The ACC is set to host their annual football media days, known as ACC Kickoff, later this month in anticipation of the upcoming 2024 college football season.
On Tuesday, a high-profile quarterback in the conference shared that he will not be attending the event.
The Florida State Seminoles were controversially left out of last season’s College Football Playoff despite a perfect regular season. Transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was not a part of the team at the time, coming over from Oregon State in the offseason. While he would be an obvious choice to represent the school at media day, he wants the players from that FSU squad to get the glory.
In a social media post, Uiagalelei stated that he has opted not to attend the ACC Kickoff, calling for “players from last year’s ACC Championship team” to represent FSU at the event.
“I was honored to be invited by the conference to represent Florida State at this year’s ACC Kickoff,” wrote Uiagalelei. “The experience of attending that event in 2021 and 2022 is among the highlights of my time in college, and I appreciate being viewed as one of the conference’s top players heading into the season.
“However, I feel strongly that Florida State should be represented by players who were part of last year’s ACC Championship team. The players who helped put this program back on top of the ACC should have the opportunity to be recognized for their contributions. This team is more than its quarterback, and I’m excited for my teammates who will experience this fantastic event.”
https://twitter.com/djuiagalelei/status/1810728006966554742
It’s not hard to notice his comment about FSU being “more than its quarterback” as a direct shot at the CFP Committee. The committee seemingly based their decision to leave the Seminoles out of the playoffs on Jordan Travis’s season-ending injury in November.
Regardless of how you feel about Uiagalelei’s decision not to attend the ACC Kickoff, you have to respect him for sticking up for the players from last year’s roster. They rightfully deserve a chance to represent the conference, which they didn’t get to do in last year’s College Football Playoff.