Coaches need to accept ‘no football’

“Our university is committed to playing no matter what that looks like and how that looks .. .We certainly hope it’s in the

Big Ten. If it isn’t, I think we’re prepared to look for other options.”

Well, there you have it. Nebraska’s Scott Frost is proof positive that power (head football coach) and money ($35 million contract) do not equate with intelligence — or class.

You see, Coach Frost thinks it’s a good idea to play football smack in the middle of the worst pandemic in a century, and in the country with, by far, the world’s worst numbers regarding coronavirus cases and deaths.

Maybe he was hit too many times as a player, because his rationale, if you can call it that, is preposterous.

But he’s not alone. Big name coaches such as Penn State’s James Franklin, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, and Alabama’s Nick Saban are aggressively pushing to play. Incomprehensibly, some are even arguing that football provides “safety” to players.

Here’s the reality. There won’t be football in 2020 — it’s just that some coaches don’t know it yet. It’s the same as what we experienced in the spring, when many colleges, full of bravado facing COVID, proclaimed that they would continue in-person teaching — even though closing their physical doors was a foregone conclusion.

The Big-10 and PAC-12 conferences have now nixed their seasons. In reality, all teams will almost certainly have to punt, for good reason. Consider just a few developments around the nation as schools re-opened and sports resumed:

— Many students jammed in a Georgia high school hallway were not wearing masks. Now, numerous students and staff are COVID-positive. Yet the superintendent stated the viral photograph lacked context. Yeah, sure it did.

— COVID is spreading among students and staff in schools nationwide, resulting in thousands being quarantined.

— Major League Baseball, despite its unlimited resources to combat the virus, and having zero fans in the stands, saw numerous teams experience outbreaks.

— Six of fourteen Big-10 teams had stopped voluntary football workouts because of C19 issues. Michigan State’s team had to quarantine, and at least 28 Rutgers players, along with staff, have contracted the virus.

— There has been a 90 percent increase in the number of children with COVID, with 179,990 new cases between July 9 and August 6.

— The United States, despite being only four percent of the world’s population, owns a whopping 25 percent of all C19 cases and has, by far, the most deaths

— Without politicizing coronavirus, we must remember that this is a brand-new virus to humans that may well have been genetically engineered in a Chinese bio-weapons facility. But man made or not, COVID is not the flu. It is a virulent virus with a penchant for mutating, and often wreaks havoc on the brain, heart, lungs, and numerous other organs. Worst of all, we have no idea what the future holds for those who contract it — even the young and asymptomatic — as numerous viruses lie dormant in humans for years, such as shingles, before fully manifesting themselves.

Given that the world’s best and brightest scientific minds don’t have a clue as to possible future ramifications, it is mindboggling why are some pushing so hard right now — “no matter what that looks like,” as Mr. Frost puts it - to put people at risk, especially when a vaccine looks promising.

How can anyone possibly make the statement that football players won’t catch the virus on the field? Has he forgotten that football isn’t a contact sport, but a collision one? By definition, every snap sees players coming within inches of opponents’ faces while spewing sweat, saliva and heavily-exhaled breath — the perfect recipe for viral spread.

It’s wonderful to say that players are under medical supervision and the team can test, but so what? Given the close contact inherent in locker rooms, buses, planes, practice and games, all it takes is one player to be infected before it spreads exponentially. And not only will entire teams be dealt a blow, as we’ve seen in contactless baseball, but both opponents and classmates could also become ill.

The selfish attitude of college football’s premier coaches perfectly illustrates why coronavirus is penalizing” us longer than necessary. Let’s do the right thing by throwing a flag on this fall’s college football season before more than just time expires.