Florida’s Mike Norvell makes peace with the players

Crisis avoided.

A day later, Florida State Captain Marvin Wilson said that he and his teammates would begin boycotting volunteer workouts after deceptive quotes from new coach Mike Novell that he spoke to each player individually about the death of George Floyd and The national protests that have followed, a team-wide gathering seems to have restored order.

“We took a position, we got what we wanted and we are moving forward 🗣 !!!” The prominent defensive tackle wrote on Instagram. “I thank @coachnorvell for encouraging me to use my platform and speak for what I and my teammates believe in. Be the change you need when you grew up and help build black communities and reclaim what is ours.”

Teammate Kevon Glenn backed Wilson, tweeting: “We love our coach and we are together as a team. The FSU football team and coaching staff are doing well and working. “

Most importantly, the meeting established a few things that Wilson, a projected first-round pick, and his teammates wanted to do to advance. All team members will register to vote, participate in fundraisers to help give organizations money to send African American children to college, and raise money for poor schools in Tallahassee, Florida.

“Yesterday I took a position that was not just for me if FSU football, not even for athletes in general, but was for the great George Floyd and blacks in general, because of our oppression we’ve been going through for more than 400 years. ” “He said in a video accompanying his Instagram post.” I want to say a thank you to Colin Kaepernick for being the first athlete I really saw take a position for something he fully believed in. “

Norvell got into trouble when The Athletic released a story that quotes him saying, “We have had a lot of open communication with our team, our players and our coaches,” said Norvell. “I came and went individually with each player this weekend. And that was something important for me because this is a heartbreaking moment in our country. “

Wilson responded by saying that there were no such conversations, but only a “generated text” that was sent to everyone and said that the Seminoles would no longer work. But on Thursday, the talks took place and the protest was canceled.

The State of Florida released a statement Thursday afternoon from Novell in which it said it was “proud” of Wilson for speaking and that he should not have used the word “everyone” to describe his communication about current problems in the United States. Norvell said he had more conversations after the initial bulk text with several of his players.

“Once again, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to our team in more depth as a result of Marvin being willing to express his feelings,” said Norvell, who is approaching his first season as Florida State coach after to come. from memphis