Report: Minnesota football players threaten to boycott Holiday Bowl

With the Minnesota Golden Gophers caught up in a sexual assault scandal, some players are now apparently threatening to boycott the Holiday Bowl

Earlier this week we learned that the Minnesota Golden Gophers suspended 10 players for their upcoming Holiday Bowl contest against the Washington State Cougars on Dec. 27 following sexual assault allegations. Well, the story will not be ending there with the suspensions.

According to a report from the Star Tribune, in protest of the suspensions, Minnesota players are threatening to flat-out boycott the Holiday Bowl against Washington State. They had a player-only meeting where they decided this, and they then informed head coach Tracy Claeys. While informing their coach of their intentions, they proclaimed that they will not take part in the game unless their “demands are met.”

This all stems from a woman’s claim that she was assaulted back in September following the Gophers’ first game of the season. That sparked the investigation, and again, just this past week we were informed of the issues that the program is dealing with. Having to suspend 10 players usually means that you have something big hanging over your head.

This is obviously a huge development and is leading to a lot of questions — questions that we might not know the answers to for quite some time. We’ve seen players suspended for unforgivable transgressions before, but rarely do we see the entire team step up to the plate in this manner, threatening to just not head out to the field.

There will certainly be more on this story in the coming hours and days, and we will keep you updated as new information comes in.