Gophers' Tanner Morgan says Big Ten made right call in postponing fall football

Quarterback Tanner Morgan was in the locker room preparing for a walkthrough with his Gophers teammates about a week ago, when players starting receiving texts from friends and family, consoling them for a canceled season.

" 'What do you mean? We're going to have a walkthrough right now. We never heard that. We're just going to go out and do our jobs,' " is how Morgan recalled the Gophers responding to those messages.

To Morgan, that signaled what he has found to be a very important quality for the Gophers throughout the past several months: tunnel vision.

While the Big Ten did end up canceling the fall season a week ago with only vague ideas of playing in the spring, the Gophers didn't seem to worry about the what-ifs then or now.

"It showed how mature our team is," Morgan said Monday in a video news conference. "… Our team did a great job of just focusing on now, what we could control.

"We could control that we had a lift, or we had a meeting, or we had a walkthrough, and let's go do it. Let's maximize this opportunity to be the best we can be."

Morgan said his first reaction to hearing he wouldn't be playing football this fall was sadness at not being able to do something he has loved since age 6. But he echoed what Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said last week, about the players' belief that the Big Ten made the right call.

"Everybody involved from our side at the University of Minnesota and the Big Ten, they did what was right," Morgan said. "… The Big Ten did what they thought was best for player health and safety, and I commend them for being the conference that actually put player health and safety first."

That decision hasn't earned unanimous praise, though. Parents from Iowa, Ohio State, Nebraska and Penn State have spoken out about their disagreement with the decision, sending letters to the conference demanding more transparency about how the conference came to that choice.

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields started an online petition asking the conference and Big Ten school administrators to reinstate the season, which has garnered more than 250,000 signatures since Sunday morning.

ESPN reported several players have signed the petition, including Gophers cornerback Benjamin St-Juste, one of the co-presidents of College Athlete Unity. That group organized the #BigTenUnited open letter that asked for better safety precautions before playing during the coronavirus pandemic.

Morgan said he supports players who are speaking out about "racial injustice, wanting to play, for health and safety" and other issues.

"I think it's phenomenal that student-athletes are using their voice and understanding that they have a really big platform to create positive change in our country and across college athletics," Morgan said. "And I'm really proud of the student-athletes that are doing that, honestly."

So whatever comes next, a spring season or no football until the fall of 2021, Morgan's only aim is to make the most of this moment.

"It's just about how we can get better," Morgan said. "How we're going to grow, and how we're going to make the most out of this time, this opportunity."