A contingent of Pac-12 football players are threatening to opt out of the 2020 season if their demands regarding health and safety protections, compensation and racial injustice are not met.

Pac-12 Football Unity, a conference-wide group of players, issued its demands “to protect and benefit both scholarship and walk-on athletes” via The Players Tribune and a press release Sunday.

“NCAA sports has truly failed us, it doesn’t enforce any health and safety standards,” the group states in its release. “We believe a football season under these conditions would be reckless and put us at needless risk. We will not play until there is real change that is acceptable to us.”

“The last thing I want to see is a tweet offering thoughts and prayers for a brother or an opponent from an organization that knew the risks of playing in these conditions,” Cal’s Jake Curhan said in a release. “As a redshirt-senior, I won’t be around to reap the rewards of this movement but I’m proud that we are sticking up for the safety of future generations and providing an opportunity to make something of what should be one of the most economically fruitful times of our lives.”

Many of the demands by the players’ group, listed below, are already being met by the conference and its member schools, including the protection of scholarships for athletes who choose not to play this academic year because of safety concerns about COVID-19 and testing athletes for the virus.

However, at least one of the players affiliated with the group contends that the regularity of COVID-19 testing in the conference is not frequent enough at some schools.

“I have a 3.0+ GPA, I’ve received a reduced stipend since I’ve been back during the pandemic, I have a high risk family member, and no promised eligibility,” Cal’s Joshua Drayden said in a statement. “I honestly love my school and my coaches. This is bigger than me though. I personally know someone at another Pac-12 (school) who said they have been tested twice since June. I am standing up for those players at that school.

“There are hundreds of Pac-12 players in a much more difficult position than me that need this type of change for their safety and future. There are countless future college football players that need this type of change. This is generational change that can directly impact the communities that CAN produce successful humans that are more than just athletes.”

Said Oregon State’s Jaydon Grant, “Since the system is willing to risk our health and safety in the midst of the global pandemic, we must look out for each other. With so much uncertainty around COVID, we cannot wait until it strikes the world of college football. We must act now to ensure our safety playing the game we all love, and that is why we are united.”

Some of the players’ other demands are actively being discussed and litigated within the NCAA and Congress, specifically name, image and likeness compensation and the one-time transfer rule for all sports.

Demands related to social justice include forming a permanent “civic engagement task force” and an annual “Pac-12 Black College Athlete Summit.” The conference and its athletic directors announced in June there would be ongoing efforts to “continue to engage with our student-athletes, coaches and other members of our Pac-12 community to discuss how collectively we can take actions to help end racism and injustice.”

Medical insurance coverage for six years after completing their eligibility for “sports-related medical conditions, including COVID-19” is among the players’ economic demands.

“Post career health insurance is a benefit that I know would positively impact both current and future college athletes,” Arizona State’s Cody Shear said. “The need for extended insurance is important to me for a couple of different reasons. Coming out of high school, my uncle was a highly sought after player and like many others, had aspirations of playing in the NFL. He attended the University of Oregon, where unfortunately his career was cut short due to excessive concussions. So much so that he continues to deal with concussion related issues to this day.

“I have had an injury filled career in college football as well, breaking my foot, tearing both labrums in my shoulders, and two concussions. We are just two examples of the many college athletes (many much less fortunate than us) who have dealt with injuries during their careers in college and face long term recovery issues. I am lucky to play for a coaching staff who truly cares about me personally, as well as my long term health. They do everything they can to prevent long term injuries, but there is only so much they can do. Granting players the opportunity to have extended health insurance coverage would have a huge impact on our lives. This would especially help players from low income families. Having health insurance after the end of our careers would allow players to take care of injuries, return to a normal physical condition, and prevent injuries from holding us back from our full potential in life.”

Demands related to compensation are either outside the conference’s purview or against NCAA rules.

According to ESPN and The Athletic, Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National Collegiate Players Association, aided the players in formulating their message over the past month. Huma, a former UCLA football player, has been an outspoken critic of the NCAA for many years and has testified before Congress on a number of occasions, including last month.

