Chris Nelson can fully relate to his son's current pain and frustration.Â
Nelson, the father of Nebraska outside linebacker Garrett Nelson, had his Husker wrestling career threatened by a broken neck suffered in a car accident during the late 1980s. He ended up missing a season of competition because of the injury.
Now, with the Big Ten's decision Tuesday to cancel the fall football season, Garrett Nelson is staring toward a gaping hole in his playing career.Â
"It's very, very difficult for him," Chris Nelson said Saturday. "We've had some conversations. It was a tough time for me mentally to get through a sport being taken away from you, and not knowing if you'll ever compete again. It's a little different scenario for Garrett. But the mental feelings are the same. You felt lost and confused. These kids don't understand why the Big Ten would release a 10-game schedule and a few days later cancel the season without even trying -- going through fall camp and getting to that first game."
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The Big Ten Network unveiled a 2020 schedule on Aug. 5. At the time, Kevin Warren, the conference's first-year commissioner, made clear the season might not happen due to safety concerns associated with the coronavirus. On Tuesday, the conference canceled the fall season with hopes of playing in the spring.Â
Nelson, an All-America wrestler in 1990 and 1992, said he supports the letter being crafted by the parents of another Nebraska football player, Garrett Snodgrass. The letter, written on behalf of parents of Husker players who want their sons to play, will be sent to the Big Ten office in Chicago in coming days. Â
"I thought the Big Ten made an awful decision -- a terrible decision for the student-athletes, for our university, for our state, and for our country," Chris Nelson said. "I think for the age group we're talking about, roughly ages 17 to 23, the coronavirus has statistically no long-term effects for these young athletes. Whether they get it or not, they should be playing football. They have the protocols in place and the testing in place and the nutrition in place to make sure these kids, if they do get COVID or have symptoms, they're going to be well taken care of.Â
"I don't think there should be any concerns at all about these athletes going out on a football field and playing a game."Â
Not all parents of Nebraska players are disappointed with the Big Ten.
“I am OK with the Big Ten’s decision,” Kim Newsome, mother of sophomore defensive back Quinton Newsome, told . “I know my child wants to play, for the love of the sport. But at what risk? I love football, too, and I think they should just sit it out for the year.”
Meanwhile, Kim Miller, mother of Nebraska junior inside linebacker Collin Miller, said her son is "devastated" by having to sit out the season.
"He wants to play football," said Kim Miller, a nurse in Indianapolis. "All those players want to play, especially the seniors. This is their last go-round, and they want to play."
Whenever the linebacker returned to Lincoln from Indiana, she said, he immediately was placed into quarantine on NU's campus for at least 72 hours.Â
"They would deliver meals to his apartment -- right to the door," Kim Miller said. "They do a great job at Nebraska, and I just tell him not to hang out with a whole bunch of kids, to wear your mask when you're around others, to social distance and just be smart."Â
Gene Benhart, father of Nebraska redshirt freshman offensive lineman Bryce Benhart, said he would be comfortable with his son playing college football in 2020.
"If Bryce says he feels he's safe, I have no problem at all with it," the elder Benhart said from Lakeville, Minnesota. "And Bryce does tell us he feels safe, he's getting tested, that he has no issues with what's going on down there (at Nebraska). He wants to play football. He's healthy to play football, and he should have the opportunity to either play football or say no to football."