FSU football players may be preparing a boycott of offseason boycotts over an alleged “lie” from Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell. Florida State star defensive tackle and captain Marvin Wilson revealed he is unhappy with the head coach for what he describes as a lie about addressing the George Floyd death.
Norvell had previously told The Atlantic that he had one-on-one conversations with his players to share their thoughts and emotions about the current climate in the United States.
“We’ve had a lot of open communication with our team, our players and our coaches,” Norvell said. “I went back and forth individually with every player this weekend. And that was something that was important to me because this is a heartbreaking time in our country. You see hate and you see discrimination. You see some of the acts that have occurred; I mean, it is a problem. And it’s something that we have to stand together and we have to work to get it fixed.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to help make a difference. That’s something that we definitely have talked about in a big-picture team approach, but also, more specifically, the individual and group conversations. We’re trying to meet our guys at their need and be able to share some of the emotions that we’re all going through.”
Well, not so fast, my friends.
Wilson had a much different story about how things went.
“Man this 💩 did not happen mane,” Wilson tweeted. “We got a generated text that was sent to everybody. There was no one on one talk between us and coach. This is a lie and me and my teammates as a whole are outraged and we will not be working out until further notice 💯”
Man this 💩 did not happen mane. We got a generated text that was sent to everybody. There was no one on one talk between us and coach. This is a lie and me and my teammates as a whole are outraged and we will not be working out until further notice 💯 #hunchoout https://t.co/6Uuy6K7Eu3
— HEAD HUNCHO💧 (@marvinwilson21) June 4, 2020
Wilson’s by a number of his Florida State teammates.
The Seminoles began voluntary workouts this week, so it will be interesting to see whether they follow through with the threat of a boycott or whether Norvell is able to regain control of the locker room by addressing the situation directly with his players.
Floyd was killed after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on the back of his neck for nearly 8 minutes while Floyd pleaded for air. The ex-officer, Derek Chauvin, has been arrested had his charges upgraded to second-degree murder. The three other officers involved — Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao — have been fired by the Minneapolis Police Department and were also arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.