Minnesota's star wide receiver Rashod Bateman has opted out of the 2020 college football season -- again. Bateman, considered one of the top wideouts in next year's NFL draft class, announced on his Twitter account that he would opt out of the three games still on the schedule for the Gophers this season.
The news comes the same week that Minnesota's game against No. 16 Wisconsin would be canceled due to COVID-19. The game will not be made up, and the Gophers have two games currently scheduled in December vs. No. 8 Northwestern and Nebraska. The Big Ten will also match up teams from each division at the season's end on Dec. 19 for a "championship week" style of play.
Bateman was one of the first high-profile names to opt out of the season back in August when the picture of how the year would play out was less clear. However, Bateman then opted back in after the Big Ten's announcement that it would play a football season in the fall. Bateman also changed his jersey number from No. 13 to No. 0 "because there is zero tolerance for racism in this culture."
Thank you Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/ANVtBYnCdr
— Rashod Bateman (@R_bateman2) November 25, 2020
But with the latest cancellation and Minnesota's season not exactly going as planned, it's hard to blame Bateman for looking ahead to the next step. He was one of the Big Ten's most valuable returning players in 2020 and finishes his final season with 472 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns.
