The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team is boycotting all football activities after 10 players were suspended for the Holiday Bowl, according to the Star Tribune:
University of Minnesota football players announced Thursday they are boycotting all football practice and team activities — even their Dec. 27 bowl game if need be — in protest of 10 teammates being suspended from the team earlier this week in the latest fallout of a September sexual assault investigation.
The Gophers had a players-only meeting Thursday afternoon and later brought in head coach Tracy Claeys to inform him of their plans, sources told the Star Tribune.
Half of the 10 players suspended also face expulsion from school, the players' attorney, Lee Hutton, said Wednesday night.
Hutton said the university's Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action office recommended expulsion for Ray Buford, Carlton Djam, KiAnte Hardin, Dior Johnson and Tamarion Johnson; one-year suspensions from the university for Seth Green, Kobe McCrary, Mark Williams and Antoine Winfield Jr., and probation for Antonio Shenault.
The 10 players were being investigated for an alleged sexual assault that occurred on Sept. 2, but a criminal investigation resulted in no arrests or charges being brought against any of the players.
Still, the decision to suspend the players was made by athletic director Mark Coyle, who originally said it was made by head coach Tracy Claeys.
"As a player, it became more than a game for me," wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky said. "And I know it did, as you can see, for the whole team. It's about the livelihood of these kids, after football. Because that's why we came here; we came here to get a degree. We come here to make a life for ourselves, and these kids' reputations have been ruined.
"We're all in this together. What are they going to do, pull 120 guys off the team? They won't have a team if that's the case."
The team won't end the boycott until all 10 players are reinstated since they were wrongly punished.
Minnesota is scheduled to face Washington State in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 27.
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