Reports from ESPN and Sports Illustrated indicate that things are trending toward the 2020 college football season being postponed/canceled. Players received word of the reports as many fans were learning of them. A Florida running back’s tweet is being widely shared even among communities of Gator rivals.

“I want to play… even if we gotta be locked in .. nothing at home for me,” Lorenzo Lingard tweeted on Sunday.

If UF were to send athletes and other students home for distance learning, Lingard would be in an especially difficult situation with a high-risk family member. Lingard signed with Miami as part of the 2018 recruiting class. In December 2019, he announced he would be entering the transfer portal. One of his reasons for transferring to UF from Miami was to be closer to his father who has kidney disease. Lingard played for University High School in Orange City, which is less than 2 hours from Gainesville.

“He’s been on dialysis for a while now,” Lingard told The Daytona Beach News-Journal in December. “I’m looking to go back closer to home and help him. He’s got heart problems now, in addition to kidney problems.”