One only needs to read Indiana freshman OL Brady Feeneys story, shared by his mother on Facebook, to appreciate possible severe adverse consequences we are exposing our athletes to, if the season is played:
My son was negative when he got tested at the beginning of volunteer workouts. Within three weeks he and multiple others tested positive. His university has done everything right by shutting down workouts and retesting the whole team.
"Unfortunately this virus hit my son very hard compared to most of his teammates. Here was a kid in perfect health, great physical condition and due to the virus ended up going to the ER because of breathing issues. After 14 days of hell battling the horrible virus, his school did additional testing on all those that were positive. My son even recieved extra tests because he was one of the worst cases.
"Now we are dealing with possible heart issues! He is still experiencing additional symptoms and his blood work is indicating additional problems. Bottom line, even if your son’s schools do everything right to protect them, they CAN’T PROTECT THEM!!
"I pray my son recovers from this horrible virus and can lead a healthy normal life!! Football does not really matter when your child’s health is in jeopardy!! Think about it!!! My heart is hurting and I pray for all of these kids and for the people making the decisions about the season!!!
https://www.si.com/college/indiana/football/indiana-freshman-brady-feeney-seriously-ill-covid-19
After reading that, I don’t know how anyone could advocate for the season being played. Here you have a player, in peak physical condition when he entered the football program,
Possibly scarred for life, despite all the precautions taken.
That’s unacceptable, and we should not expose more players to similar risks. Once one player has it, others will get it as the virus spreads through teams like wildfire, because they train in close quarters. Rutgers football team is presently quarantined, because 15 players got it.
It’s no secret that the virus has hit the African American and Latino Communities the hardest.
And college football is played by players, the majority of which, are African American, a community especially prone to diabetes and other pre-existing conditions. Conditions that the virus will expose.
Playing the season exposes players to possible death, and there’s nothing worse than that. We all know the risks are very small, but the possibility is not worth the benefits. Nothing is worth possible death. Players of course will always say they want to play. No one thinks they’ll get the virus till they get it.
Not to mention that the logistics of managing the season will be very difficult if it is played. What if a player tests positive, will games be cancelled? How many players need to test positive before you cancel a game? Do you quarantine just the player, his unit and the position coach, the whole team? How long do you quarantine the team if there are cases? The evil of this virus is that it spreads asymptomatically and can take time before it shows up on a test. So a player can test negative one day, then positive the next. There are also false positives, as we saw with Ohio’s Governor.
What if a player dies? Do you continue on with the season, or do you cancel it? How many players need to die before you cancel the season? How many players need to go to the hospital before you cancel the season? Frankly, I think one is too many, and we’ve already reached that quota.
Lastly, Amateurs are not adequately compensated for the possible risks they are taking, the ultimate, which is death, even if it is very small. What will a school compensate the family if a player dies?
All these questions will have to be thought through, if a season is played.
I’m of the opinion that this season, and this year, is a write off. Next season and next year a vaccine will be in place, and things will be much different. That’s why the right thing to do is to cancel the season. If the season is cancelled, I’ll be boating, and looking forward to the real Super Bowl, November 3rd.
My son was negative when he got tested at the beginning of volunteer workouts. Within three weeks he and multiple others tested positive. His university has done everything right by shutting down workouts and retesting the whole team.
"Unfortunately this virus hit my son very hard compared to most of his teammates. Here was a kid in perfect health, great physical condition and due to the virus ended up going to the ER because of breathing issues. After 14 days of hell battling the horrible virus, his school did additional testing on all those that were positive. My son even recieved extra tests because he was one of the worst cases.
"Now we are dealing with possible heart issues! He is still experiencing additional symptoms and his blood work is indicating additional problems. Bottom line, even if your son’s schools do everything right to protect them, they CAN’T PROTECT THEM!!
"I pray my son recovers from this horrible virus and can lead a healthy normal life!! Football does not really matter when your child’s health is in jeopardy!! Think about it!!! My heart is hurting and I pray for all of these kids and for the people making the decisions about the season!!!
https://www.si.com/college/indiana/football/indiana-freshman-brady-feeney-seriously-ill-covid-19
After reading that, I don’t know how anyone could advocate for the season being played. Here you have a player, in peak physical condition when he entered the football program,
Possibly scarred for life, despite all the precautions taken.
That’s unacceptable, and we should not expose more players to similar risks. Once one player has it, others will get it as the virus spreads through teams like wildfire, because they train in close quarters. Rutgers football team is presently quarantined, because 15 players got it.
It’s no secret that the virus has hit the African American and Latino Communities the hardest.
And college football is played by players, the majority of which, are African American, a community especially prone to diabetes and other pre-existing conditions. Conditions that the virus will expose.
Playing the season exposes players to possible death, and there’s nothing worse than that. We all know the risks are very small, but the possibility is not worth the benefits. Nothing is worth possible death. Players of course will always say they want to play. No one thinks they’ll get the virus till they get it.
Not to mention that the logistics of managing the season will be very difficult if it is played. What if a player tests positive, will games be cancelled? How many players need to test positive before you cancel a game? Do you quarantine just the player, his unit and the position coach, the whole team? How long do you quarantine the team if there are cases? The evil of this virus is that it spreads asymptomatically and can take time before it shows up on a test. So a player can test negative one day, then positive the next. There are also false positives, as we saw with Ohio’s Governor.
What if a player dies? Do you continue on with the season, or do you cancel it? How many players need to die before you cancel the season? How many players need to go to the hospital before you cancel the season? Frankly, I think one is too many, and we’ve already reached that quota.
Lastly, Amateurs are not adequately compensated for the possible risks they are taking, the ultimate, which is death, even if it is very small. What will a school compensate the family if a player dies?
All these questions will have to be thought through, if a season is played.
I’m of the opinion that this season, and this year, is a write off. Next season and next year a vaccine will be in place, and things will be much different. That’s why the right thing to do is to cancel the season. If the season is cancelled, I’ll be boating, and looking forward to the real Super Bowl, November 3rd.
