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Report: Minnesota ends boycott, will play in Holiday Bowl
By Adam Spencer
Published:
One of the more bizarre protests in college football ended on Saturday morning, as the Minnesota Golden Gophers ended their plans to boycott the Holiday Bowl in the wake of 10 players being suspended from the team:
#Gophers players announce that they are ending their boycott of football activities and will resume preparing for Holiday Bowl
— JoeChristensen (@JoeCStrib) December 17, 2016
The weird twist in the protest was that the 10 players were suspended while facing allegations of sexual assault, so it was odd that the remaining players decided to support their suspended teammates.
However, the Gophers said in their statement that they do not condone the actions their teammates are accused of:
#Gophers in their statement talked about not condoning sexual harassment or violence against women on campus. It was made very clear.
— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) December 17, 2016
Minnesota officials stood by their decision to suspend the players, according to reports:
After meeting #Gophers AD Coyle and U President Kaler last night players were told suspensions would not be lifted.
— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) December 17, 2016
The decision has to be disappointing for Northern Illinois, the team most likely to have replaced Minnesota in the bowl game if the boycott had continued.
Minnesota and Washington State are set to square off at 6 p.m. Central time on Tuesday, Dec. 27. The game can be seen on ESPN.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
