No forfeits here: Reports indicate which SEC teams have reached vaccine threshold
By Keith Farner
Published:
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey made news on Monday when he reported that six of the 14 SEC football teams have reached the 80 percent threshold for vaccinations that Sankey himself set.
As coaches have reached the podium throughout the SEC Media Days this week, they have reported where their teams stand with the vaccination rate. For example, on Wednesday, Alabama coach Nick Saban reported that the Crimson Tide are at nearly 90 percent. Through reports from Ross Dellenger and Andrew Hutchinson, it is known that four of the six teams are Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Arkansas.
Saban also explained how the education process has gone at Alabama.
“I think there’s two issues when it comes to vaccines,” Saban said. “We’ve had a large majority of our players who have gotten the vaccine and we’ve given every player on our team the choice to do that. I think there’s a couple of things to consider. First of all, you have a personal decision, which comes down to risk. Risk of COVID, relative risk to the vaccine. Because it’s the same thing. We don’t really have a lot of knowledge about how this stuff is going to affect people in the future. So that’s a personal decision that everybody has a right to make. On the other hand, you also have a competitive decision to make because you’re going to be part of a team. So how does the personal choice you make affect the team.”
On Monday, Sankey explained that the SEC has identified for consideration among the schools to remove roster minimums, “and you’re expected to play as scheduled. That means your team needs to be healthy to compete, and if not, that game won’t be rescheduled. Thus, to dispose of the game, the forfeit word comes up at this point. That’s not a policy, and what you see now are the bookends about decision-making.”
Saban then referenced the N.C. State baseball team, which was sent home from the College World Series following an outbreak, and the New York Yankees having a similar outbreak.
“The players have to understand that you are putting your teammates in a circumstance and a situation, we can control what you do in our building, we cannot control what you do on campus,” Saban said. “Same way when you go around town, who you’re around, who you’re associated with, and what you bring into our building. So every player has a personal decision to make to evaluate the risk of COVID relative to the vaccine, and then they have a competitive decision to make on how it impacts their ability to play in games. With the vaccine, you probably have a better chance, without it, you have a less chance that something could happen. A bigger chance that something could happen that would keep you from being on the field, which doesn’t enhance your personal development.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
