The Missouri House of Representatives will review a house bill filed by Republican state representative Rick Brattin that would seek to strip any scholarship athlete in the state of Missouri of his or her scholarship if they refuse to play their respective sport for any reason unrelated to health. This comes in the wake of the Missouri football player strike in the fall that ultimately led to the removalof Tim Wolfe as university president in November.
At this time there is no hearing scheduled and the bill is not yet confirmed for the House calendar in Missouri, but House Bill 1743 is officially prefiled as of Monday afternoon. The bill, which “Provides that any college athlete on scholarship who refuses to play for a reason unrelated to health shall have his or her scholarship revoked,” has a proposed effective starting date of August 28, 2016, just in time for next college football season.
The strike from within the Missouri football team started when a statement from Missouri’s Legion of Black Collegians released a statement saying players of color will no longer participate in football activities until Wolfe resigned from his post following criticism over his handling of race-related events on Missouri’s campus. Former Missouri head coachGary Pinkel shared a photo of the entire Missouri football team standing together to join in the protest, and Missouri’s game against BYU was put in jeopardy.
Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, has pre-filed a bill to the MO house of representatives that would revoke scholarships for striking players.
— David Morrison (@DavidCMorrison) December 14, 2015
Former #Mizzou safety Ian Simon, a leader of the boycott, on the proposed bill to revoke athlete scholarships: pic.twitter.com/6FJeTkQRkH — Aaron Reiss (@aaronjreiss) December 14, 2015
Source: collegefootballtalk