Football’s pandemic issues are unending

Kyle Shanahan was almost out of answers late Thursday night after his team was shellacked by the Green Bay Packers, but he had one very good one. When the 49ers’ head coach was asked whether there is more he and his team could do regarding COVID19 protocols, he said of course.

“There’s always more,” Shanahan said. “It kind of is what it is. It’s not just the NFL.

“It’s the planet.”

It is the planet. And as darkness and cold set in over the Northern Hemisphere, coronavirus cases spike, deaths continue to mount, previously reopened countries lock down again … and American football keeps trying to play games.

The 49ers and Packers played a game on Thursday that they shouldn’t have. Twelve NFL teams are struggling with positive tests, and five shut down their facilities during the week. The Raiders have thus far been fined a cool million dollars for violations of coronavirus protocol. Ten college football games were canceled or postponed this weekend, including Cal against Washington and another Pac12 game, Arizona at Utah. That brings the cancellations this season to 47. Three Stanford players were ruled out of the Cardinal’s game against Oregon, hours before kickoff, “due to COVID19 testing results and contact tracing protocols.” A topfour contest took place between Clemson and Notre Dame, but college’s biggest star, Trevor Lawrence, couldn’t play because of a positive test.

Everyone in football is walking a tightrope, but no one knows where it ends.

Where the safe landing spot will be. When it will appear. Whether they can make it to the other side.