Myers onhis 10-day isolation: ‘Itwas awful’
COLUMBUS— Maybethiswas another false positive test, Ohio State football’s Josh Myers said when he called his parents early in theweek before Thanksgiving.
The Miamisburg High School graduate would not have been the first. Other Buckeyes experienced false positives for coronavirus fromthe daily rapid antigen testing they and other Big Ten teams had taken since September. Facing a minimumof three missed games in the middle of a national championshippursuit, Myers hoped to join that inconvenienced but fortunate group.
The next day, Brad and JulieMyers received another call from their son. A polymerase chain reaction test had confirmed the initial result. Amid the swirling emotions of sadness and anger, Myers’ thoughts shifted fromany health concerns about the virus to the pending separation from his team.
Myers believed he had done everything necessary — made every requested sacrifice — to avoid that positive test. He had not somuch as been to the grocery store in months. He still ended up as one of over two dozen Buckeyes who watched the Dec. 5 win at Michigan State from isolation in Columbus.
From cell phone screens 120 miles away, his family tried to help him through those 10 days of loneliness and frustration.
“I wasn’t really worried about him from a physical standpoint, but being isolated and being away from the team and losing out on playing games — it wasmore the mental side of it,” Julie Myers said. “Those kids put theirwhole life on hold and put everyounce of effort into being successful on the football field.
“He is a very serious and intense football player. One minute you’re ready to play a game, thenextminute you’re by yourself for 10 days and watching the team play. It’s anoverwhelming experience
for a 22-year-old.”
Other than watching him from the stands, Brad and Julie Myers have not seen their son in person since late summer. They said, even prior to his diagnosis, hewas always moreworried about unwittingly passing the virus to them than vice versa.
That separation extended through the holidays as the Buckeyes opted to remain on campus during preparations for their Jan. 1. College Football Playoff semifinal against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.
In-season routinesmeana greatdeal tothe players’ families. Brad and Julie waited every Saturday morning outside the Blackwell Hotel, where they and other parents hugged their sons as they walked to St. John’s Arena for the Skull Session pep rally.
Pandemic concerns canceled all of those traditions in 2020.
Myers’ brothers, Zach and Brett, also came to every home game. They usually stayed in Columbus on Saturday nights, hanging out atMyers’ house and watching the late games across the country. Those weekends together — possibly their last ifMyers enters the NFLDraft
in the spring — were another casualty of COVID-19.
“It’s hard on families because football season is taxing physically and emotionally for players, especially at this level,” Julie Myers said. “The pressure that’s on them I don’t think people can even relate to. To not have that family contact that helps lift them up has been hard for all the kids.”
Players have known since the Big Ten reinstated the fall season that one false test equaled at least three missed games. At the time Myers and others tested positive before Thanksgiving, league protocols called for 10 days of isolation, followed by cardiac testing, followed by a seven- day re- acclimatization period.
Brad and Julie Myers could empathize with what it meant for a college athlete tomiss such a largewindow of games. Brad was an offensive lineman at Kentucky. Julie’s basketball talents earned her a spot in the University of Dayton’s athletic hall of fame. Julie Myers is a primary care physicianwhoworks in internal medicine and pediatrics. Patients often come to her first with COVID-19 symptoms. Sowhen her son called
with his diagnosis, she told him to start writing down supplements and doses — Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, Zinc, a daily aspirin.
Myers could not isolate at his usual residence because he lives with three teammates. Instead he went to the family’s vacation home about 40 minutes outside of Columbus. That comfortable option is ordinarily one of Myers’ favorite places to spendtime. Theremote location caused Mom and Dad some anxiety.
“Let’s say he wakes up in the middle of the night, and you hear somuch about respiratory issues,” Brad Myers said. “Nobody is going to be there in 10 minutes to help him. We did worry about that a little bit.”
Myers endured only mild physical effects of the virus. He experienced cold- like symptoms and briefly lost his sense of taste and smell.
He said the more difficult physical experience came from the interruption to his usual athletic routine.
“I had to sit there for 10 days and basically do nothing,” Myers said following his return to the team for the Big Ten championship game. “I had schoolwork and stuff I had to finish up
formy internship. But other than that, I couldn’t work out because I couldn’t get my heart rate up.
“So Iwas just sitting there, and itwas probably 10 of the hardest days I’ve ever had in my life.”
TheMyers’ said one teammate who had already had COVID-19 could take him food and other supplies if needed. Otherwise Myers spent those 10 days alone. The family made regular Facetime calls to help keep his spirits up. Brad and Josh talked Xs and Os, going over howthey expected Michigan State to attack the Buckeyes in that Dec. 5 game.
The testing spike which included Myers led to the cancellation ofOSU’sNov. 28 game at Illinois. Game day at Michigan State, though, brought a new emotional challenge.
Myers started every game of the 2019 season and the first four in 2020. As Ohio State’s center he played an integral role in one of the nation’s most dynamic offenses. He relished the responsibilities — reading defenses, recognizing blitzes and alignments, calling out blocking schemes and supporting quarterback Justin Fields.
He also has taken sophomoreHarry Miller, in his first season as OSU’s starting left guard, under his wing. Now Myers could only watch from four hours away as Miller was thrown into replacing his mentor at center.
“Sitting there watching your own team play when you have so much invested into it — it’s awful,” Myers said. “I don’t have any other way to put it. When you invest somuchandyou sacrifice somuch for something and then you have to sit out, it’s hard to put into words howbad it is.”
Like a true team captain, however, Myers’ spirits brightened during Ohio State’s 52- 12 victory. He watched the replacement offensive line — including three first- time starters — protect Fields and open the door for his Big Ten offensive player of the week performance.
Michigan’s own COVID19 outbreak forced the cancellation of the Buckeyes’ scheduled regular- season finale. Myers and fellow offensive lineman Nicholas Petit-Frere and ThayerMunford returned for the Big Ten championship game.
Despitethetimeawayfrom practice and conditioning, the reunited starting lineup paved the way for a 399yard rushing performance. Backup running back Trey Sermon followed the holes they opened to single-game OSU record rushing effort of 331 yards.
Yet the Buckeyes could not celebrate that victory together. Others had tested positive earlier that week and were forced to watch from the same isolation he had experienced. Myers missed only one regular-season game. These teammates weremissing one of the most memorable games of their careers.
Myers made sure the rest of his teamrecognized what those absences meant. “I was like, just keep the guys that couldn’t behere inyour hearts, he said. “Because I know. It was awful.”