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Provo • Shortly after they eked out a 17-16 win over San Jose State on Friday night, BYU players such as Tanner Mangum, Fred Warner and Devon Blackmon spoke excitedly about the prospect of playing the Southeastern Conference's Missouri Tigers at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City this weekend.
However, the Cougars are scheduled to return to practice on Monday morning with that Saturday matchup at the home of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs in serious jeopardy of not being played.
A group of at least 30 Missouri football players, apparently with the blessing of head coach Gary Pinkel, has said they won't participate in any football-related activities this week until University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe resigns or is removed from office.
Saturday, the players joined an ongoing protest, which includes one graduate student, Jonathan Butler, on a nearly weeklong hunger strike, over the way Wolfe has handled issues of racial harassment at the state's flagship institution.
Shortly before Wolfe issued a statement that did not include any hint of a pending resignation, a scheduled Sunday afternoon football practice was canceled.
The players' statement posted on social media outlets Saturday supports a campus group called Concerned Student 1950, which has protested the way Wolfe has dealt with matters of race and discrimination at the 35,000-student campus.
Pinkel posted a picture of the team and coaches locking arms Sunday on Twitter with a tweet that read: "The Mizzou Family stands as one. We are united. We stand behind our players."
According to the contract for the games between BYU and Missouri to be played this year in Kansas City and in 2020 in Provo, any school that cancels its appearance would have to pay the other school $1 million. To get the series scheduled, the schools also agreed to split the cost to have Wagner travel to BYU and Idaho State travel to UNLV and have presumably paid those bills.
Sunday afternoon, Pinkel and UM athletic director Mack Rhoades issued a joint statement that read, "Sunday, there will be no football practice or formal team activities. Our focus right now is on the health of Jonathan Butler, the concerns of our student-athletes and working with our community to address this serious issue. After meeting with the team this morning, it is clear they do not plan to return to practice until Jonathan resumes eating. We are continuing to have department, campus, and student meetings as we work through this issue and will provide further comment [Monday] afternoon."
Whether the coaches will work during the player boycott was not addressed in the statement.
Later Sunday, SEC commissioner Gary Sankey wrote in a statement that the conference office was in contact with the Missouri athletic department and would remain so.
"I respect Missouri's student-athletes for engaging on issues of important and am hopeful the concerns at the center of this matter will be resolved in a positive manner," Sankey wrote.
Inquiries made to BYU athletic department officials were not immediately returned on Sunday. For religious reasons, BYU athletic teams do not meet or practice on Sunday, which they consider a day of worship.
Missouri is having a mildly disappointing season after winning back-to-back SEC East division championships in 2013 and 2014, and dropped to 4-5 after falling 31-13 on Thursday to Mississippi State in Columbia. The Tigers have three remaining games on their schedule and are trying to become bowl eligible (six wins).
The Cougars (7-2) received votes in both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the Amway Coaches Poll on Sunday and would be ranked 27th in both polls if they extended that far. BYU clearly sees the Mizzou game as a chance to jump back into the national rankings, a designation that slipped away when it lost 31-0 to Michigan in September.
BYU was installed as a 3-point favorite by Las Vegas oddsmakers on Sunday.
Pinkel is paid about $3.1 million annually, according to published reports; Wolfe, who oversees the four schools that make up the Missouri System, makes $450,000 per year.
"The athletes of color on the University of Missouri football team truly believe 'Injustice Anywhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere," the athletes said. "We will no longer participate in any football related activities until President Tim Wolfe resigns or is removed due to his negligence toward marginalized students' experience. WE ARE UNITED!!!!!"
Ironically, African-American players boycotting a game against them is nothing new to the Cougars, although the last time it happened was in 1969. And this boycott has nothing to do with BYU itself.
On Oct. 18, 1969, 14 Wyoming football players, all African-Americans, were kicked off the team by UW coach Lloyd Eaton for threatening to wear black armbands in their game against BYU to draw attention to the fact that the LDS Church — which owns and operates BYU — did not allow black males to hold its priesthood. The policy was rescinded in 1978.
Approximately 20 members of BYU's current football team are African-American.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon even weighed in on the controversy on Sunday, issuing a statement condemning "racism and intolerance" at the University of Missouri or anywhere in the state.
"These concerns must be addressed to ensure the University of Missouri is a place where all students can pursue their dreams in an environment of respect, tolerance and inclusion," Nixon said, but neither his declaration nor the one from Wolfe that said he is working "around the clock" on "how to address these complex matters" seemed to have appeased the protesters and players as of Sunday afternoon.
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU vs. Missouri
P at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, 5:30 p.m. MST
TV • SEC Network