Nebraska Football Players Suing Big Ten, Hoping To Reinstate Football Season

Eight Nebraska football players are suing the Big Ten Conference over its decision to postpone the fall football season to spring.

ESPN reports that eight University of Nebraska Cornhuskers filed the suit on Thursday in Lancaster County District Court in Nebraska. The lawsuit alleges that the conference didn’t follow its own governing documents in deciding to cancel fall seasons.

The controversy seems to revolve around whether the conference actually held a formal vote. On August 10, reports suggested that Big Ten presidents had voted 12-2 in favor of canceling fall football. (Nebraska and Iowa were the two schools reportedly voting to play). But a Big Ten spokesman quickly denied that a vote had been held. The very next day, the decision became official, with the conference announcing it would postpone all fall sports. The conference’s official announcement didn’t include any specifics about an official vote on the matter.

Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren told ESPN that a vote did take place and the decision would not be revisited. The players lawsuit hopes to declare the conference’s decision invalid and unenforceable. It also seeks damages from the conference, arguing that the postponement hurts the players future football careers.

Nebraska was the Big Ten program most publicly critical of the decision to cancel the fall season. Reports after the decision suggested the school may try to ‘go rogue,’ playing a fall football schedule without the conference’s blessing. But when Warren said that Nebraska couldn’t remain a member of the Big Ten if it defied the cancellation, the school backed down.

The Big Ten’s cancellation of the fall football season was cited as one reason for Iowa cutting four varsity sports last week, including men’s and women’s swimming & diving. Iowa says the fall sport postponement created lost revenue of $100 million.

College football at the FBS level is currently split right down the middle between conferences planning to play the fall season (SEC, ACC, Big 12, Sun Belt, independent Notre Dame) and conferences postponing fall sports (Big Ten, Pac-12, MAC, Mountain West, independents UConn, UMass and New Mexico State).

Meanwhile the AAC and Conference-USA sit in the middle postponing all fall sports except football.

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B1Guy!
4 years ago

Get rid of Nebraska 👏Good riddance

Ladyvoldisser
Reply to  B1Guy!
4 years ago

Why get rid of Nebraska? Then we only will have 49 states! What country do you want??

B1Guy!
Reply to  Ladyvoldisser
4 years ago

From the B1G 🙄

OldSwimmer
4 years ago

Can’t we just throw them out of the Big Ten already? They can’t compete at anything but football, and they aren’t even good at that anymore. Nebraska, Rutgers, and Maryland should never have been added.

Ladyvoldisser
Reply to  Braden Keith
4 years ago

GREAT PICTURE of successful Nebraska athletes.

thisisalot
4 years ago

as a swimmer in the big ten i hope to god they get nebraska some money out of this so more big ten teams don’t get cut, they’re suing for much more than just to play football

Last edited 4 years ago by thisisalot
Yup
4 years ago

Even if they won…..who are they going to play?

Guerra
4 years ago

Good! I hope they beat the Coronabro fear porn loving commissioner and the university presidents that canceled the season without a vote.

coach
4 years ago

The Iowa swim team should also sue the Big Ten, since the football postponement due to Covid was cited as a reason to cut the team.

Ladyvoldisser
Reply to  coach
4 years ago

Good point!

anon
4 years ago

Nebraska football is embarrassing enough already, this is just even worse. Why would you sue just to play and lose. Nebraska players need to step back and shut up before they ruin they big10 money and educational opportunities.

blackshirted
Reply to  anon
4 years ago

Im not embarassed to be a husker fan or of the huskers…. They arent ruining anything they want answers… No sit down and shut your mouth… People like you is whats embarassing the hate nebraska club you run with….

Done Before
4 years ago

Beyond stupid.

Essentially they just want answers. OK. So, SwimSwam, could you be so kimd as to file a PRR for each Preaident/Chancellor of the Universities to discover any and all discussions, including reasoning for their votes?

Like why file a lawsuit? Why Protest? Just do a PRR if all you want is answera. Your just hurting yourselves by hurting ypur conference.

And the lady who made those comments about “heroes”…..NO, NO, NO. Our service men and women are, those who gave their life for us to habe thia free, open uncensored discussion. Not 7 football players seeking $75k in damages for their conference.

Can I get me some UP Votes?!

blackshirted
Reply to  Done Before
4 years ago

Well atleast edit your comment… Dewd

blackshirted
Reply to  Done Before
4 years ago

This dude had no chance of making it in college.. I think we all know who the real heros are.. you are coreckt. I just want to know why you think the only heros are the men and women of our military? There is many heros that dont put on a military uniform… Athletes are also heros in their own right.. As well as essential workers, civil rights protectors and leaders, law enforcement, fire fighters, emts, scientists, doctors nurses all essential workers that contribute to the advancement as well as overall health of our society… So sit down with your BS and let them do what they feel is right… And learn to spell, ya embarrasing us… Mr anonymouse!

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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