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Former USC star Matt Leinart expressed confusion as to why the Big Ten and Pac-12 Conferences shut their fall sports season early and felt for the mental health of college athletes this week.
Upon learning the news that the Big Ten and Pac-12 would postpone their seasons, Leinart tweeted Wednesday he felt like it was too soon for the conferences to make a decision while Conference USA was planning on moving forward while listening to medical experts.
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“I see CUSA moving forward while listening to medical experts. Pac 12 and Big 10 did not have to cancel the season. Be patient, listen to the experts. There was zero reason to shut it down this early,” Leinart, a current Fox Sports college football analyst, tweeted.
On Thursday, Leinart expressed his worry for college athletes’ mental health as conferences shut their seasons down.
“As a student-athlete, as a college football player, you base your whole schedule around your football schedule,” he said on Fox Sports “Big Noon Kickoff," according to 24/7 Sports. “Your academic schedule, everything. A lot of us at the age of 18, 19, 20 maybe were able to make really smart decisions and you stay out of trouble, but when you don’t have that umbrella, that schedule of your training, your meals and your rehab and your practice and your meetings and your film and all that … that’s what makes me really nervous about all this and concerned for the mental health of these players.”
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Leinart said that most people don’t know the work that goes on to be a student-athlete and that for most people college football is all they’ll have.
“To have that taken away because of this pandemic, which obviously no one has been able to control, my heart breaks for these kids. Because football has given us all so much. It may not get you money, it may not get you to the NFL, but it builds you friendships and it teaches you life lessons and all of those things. It really teaches you how to become a man in those college years. So I’m sad for them.”
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The Big Ten Conference shut down after pondering the risks the coronavirus pose for college athletes. The Pac-12 Conference followed suit. The Big East Mid-American and Mountain West Conferences shut down earlier in the week as well. On Thursday, the Western Athletic Conference postponed its fall schedule. Old Dominion, UMass and Connecticut have also chosen not to play this fall.
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