Justin Fields and many of his Ohio State teammates want to play college football this fall, and now they're asking everyone to do their part to help.
In conjunction with the state of Ohio's #IWantASeason campaign that launched earlier this week, Ohio State posted a video to its social media channels on Friday in which Fields, Tyreke Smith, Wyatt Davis, Chris Olave, Pete Werner and Shaun Wade encourage Buckeye football fans to wear masks, practice social distancing and do their part to quell the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and help the Buckeyes be able to play football this year.
We all want a season. But more importantly, we want everyone to stay safe and to help end this pandemic.
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) July 10, 2020
Lets work together. Practice social distancing. Wear a mask.#IWantASeason #GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/Pebfynyjio
Fields, Davis, Werner, Wade and Olave also shared personalized #IWantASeason videos on their own Twitter accounts.
Lets do our best to protect ourselves and others! #IWantASeason pic.twitter.com/Vk3ldPQv6K
— Justin Fields (@justnfields) July 10, 2020
#IWantASeason pic.twitter.com/UZ575AMgpr
— Wavy Dub (@wyattdavis53) July 10, 2020
New Twitter... old one got hacked #IWantASeason pic.twitter.com/C1nm4Amoau
— Shaun Wade (@shaunwade24) July 10, 2020
#IWantASeason @zswartz pic.twitter.com/1ae370KmTw
— Pete Werner (@petewerner23) July 10, 2020
Stay Safe!! #IWantASeason pic.twitter.com/gCD27azwcr
— Chris Olave (@chrisolave_) July 10, 2020
“I want a season,” Fields said. “In order for that to happen, we need you to wear masks not only to protect yourselves, but others. Go Bucks.”
Werner said in his video that he trusts Ohio State's decision-makers to ultimately make the best decisions for the Buckeye players in determining how their season will proceed forward.
“I know that my coaches and the administration have our best interest at heart. We are ready to compete and proudly represent Buckeye Nation,” Werner said.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day also tweeted a video on Thursday encouraging Buckeye Nation to follow local health protocols and wear masks, which Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine shared on his official Twitter account on Friday.
We want to see @OhioStateFB play this season, but to do that, we all need to do our part to keep #COVID19 down. Join Coach @ryandaytime and wear a mask, practice social distancing, and wash your hands to help #SlowTheSpread in #Ohio. #MasksOnOhio#IWantASeason https://t.co/mkY9n7WSFO
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 10, 2020
The #IWantASeason campaign was launched by Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted earlier this week, using the upcoming football season as an incentive for people to take recommended COVID-19 guidelines seriously.
The videos released by Ohio State and its players on Friday also come one day after the Big Ten announced it will play conference games only this season and that Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith acknowledged he is “very concerned” about whether the football season will actually happen.
