Case of Florida player should concern us all

Very few are writing about it, and fewer are talking about it, but what happened to Florida basketball player Keontae Johnson is very likely what university doctors from the Pac-12 and Big Ten warned about when those conferences initially said they were pushing the football season to 2021.

Myocarditis. Consider these words from Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant:

Johnson has been diagnosed with acute myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation linked to COVID-19 infection, a week and a half after collapsing during the Gators’ Dec. 12 game at Florida State, according to the Gainesville Sun.

That is, in a word, terrifying. It is enough to make me wonder whether this season should continue.

I am not saying that it shouldn’t. But we should all have proper appreciation for the unknown in a sporting pursuit akin to playing with fire — especially in the midst of the most damaging, and hopefully final, wave of the pandemic.

Johnson, the SEC preseason player of the year, contracted COVID-19 over the summer, according to numerous reports.

It is impossible to know whether the virus led to his heart condition.

Johnson’s collapse could have been coincidental.

Seeing him fall lifelessly to the court was eye-opening nonetheless and sickening, period. We continue to lack a full understanding for the virus’ long-term impact and health implications.

Death can’t be the only measure of risk and reward in holding college basketball together. Will seeing someone actually lose their life be the only way we second guess something that, in certain moments, can feel like an immoral pursuit? At what point would it be considered irresponsible?

After nine-plus months in a global pandemic that feel like a lifetime, the medical community is still learning about COVID-19, mutations of which are proving to be more contagious. Myocarditis can lead to cardiac arrest in otherwise healthy young adults while participating in activities of high cardiac demand.

We’re left to wonder if it started with COVID.

Or if it was just a coincidence.

Trivia question

On the heels of New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara’s six-touchdown day — who is the Saints’ all-time leading rusher?

They said it

From Janice Hough of Leftcoastsportsbabe.com: “The Ohio State university has selfimposed postseason bans for 2020-21…. for its women’s basketball, women’s golf and fencing programs. Yeah, I’m sure those are the programs at OSU that have most abused the NCAA rules.”

From OTW: “Remember that Browns offensive lineman who caught a touchdown pass earlier this month? Kendall Lamm? You might want to pick him up for fantasy.”

Trivia answer

Deuce Mcallister, who turns 42 today, is the Saints’ all-time leading rusher with 6,096 yards. Mcallister, who now does color commentator for the Saints, played from 2001-08. Mcallister played at Mississippi. Mark

Ingram, currently with the Ravens, is second.