Cal’s Valentino Daltoso one of 11 players to sign letter to Larry Scott

The Pac-12 Player Unity Movement has been widely talked about since Sunday afternoon when their list of demands and letter of unity was published via the Players’ Tribune. Though, the major media headlines decided to go with the clickiest of titles, and stuck with just the fact that players are opting out of the 2020 college football season due to many reasons.

However, in a letter obtained by Sports Illustrated, 11 different Pac-12 schools and players signed a letter addressed to Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, asking for a line of communication and stating that the main reason they’re uncomfortable to play in 2020 is because of the global pandemic and currently surging coronavirus cases.

California Golden Bears offensive lineman Valentino Daltoso, widely quoted through the whole movement so far, was one of the 11 players to sign the letter to Scott. He was joined by Washington State’s Dallas Hobbs, Arizona State’s Cody Shear, Oregon State’s Jaydon Grant, USC’s Chase Williams, Stanford’s Elijah Higgins, Oregon’s Jevon Holland, Washington’s Joe Tryon, Arizona’s Malik Hausman, Utah’s Nick Ford and UCLA’s Otito Ogbonnia on the letter.

The letter expressed their desire to open communications with Scott and the Pac-12 athletic directors as early as Monday, August 3, and stated that the lack of regard for their health and safety was central to the ‘systemic racial injustices imposed by NCAA sports that disproportionately exploits Black athletes’ among other reasons.

They asked for daily Zoom meetings with Scott and the ADs, yet they got a simple canned response from Scott in return. In a full letter from Scott obtained by Sports Illustrated as well, Scott simply signs off with a ‘look forward to finding a convenient time to speak later this week.’

The full letter from the players can be found here. While Scott’s response can be found here.

We’re a few weeks away from camp and the players are still waiting for daily meetings to discuss their demands one way or another.

This is a developing story with Cal Bears central to the whole movement. We’ll continue to monitor Cal’s involvement as well as the impact it will have on the Bears moving forward.