In July of 2021, the College Football Players Association was formed to promote labor organizing among college football players. CFBPA is very similar to the NFL Players Association in the way that it represents its players.

A year after its formation, the CFBPA and its players are working to create a union, and Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford is at the forefront of these efforts.

Clifford explained why he's so passionate about leading the unionization of college football players.

“I think that it's all about two things,” Sean Clifford explained. “It's the players that are here currently, seeing how football wears on them. And then secondly, the players that have came and gone; the medically retired players.”

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He specifically mentioned his friend and former Penn State teammate, Journey Brown. The running back's collegiate football career was cut short when he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 2020.

“The game was taken from him earlier than he expected, and it's tough for guys like that to be able to continue on and figure out what the next step is…being a leader for them is very important to me.”

According to In These Times, one of the CFBPA's original goals was to cover both current and past athletes, like Journey Brown.

“The CFBPA aims to become a permanent institution, capable of serving the needs of players even after they have left college football altogether. That will require not just organizing the players of today, but building Players Association chapters durable enough to carry on for years.”