When the coronavirus pandemic forced a halt to U.S. sports in March, optimistic expectations indicated a season of college football that would go ahead as planned.
But in the past five months, the U.S. has faced 5 million coronavirus cases, 162,000 deaths, and still with increasing numbers of cases around the country, because a lack of federal response has led to an inconsistent approach to the pandemic of state to state.
In principle, the reality of that situation is instilled in the decision makers of football. And several reports Sunday pointed to a postponed (or canceled) college football season announced in the coming days. This has led to a number of college footballers spreading the #WeWanttoPlay hashtag on Twitter.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence was among the players to make one last shot to save the season on social media. He tweeted this thread on Sunday:
According to Lawrence, it would be more dangerous for players to sit out the season. But his argument was essentially to admit that college footballers would not follow the health and safety guidelines at home, that it might as well risk getting sick by playing football with the financial support of the universities.
He thought the promise of football would be enough to take players’ pandemic seriously.
But we have already seen professional athletes wrestle with health protocols at restart of season. The Marlins and Cardinals had the encouragement of money and competition to follow guidelines, and they were still out for team-wide outbursts. College football – consisting of unpaid and unified athletes – would not be able to have a consistent test and enforcement protocol across the board.
Every fan and administrator of the college wants to watch college football, but the current conditions in the US make fall football a reckless exercise at this point.
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