When the coronavirus pandemic forced a stoppage of U.S. sports back in March, optimistic expectations pointed to a college football season that would go on as scheduled.
But over the past five months, the U.S. has surpassed 5 million coronavirus cases, 162,000 deaths and still faces growing case counts around the country as a lack of federal response has led to an inconsistent approach to the pandemic from state to state.
Basically, the reality of that situation has set in with the college football decision makers. And multiple reports Sunday pointed to a postponed (or canceled) college football season getting announced in the coming days. That has led to a number of college football players spreading the #WeWanttoPlay hashtag on Twitter.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence was among the players to make a last-ditch effort to save the season on social media. He tweeted this thread on Sunday:
According to Lawrence, it would be more dangerous for players to sit out the season. But his argument was essentially admitting that college football players weren’t going to adhere to health and safety guidelines at home so might as well risk getting sick by playing football with the financial support of the universities.
He thought that the promise of football would be enough to make players take the pandemic seriously.
But we’ve already seen professional athletes struggle with health protocols during season restarts. The Marlins and Cardinals had the incentive of money and competition to follow guidelines, and they still faced team-wide outbreaks. College football — comprised of unpaid and unionized athletes — would not be able to have a consistent testing and enforcement protocol across the board.
Every fan and college administrator wants to see college football played, but the current conditions in the U.S. make fall football a reckless exercise at this point.
