Boston College will pass on bowl berth
Eagles will spend Christmas at home
Boston College, which managed to escape the worst of the coronavirus outbreak and the schedule and roster shuffling that has affected so many other college teams, is passing on the opportunity to play in a bowl so players can spend Christmas with their families.
Boston College is the first school to forgo the postseason because of the pandemic.
“A lot of these young men haven’t hugged their loved ones since June,” athletic director Pat Kraft said Thursday in a conference call with reporters. “I’m very, very, very proud of them and the sacrifices they’ve made.”
Boston College was arguably the most successful team in Football Bowl Subdivision at navigating the COVID-19 outbreak, with one positive test all season — and that was in the final week. The Eagles (6-5, 5-5 ACC) played all 11 scheduled games, with just one of them postponed just one day — because of shuffling elsewhere in the ACC.
“What we did with COVID was bigger in my opinion than any game we could have won,” said coach Jeff Hafley, who was in his first year at Boston College. “I wish we could play every Saturday. But I don’t have to sit in a dorm room by myself.”
But Hafley said he could sense the strain of the unusual season on his players and called together his “leadership council” — one representative from every position group -— to get a sense of how the team felt. Together, they decided to pull the plug.
“When [linebacker Max Richardson)] told the team that they’re going home to see their families, it was an uproar,” Hafley said. “At that moment I knew 100% it was the right decision.”