With indications growing that major college football conferences could decide in coming days to scrap this fall's college football season because of the threat of the Coronavirus, President Donald Trump on Monday weighed in with players who want to keep the season alive.
"The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled," the President tweeted, embracing a Twitter hashtag used by some players to showcase their desire to be on the field.
"He very much would like to see college football safely resume," said White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who echoed the President's support for football players who don't want their season stopped.
“A lot of these college athletes work their whole lives to get their four years,” McEnany added.
The President amplified a tweet from Trevor Lawrence, the star quarterback for Clemson University, who has been championing efforts by players to play the 2020 football season - with precautions for the virus.
"Football is a safe haven for so many people. We are more likely to get the virus in everyday life than playing football," Lawrence wrote on Twitter.
“We should not cancel the football season,” said Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), a former college president himself, as he sent a letter to leaders of the Big Ten conference.
During the Flu Pandemic of 1918, college football's schedule was repeatedly changed because of quarantines, flu warnings, and more.
For example, it took the University of Nebraska and the University of Notre Dame several months - and three different dates in 1918 - before the two teams could finally safely square off on the football field.