Minnesota football players end boycott and will play in the Holiday Bowl

The Minnesota football boycott is over.

According to the statement, the players’ stated demand to get the suspension of 10 teammates overturned would not be met by the school. After a meeting Friday night with the university’s president however, the players felt that the 10 would be given a fair hearing. The players also say they will use their platform to bring more exposure to the issue of sexual harassment and violence against women on campus, but they will specifically announce how they will do so “at a later time.”

The boycott initially came in response to 10 players on the team being suspended ahead of the Dec. 27 Holiday Bowl matchup against Washington State. Four of the players were already suspended earlier in the season, and the other six were added after being tied to a September incident that included an allegation of sexual assault:

Ray Buford Sr., a 17-year law enforcement official in Michigan, told the Pioneer Press that the suspensions are tied to an early-morning incident on Sept. 2 where four players — Buford, Hardin, Dior Johnson and Tamarion Johnson — were “mentioned” in a Minneapolis Police report that included a woman’s allegations of sexual assault. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office declined Oct. 3 to press charges, citing insufficient evidence.

Buford said the new suspensions are the result an investigation by the University’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA) and were relayed at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Buford said “some” of the players were recommended for expulsion from the university, and he added that will be met with appeals.

“The closer you were to the lady, the harsher the recommendation,” Buford said.

The school’s 80-page report on the incident includes many graphic and disturbing allegations.

The players were prepared to boycott the bowl game “if need be,” and in the interim, the Holiday Bowl was readying to tap Northern Illinois to step in and play Washington State.

But while the administration supported the players, it stood by the fact that it couldn’t give the team more information than it already had due to student privacy laws.

The team felt that those in power were hiding behind the laws, but in the issued statement, acknowledged that there are requirements that need to be met about sharing information.