On Wednesday afternoon, United States President Joe Biden met with a group of former college football players for a roundtable discussion regarding the treatment of athletes during and after their playing careers. But group of players that was chosen for the discussion is drawing a lot of criticism.
According to USA Today, a White House official said the session was “to discuss why college football players – and all student-athletes – deserve consistent safety standards, to have voice, and to benefit from the revenue they produce.”
“The student-athletes who play college football work hard on behalf of their schools, their communities, and their families and President Biden believes all workers should be treated fairly and college athletes should be too,” the official told USA Today. “All college athletes deserve consistent safety standards, to have voice, and to benefit from the revenue they produce.”
The group of players included Andrew Luck, Rod Gilmore, Keith Marshall, Jordan Meachum, Kevin Negandhi, Desmond Howard, and Ryan Clark.
The college football world was largely disappointed with the players the White House chose for the round table dicussion.
Not a single current athlete.
Not a single female athlete.
Not a single person representing a labor organization.
Other than that, awesome panel. https://t.co/cxJE2KHtRx
— Mo Egger (@MoEgger) November 8, 2023
Biden can do so much better than speaking with Desmond.
— Erik Burkhart (@HuskerInsanity) November 8, 2023
A really disappointing list. Whoever put this group together did not put much thought into it.
— RR (@ThaRichieRich) November 8, 2023
Why is everyone from ESPN?
— ViennaJeff60 (@Viennajeff60) November 8, 2023
https://twitter.com/SpardiBee/status/1722248815733092383?s=20
Not like they have any interest in this other than their cut of the cash.
— NOSMH (@nosmh) November 8, 2023
https://twitter.com/Big12Cats1953/status/1722342311567180190?s=20
"Former" used so many times…How about someone who's played recently???
— The K-man (@CrowbarMister) November 8, 2023
It’s certainly good that Biden and the White House are having these conversations with former athletes, but it’s safe to say that most people wanted a little bit more from the panel.
