Wednesday is the one-year anniversary of the Big Ten trying to cancel football and the start of the war that followed.
On August 11, 2020, the B1G and commissioner Kevin Warren announced that the football season had been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
The Big 10 is run by cowards and idiots who stole our football season.
America went to the moon, won two world wars and created the greatest nation in history.
Now, the Big 10 wants you to hide in your basement. This isn’t the country I grew up in.https://t.co/rFsx7PB9kI
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) August 14, 2020
The Big Ten’s decision to cancel football was quickly followed by the PAC-12 and several G5 conferences. In the weeks that followed, a massive war broke out to save football, and it’s something none of us will ever forget.
Led by Greg Sankey and the SEC, courageous fans banded together to fight the B1G’s power brokers and save the sport.
Quote from wealthy individual who has dumped money into a Big 10 university of decades:
“We committed economic and athletic suicide by canceling football, and the Big 10 told us to shut up smile about it because of ‘safety.’ It’s insane.”
That’s about as blunt as it gets.
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) August 13, 2020
In a sense, we fought to save the soul of the nation we call home. It wasn’t a battle anyone had ever dreamed of or asked for.
Yet, that’s the thing about being a hero. You never ask for it. It just kind of works out that way sometimes.
The woke mob hates college football because it represents everything great about America. It’s young men from different backgrounds fighting for a common goal.
It’s the ultimate meritocracy and they want to steal it from us. We must defend it all costs. pic.twitter.com/jFop0S9oCe
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) August 9, 2021
In the immediate aftermath of the B1G’s cowardly decision, I retreated to an undisclosed location with a massive lakeside mansion armed with my cellphone, a Canyon 55 cooler loaded with Busch Light and the desire to save my people.
Big 10 football is canceled, but the beer is still cold.
Don’t live in fear like the cowardly leaders in the Big 10. This is America.
We play football, win world wars and drink beer. Have a great weekend (minus the dickheads who ruined football). pic.twitter.com/y2CbqFVXGX
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) August 14, 2020
Staring out over the lake one night after about 20 Busch Lights, I turned to one of my close friends and I vowed to do whatever was necessary to make sure the B1G played football.
After talks with people back home, individuals in the government and people with ties to certain programs, I decided the only option we had left was to fight.
Every single Big 10 university president who voted to cancel the college football season should be fired immediately.
They WILLINGLY chose to decimate the communities that pay their salaries.
People this weak and cowardly have no business being leaders. Fire them all.
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) August 11, 2020
It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees. If cowardly university and government leaders were going to steal football from the Big Ten, then I wasn’t going down without expending all my energy on the battlefield.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer calls the Big 10 canceling football “leadership.”
The rest of the country is laughing at the Big 10’s “leadership.”
Destroying colleges and bankrupting the Big 10’s future isn’t leadership. It’s stupidity. (Via @MLive) pic.twitter.com/GfRZsTdM0O
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) August 24, 2020
After forming unlikely alliances with people at Ohio State, Nebraska, Michigan and other programs I usually hate, we armed up and jumped into the trenches.
Over the next several weeks, we fought like hell to save this nation’s greatest sport and shine a light on the insane damage canceling football would have done.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers will furlough more than 50 employees after the football season gets canceled.
This is the kind of “minor inconvenience” @KevinFWarren and liberal Big 10 university presidents couldn’t care less about.
Start firing these clowns. https://t.co/uwUdOf6A6o
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) August 24, 2020
Madison might lose $1 billion after the Big 10 canceled Wisconsin Badgers football in the fall.
At least we’re safe in our basements. Remember, it’s just a “minor inconvenience.”
Cowards bankrupted our communities and told us to shut up and smile. pic.twitter.com/0TwjunNSDD
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) August 16, 2020
In the end, the Big Ten agreed to play football but it was a long 188 days of exhausting war that I hope I never have to repeat again.
I’ve spent the past 188 days fighting to save Big 10 football. Today, we accomplished the mission.
Much like the Osama Bin Laden raid or D-Day, you never know when your number will be called to serve. All you hope for is to execute your job and the mission.
We did just that.
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) September 16, 2020
It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year. Feels like it was just yesterday I was on the phone with former officials figuring out what the hell to do.
Time sure does fly.
Asked a retired high ranking official about colleges canceling football and the devastation it’ll have on local communities.
His response: Universities don’t care about those business.
Never forget who bankrupted these communities. Tax dollars pay their salaries.
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) August 14, 2020
It’s also a reminder that it’s not about how you start the fight. It’s about how you finish. We got knocked down but we bounced back and played a successful season.
Started the weekend on Fox News talking about the incredible success of the college football season.
When we were told the season had to be canceled, millions of fans rose up and saved football. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/HKYfLJOdnF
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) January 9, 2021
To all the men and women who joined me, I’m damn proud to have spent time fighting from March 2020 through the return announcement in September to make sure football happened during the pandemic. All of you will always be part of my football family.