Grambling State University football players have ended their boycott after speaking with former coach Doug Williams who told them to “Go out there and play football.”
The players recently had a dispute with university leaders and refused to travel to Saturday’s game at Jackson State as a result. According to reports, the athletes’ complaints were about having to travel by bus instead of plane to games in Kansas City, Mo., and Indianapolis. Also, the team had gripes about the firing of Williams in September.
In a text message to USA Today Sports on Friday, Williams wrote, “I’m proud of them boys. They took a stance.”
The following is a statement from player and team representative, Naquan Smith.
To Whom It May Concern:
As part of the athletic program at Grambling State University, the football team, took a stance on what we thought was right. We did not quit on our university. There are many problems that exist and if no one says anything, nothing will come of our institution. We hope Coach Eddie Robinson and his legendary players can appreciate that we stood up for what we thought was right. After coming into contact with different sources, we decided to reach out to the one person we trusted, Coach Doug Williams, with our concerns. His main statement to us was, “Go out there and play football.” He also put us in contact with Jim Bernhard out of Baton Rouge. A meeting was held with Mr. Bernhard as well as, Douglas Porter, Ezil Bibbs, Roy Jackson, Henry Dyer and Howard Davis. The meeting confirmed him [Jim Bernhard] as being committed with our best intentions at heart and that he would ensure we had updated facilities, but we had to agree to being back practicing Monday, October 21 and finish the remainder of our season. Although we are going to continue our season, we have not forgotten the situation and how we’ve gotten here. We would like to say thank you to Coach Williams, the Legends and Mr. Jim Bernhard. Grambling has given us the opportunity to be a part of its legacy and we are only looking to improve conditions for the university and future student-athletes.
Thank you,
Naquan Smith
