By: Tripp Vistica
Nov. 2, 2020
As the 2020 college football and NFL season continues, there seems to be a positive COVID-19 test almost every day, but for some reason the NFL and universities around the country are still allowing fans to attend the games despite the number of players and coaches testing positive for COVID-19. Instead, college football programs and NFL teams are starting to allow more fans into their stadiums. Was the first weekend of college football not a clue of what was to come after the University of Memphis (UofM) had 42 football players test positive for the virus only six days after their first game?
Since the UofM football team’s COVID-19 outbreak, the NFL and college football are still trying to allow more fans in attendance. The biggest head scratcher is what Dan Mullen was thinking when he called for Florida Gator fans to pack “The Swamp” following a road loss to Texas A&M. Mullen claimed the crowd noise played a huge factor in their loss, and that Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, lifted attendance restrictions on all stadiums in Florida. Therefore, Mullen wanted a full crowd in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, but the University of Florida decided to stick to the guidelines in place. It was like Mullen was asking to catch the virus, and seven days later he got his wish with him and 37 players testing positive in October.
The Florida Gators outbreak came less than a month after Florida State Head Coach and former UofM Head Coach, Mike Norvell tested positive. I cannot find any logic why Governor DeSantis would lift attendance restrictions, or why Mullen would want to risk spreading the virus after the Gators in-state rival’s Head Coach tested positive. That’s the definition of backwards logic, and it’s mind-blowing that Governor DeSantis would lift the restrictions.
The state of Florida is not the only state to not comprehend why there should not be fans at football games. It’s happening all over the country.
In South Carolina, number one ranked Clemson’s Quarterback and Heisman Trophy front-runner, Trevor Lawrence, tested positive for COVID-19 on October 29 forcing him to miss Clemson’s game against Boston College and next week’s game against number four ranked, Notre Dame. Lawrence tested positive just a few days after discussing how he protects himself from the virus.
“I think just being responsible as much as you can”, Lawrence said. “Try to stay away from big groups outside of your bubble and the facility.”
Lawrence’s quote is solid proof that you can follow all the protocols, but protocols don’t make you immune from the virus when there are thousands of fans in the stadium. To make things worse for Clemson, Lawrence wasn’t the only one at Clemson to test positive in October. Clemson went from zero positive tests to 18 in a week, including 14 student-athletes and four staff members.
It’s not just college football that doesn’t seem to grasp the situation this pandemic has put us in. The NFL reported 19 new positive cases of the virus between October 18 – October 24, which was only ten days after the Tennessee Titans had a massive outbreak of 24 positive tests including 13 players. The Titans outbreak came one day after New England Patriots quarterback and former NFL MVP, Cam Newton, tested positive.
The NBA and MLB were able to finish their seasons with less cases of COVID-19, because they didn’t allow fans to attend games. However, college football and the NFL thought it would be a good idea to do the opposite and look how it has turned out for them.
The Memphis Tigers were the first team to have players test positive, but they did not learn from the mistake of allowing fans in attendance. Instead, the UofM decided to increase the number of fans inside the Liberty Bowl from 4,500 to 12,00 starting on October 17 for the game against the University of Central Florida (UCF). Why this decision was made is beyond me, after 42 players tested positive with 4,500 fans in attendance, and we can’t forget about the what happened to the Titans nine days before the UofM made the decision to increase fan attendance.
There’s only one reason that I can assume why football is not getting rid of fan attendance and expanding it. Money. They’re afraid of how much money they will lose if they don’t allow fans to attend games, but that shows that they care more about money than the safety of players, coaches and fans.
I strongly believe that universities and NFL owners should just bight the bullet, and let their wallets take a huge hit. If they don’t and let the number of positive cases continue to grow, the landscape of football in college and the NFL may never look the same.
In my opinion, it’s time for football to start caring more about their players, coaches and fans health and safety than they do about money. If they don’t, who knows what the football landscape will look like in the future, but I can guarantee that it will look worse if they don’t start thinking differently about the way this pandemic is affecting the game America loves most.
Tripp Vistica 