College Football and the Pandemic

 

 

By Andrew Rosario

 

The 2020 college football season is in a paralyzed/limbo state as the number of deaths due to the Coronavirus/Covid19 Pandemic has exceeded 150,000 across the country. There have varying opinions among college presidents, coaches, players as to whether or not to cancel the season or postpone it and start it at the end of September. Some schools have already cancelled fall sports. President Donald Trump has endorsed playing games saying it would “be a tragic mistake” if the season was cancelled. Colleges across the country are only allowing virtual classes as students are not allowed on campus or in the classroom.   

 

 

 

Last year’s number one college draft pick Joe Burrow said, “I feel for all college athletes right now. I hope their voices are heard by the decision makers. If this happened a year ago, l may be looking for a job right now.” The ripple effect as a result of whether or not there will be a season will impact college players who will be eligible for the 2021 draft. No season means that juniors and seniors will not be able to enhance their draft status. Will NFL general managers take a chance on drafting players who they feel are risky because they didn’t show enough on the field? Will the number of juniors decide to enter the draft increase? 

 

 

 

 

A movement “We Want To Play” was created by college players and was supported by Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence as some well established players like Micah Parsons (Penn St.) Rashod Bateman (Minnesota) and Caleb Farley (Virginia) have decided to sit out the season citing health concerns due to the Pandemic. 

 

The five power conferences, began meeting this past week to determine what will happen this season. The result of one conference can have a ripple/domino effect on the rest of the conferences.

 

Two prominent head coaches, Jim Harbaugh (Michigan) and Nick Saban (Alabama) offered their opinions. “We will continue to follow all health and safety guidelines, teach, train and coach those young men and their families that have put trust in us, while advocating for a football season in the fall,” said Harbaugh. “I want to play,” Saban began. “But I want to play for the players sake, the value they can create for themselves. We have around a 2 percent positive ratio on our team since the Fourth of July. It’s a lot higher than that in society,” he concluded. 

 

The NFL announced earlier this month there will be no pre-season games and no fans will be allowed to attend games when the season begins. It has not been established as to whether or not stadiums will allow tailgating prior to the games. Baseball, basketball, hockey, golf, boxing and tennis do not allow fans to attend.

 

The virus continues to take lives every day. States are reporting spikes in the number of people testing positive. All college programs are aware of the statistics. Whether or not they want to expose their players is the big question.