A Pac-12 spokesman said the league did not have further response to the players’ demands, which can be found below, and referred to the conference’s statement Saturday. An Oregon athletics spokesman referred to the conference’s statement.

RELATED: Oregon’s Penei Sewell, Jevon Holland, Thomas Graham Jr., Jordon Scott among Pac-12 players threatening boycott

“I love football. I love football so much that I am willing to give it up if things are not done right and we are not in a safe environment,” UCLA’s Elisha Guidry said in a release. “Every player that puts on these pads to play this game is a person with their own family, own friends, own passions, and own purpose that is greater than football. We want to play the game we love and have given so much of ourselves to, but we want to do it in a safe way.”

Several players heavily involved in the group also drew the distinction between broad concerns over health and safety during the pandemic and the work of the coaches, training and medical staffs and their schools, including Oregon’s Jevon Holland, Oregon State’s Grant and Arizona State’s Shear.

“This is important to me because I want to see the young men that are being exploited by the Pac-12 & NCAA have the right to earn money for their families,” Holland said in a release. “I want the safety of my peers lives to be placed higher than the sport they play. If we are treated like employees then we should be compensated as such.”

According to the Spokesman-Review, Washington State receiver Kassidy Woods opted out due to a preexisting medical condition. There are conflicting reports regarding the current status of other WSU players affiliated with Pac-12 Football Unity and whether they’ve been “released” but still on scholarship or if they are expected to be fully active in offseason workouts.

“I want to see the conference at its 100% all around the board. We lack enforced health and safety standards, putting ourselves and others at risk,” Washington State’s Dallas Hobbs said in a statement. “I believe we need the basic rights and benefits that will help our future. We are all grateful for what we have but there is so much more that would create generational change.”

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Pac-12 Football Unity Demands

To Protect and Benefit Both Scholarship and Walk-On Athletes

I. Health & Safety Protections

COVID-19 Protections

• Allow option not to play during the pandemic without losing athletics eligibility or spot on our team’s roster.
• Prohibit/void COVID-19 agreements that waive liability.

Mandatory Safety Standards, Including COVID-19 Measures

• Player-approved health and safety standards enforced by a third party selected by players to address COVID-19, as well as serious injury, abuse and death.

II. Protect All Sports

Preserve All Existing Sports by Eliminating Excessive Expenditures

• Larry Scott, administrators, and coaches to voluntarily and drastically reduce excessive pay.
• End performance/academic bonuses.
• End lavish facility expenditures and use some endowment funds to preserve all sports.*

*As an example, Stanford University should reinstate all sports discontinued by tapping into their $27.7 billion endowment.

III. End Racial Injustice in College Sports and Society

• Form a permanent civic-engagement task force made up of our leaders, experts of our choice, and university and conference administrators to address outstanding issues such as racial injustice in college sports and in society.
• In partnership with the Pac-12, 2% of conference revenue would be directed by players to support financial aid for low-income Black students, community initiatives, and development programs for college athletes on each campus.
• Form annual Pac-12 Black College Athlete Summit with guaranteed representation of at least three athletes of our choice from every school.

IV. Economic Freedom and Equity

Guaranteed Medical Expense Coverage

• Medical insurance selected by players for sports-related medical conditions, including COVID- 19 illness, to cover six years after college athletics eligibility ends.

Name, Image, and Likeness Rights & Representation

• The freedom to secure representation, receive basic necessities from any third party, and earn money for use of our name, image, and likeness rights.

Fair Market Pay, Rights, & Freedoms

• Distribute 50% of each sport’s total conference revenue evenly among athletes in their respective sports.
• Six-year athletic scholarships to foster undergraduate and graduate degree completion.
• Elimination of all policies and practices restricting or deterring our freedom of speech, our ability to fully participate in charitable work, and our freedom to participate in campus activities outside of mandatory athletics participation.
• Ability of players of all sports to transfer one time without punishment, and additionally in cases of abuse or serious negligence.
• Ability to complete eligibility after participating in a pro draft if player goes undrafted and foregoes professional participation within seven days of the draft.
• Due process rights