Missouri Tigers fractured on supposed football strike

Reportedly, half of the Missouri Tigers don’t want football team to strike because of acts of racism exhibited on the Columbia campus.

According to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy, an anonymous player on the Missouri Tigers football team told him that half of the team doesn’t support an ongoing strike that could result in a forfeit against BYU on Saturday.

The boycott stems from a partial support of a hunger strike being done by grad student Jonathan Butler, who has ceased eating since November 2nd. Butler began his strike to make a stand for the blatant racism on the campus of the University of Missouri. He said he will not eat until University President Tim Wolfe resigns amidst increased racial tension at the flagship university.

The player on the Missouri Tigers, who is white, believes that had the football team been 9-0 as opposed to their current 4-5 record, this strike wouldn’t have come to the forefront.

The anonymous football player said, “As much as we want to say everyone is united, half the team and coaches — black and white are [mad]. If we were 9-0 this wouldn’t be happening.” He was told to speak with the media anonymous as the coaching staffed believed this would “blow over eventually.”

Head Coach Gary Pinkel said on Sunday that the football team will not practice until Butler begins eating again. Mondays are typically an off-day for the Missouri Tigers, but Pinkel has instructed his players to study film and prepare for their non-conference game this weekend against the BYU Cougars in Kansas City.

Events stemming from as far back as 2010 are the impetus for Butler’s hunger strike. From cotton balls “scattered in front of the Gaines/Oldham Culture Center on campus” to numerous racist and homophobic terms being shouted across campus to a swastika smeared on a bathroom wall in fecal matter, it seems that Butler has had enough of the cultural insensitivity exhibited at the University of Missouri.

Regardless, the Tigers still have to win two of their final three games to become bowl eligible. After winning the SEC East each of the last two years, the football program has underwhelmed to say the least. A strike doesn’t work if the labor force is split on the reasons for it. It sounds very much like that with the Missouri Tigers football program.

Tim Wolfe did resign this morning as President of the University of Missouri.