it doesn’t want these “students” to represent their school. Kick them out of school, and pull the scholarships of any of the players that don’t want to play the bowl game. If you’re getting a free ride to a University, then you need to do what you’re obligated to do. It is pretty simple stuff.
Its time to cancel all college sports.
Academics. That’s how the US will compete in the REAL world.
All else is just recess with an attitude.
Nothing wrong with college sports. Problems is the utterly clueless and unprofessional bureaucrats in charge. Only concerned in taking care of #1, coasting to retirement.
Why are the majority of these sexual assault allegations against football players as opposed to say, volleyball or baseball or golf players? Maybe the problem is inherent to the game.
Actually the facts are if it was “consensual” or not “consensual” contact. So, they actually did confess they did a gang bang.
Minnesota GROPERS or Gophers?
Holiday Bowl should ask Minnesota to renege on their bowl acceptance and allow some other team to fill in if possible. It would be a win-win for Minnesota, Washington State, Holiday Bowl and the new team selected by the bowl committee.