COLLEGE PARK, MD – OCTOBER 15: The Minnesota Golden Gophers offense huddles against the Maryland Terrapins in the second half at Capital One Field on October 15, 2016 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

In a boycott that lasted a couple days, the University of Minnesota football team decided they will end their boycott and play in the Holiday Bowl.

The boycott stemmed from 10 football players who were suspended after a university investigation for their roles in an alleged sexual assault at the university. The players were boycotting until the suspended players were reinstated, claiming the university treated them unfairly and criticized the university of a lack of communication in regard to the investigation.

Holiday Bowl officials were scrambling to have a contingency plan just in case Minnesota wasn’t going to play. Northern Illinois was considered to play against Washington State if Minnesota didn’t play.

In a statement, the football players expressed that they were boycotting to overturn the suspensions and when the university essentially called their bluff and wouldn’t do that, the players ended the boycott.

Also in that statement, the players want to “bring more exposure to the issue of sexual harassment and violence against women.” Maybe they are sincere and will actually turn this into a positive learning and teaching experience (really the only positive that could possibly come out of this) but considering they originally called for a boycott because 10 players were suspended for an alleged sexual assault, they are currently and rightly losing in the court of public opinion right now.

[College Football Talk]

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

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