The Eastern Kentucky football is under fire after the team’s starting kicker, Landon White, announced Tuesday he was leaving the program due to a lack of care for player safety within the team.

White, a redshirt junior, posted on his Instagram page that he is resigning from the team because the team’s head coach, Walt Wells, along with other staff members “do not care about player safety.”

“8-4-20. My last day is finally here,” White wrote. “Today I have resigned my position on the Eastern Kentucky University football team as a kicker. Not huge news in the sports world I know but… No matter what you hear the facts are the facts, with the main fact being the coach and some staff, do not care about player safety. I will surely miss my brothers on the field. This is a tough day for me, but somebody has gotta tell the truth on what us athletes are going through during this pandemic.”

According to White’s statement, the football program conducts “little to no testing” for COVID-19, with the last team test being administered on July 6.

“Symptomatic players still in the building and around other teammates,” said White. “But the same day people had symptoms we continued to practice instead of face the issue head on. Keep in mind we started fall camp on Friday July 31st. We have plenty of players and staff test positive over the past month. But you have probably heard very little on the matter.

“Have y’all heard about us suspending anything? Of course not. There are meeting rooms with 100+ players and staff crammed into it with zero space and no social distancing rules in sight. There are a bunch of potential positives in there. The Player cafeteria (case dining hall) endangers the EKU Cafeteria staff as well as other students who are now on campus, masks are routinely not worn while players are constantly being reminded by the dining hall staff instead of our coaches to keep it on.”

White then went on to criticize coach Walt Wells, who served as a quality control assistant at the University of Kentucky during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, about only caring for the “[$500,000] we are about to earn by playing WVU in Morgantown at the end of the month.”

“The Head Coach knows and the Head Coach does nothing,” said White. “The Head Coach does not care about his players safety as well as his staff and their families. He cares about the 500k we are about to earn by playing WVU in Morgantown at the end of the month. The truth has to be told and I’ll be your guy.

“I love my teammates as well as my family and I’ll forever cherish the l moments I had with them. With 2 pregnant sisters, 3 nieces and a nephew, and a mom & dad as well as my Grandmother and grandfather I love dearly, I need to protect them at ALL cost. I will not endanger anyones health by continuing to play. This goes for my players family and my family.

“People need to know what the NCAA and University is really about and it’s not about player safety.”

have you paid your dues, can you moan the blues, can you bend them guitar strings