The COVID-19 pandemic continues to dominate the news in the United States, as cases continue to rise in many states, particularly in the southeast.

On Monday, NFL analyst and former QB Boomer Esiason made a bold claim during his “Boomer and Gio” show on WFAN.

As you can see in the clip below, Esiason seemingly suggests that players in the SEC and at Clemson are purposely contracting COVID-19 now so they won’t get it during the season:

“I was thinking the other day about what was going on with the SEC teams down south and Clemson included, which is obviously an ACC team,” he said. “A lot of their players are coming down with COVID-19, oddly enough. Are they trying to ‘herd immunity’ their teams so these guys can get sick now as opposed to getting sick during the college football season, if in fact, there is one? And I’m telling you right now, I wouldn’t put it past any of those guys down there.

“I think it’s going on. The numbers coming out of Alabama, LSU and Clemson, all these teams — it’s too much of a coincidence.”

That was followed by a not-so-great Ed Orgeron impression from one of the other hosts. Considering that COVID-19 is potentially something people can catch multiple times, Esiason’s take is especially bold.