The seriousness of the coronavirus has forced governments around the world to take precautionary and reactionary measures to ensure the safety of their communities.
Currently, here in Michigan, my children’s school has been closed so the district can take appropriate steps to ensure safety and prepare teachers for potential future steps they may need to take.
In Europe, some governments have taken strong steps to protect their citizens to prevent to spread of the virus. This is the case in Italy, where former wide receiver Kris Durham is currently living while coaching with the Parma Panthers of the Italian Football League.
Durham is most widely known as Matthew Stafford’s roommate at the University of Georgia and his role in the comeback victory over the Dallas Cowboys in 2013 — he made a critical sideline catch, setting up the throw to Calvin Johnson inside the 1-yard line and the game-sealing quarterback sneak by Stafford.
After Durham left the NFL he joined the Parma Panthers football team in Italy and explained to ESPN’s Mike Rothstein how he rediscovered his love for the game. Rothstein recently caught up with Durham again, this time for his podcast “The Michael Rothstein Show“, where the two discussed where Durham was today and revisited how he ended up in Italy.
Durham is currently living in a village just north of Parma, Italy and is among the masses that have been quarantined to their homes. He took a video of the situation, passed it along to friends, and the video eventually landed with former NFL punter Pat McAfee who posted it on social media.
This morning, Durham talked with Rothstein again and told him that the video was not “intended for public use“, confirmed he was indeed quarantined, but also assured that “he has not shown any symptoms of coronavirus“, and “praised the Italian healthcare professionals and how they’ve worked around the clock.”
We at Lions Wire send our best wishes to Durham and encourage everyone to stay safe.
