Penn State players have reportedly expressed a number of demands to Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren as they fight for more rights for college athletes.
According to CBS Sports, College Football Players Association executive director Jason Stahl says he secretly met with PSU players, including quarterback Sean Clifford, earlier this month. After Warren found out about the meetings, Stahl provided him with a list of demands the players are looking for.
They include increased medical care, including post-retirement “health protections,” and a share of conference revenue via media rights.
“We talked about all three demands,” Stahl told CBS Sports of his discussions with Warren. “The first two of which, he seemed very open to movement toward our position. The third demand [regarding sharing revenue] I could tell it was going to be stickier, but it was going to be part of the conversation.”
Clifford, the Nittany Lions’ starting quarterback the last three seasons, acknowledged “positive and open” conversations with Warren, Penn State AD Pat Kraft and head coach James Franklin.
“Those three things are just the base of what we’d like to do. In reality, we think there is more that could happen,” Clifford told ESPN, which first reported the meeting between the two sides last week.
We’ve seen numerous advancements in terms of athletes’ rights in recent years, including NIL and the creation of the transfer portal and one-time transfer rule.
There’s no telling how far these talks between PSU players and the conference will go, and what advancements they might produce, but it is certainly worth keeping an eye on them moving forward.