Deion Sanders issues strong statement toward players opting out of 2020 season

Over the past week, we’ve seen a number of big-name players opt out of the 2020 season. The Big Ten has been hit particularly hard.

So far, Minnesota WR Rashod Bateman, Purdue WR Rondale Moore and Penn State LB Micah Parsons are some of the biggest names to opt out thus far, with more possible this coming week.

NFL legend Deion Sanders took to Twitter this week to issue a strong statement to those opting out athletes, saying the game will move on without them:

All Players OPTING out in all sports PLEASE BELIEVE the game will go on without u. This is a business & don’t u EVER forget that. There’s NO ONE that’s bigger than the game itself. Only the ref,umps & officials are that important that u can’t play without them. NOT YOU! #Truth

— Deion Sanders (@DeionSanders) August 7, 2020

To be fair to the players, no one has asked for the game to be stopped for them. They understand the risks of opting out. But, they’ve judged for themselves that the risks of playing outweigh the risks of sitting out.

Then, there’s the fact that the game might not go on without them. There is building momentum in the Big Ten toward postponing the season. These next few days will be crucial for the future of college football in 2020.