There are 5 questions I still have about positive in-season COVID-19 tests
When reports came out Thursday that at least 5 Alabama players tested positive for COVID-19, it served as a bit of a reminder.
We’re going to have an unprecedented college football season in many more ways than just fan attendance.
That is inevitable. The safety precautions in place ahead of voluntary workouts were already a reminder of that. Mandatory testing for all athletes upon a return to campus was one of them. Actually, that’s not 100% correct. There are places like Arkansas and Mizzou that aren’t testing all athletes upon return to campus, only the symptomatic ones.
Still, when reports surfaced about Alabama’s positive tests upon their return to campus, it was a bit of a wakeup call. Alabama’s statement Thursday in response to the report offered up, well, nothing:
“The health and safety of our student-athletes is a top priority. Resources and protocols are in place to ensure they receive the best medical care when returning to campus. Due to privacy laws we cannot share information specific to the health of our student-athletes.”
I don’t know about you, but I definitely had a reaction to that.
Oh, so it’s gonna be like that?
Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised that Alabama was unwilling to even confirm that there any positive tests on campus. After all, there are still Power 5 programs like Michigan that act like providing a pregame depth chart is like tweeting out their social security number. College football is many things. Transparent isn’t one of them.
It seems that there are still plenty of questions about positive tests as it relates to the season ahead. Here are my 5:
1. When will we see a team lose a star player before a huge game?
Picture this scenario.
LSU is heading into Week 2 against Texas with all the hype in the world. College GameDay is coming to Baton Rouge. Playoff implications? Yup. Revenge game? Absolutely. A game that can shape perception about Tom Herman for the next year? No doubt.
Thursday night rolls around and a bombshell report comes out — Sam Ehlinger tested positive for COVID-19.
When will that happen? Is it inevitable? If I’m guessing, yes, we’ll see at least 1 instance in 2020 of a star player missing a showdown because of a positive test. My question is how early and how often that happens. Will we find out something like that on a Thursday or will teams keep it totally under wraps and not have that leak out until prior to kickoff? My guess is the latter.
If Alabama was any indication, maybe we won’t even find out that a player got a positive test. He just won’t be on the field and we’ll be left to assume that’s the reason. Even if teams are reporting these positive cases to local health officials for continued understanding of how and where the virus is contracted, the public’s knowledge of positive cases could be speculative.
2. Will we see the Heisman race impacted by a positive case?
Can you imagine if Trevor Lawrence was in the midst of a Heisman-caliber season in early November, only to test positive? Unprecedented, that would be.
Losing a player to a virus in the midst of a Heisman-caliber season would be unlike watching them go down with a season-ending injury. That’s usually on the field stuff. Shoot, it wouldn’t even be like a player not being academically eligible. A player contracting the virus could be something that’s completely out of their control. That’s not to say a player can control whether he tears an ACL, but this could be even more random than that. It would certainly be as unique as any reason we’ve ever seen for a star player missing action.
Here’s another question: What would happen if there was an overwhelming favorite for the award in mid-November, a la Joe Burrow, and they had a positive test that forced them to miss their final 2 games? Would they still be in position to win the award? I realize that’s a super specific set of circumstances, but at this point, those are the type of questions we could have to answer in 2020.
Here’s hoping we don’t have to cross that bridge.
3. Will the Playoff selection committee have any sympathy for contenders impacted by positive COVID-19 cases?
Do you remember when Clemson lost that game at Syracuse in 2017? The selection committee said multiple times that Kelly Bryant’s mid-game injury impacted that game, and thus, the Tigers got the benefit of the doubt with the No. 1 seed.
What about the borderline Playoff team who deals with the loss of a star player(s) because of COVID-19? How much sympathy will be given to those teams?
Like, if Alabama dominated every game it played with Najee Harris on the field and was noticeably worse in the 2 games he didn’t play (assuming they lose 1 or both of those games), how will the selection committee handle that? Should it matter?
My best guess is that if a Playoff-hopeful team found itself in that spot, it would get the 2017 Clemson treatment. In that instance, it would be evaluated like Alabama suffered a key injury. If the résumé was similar to another Playoff-hopeful team but the Crimson Tide proved they were Playoff-worthy when at full strength, that would have to be factored by the selection committee. At least I hope it would be.
4. What happens if we find out a team lied about a player’s positive case?
The dynamics at play are going to create some issues. This isn’t like a player telling a trainer that they can play through their sprained ankle. There are liability issues with not following proper protocol for positive tests.
I don’t know how this would see the light of day, but what if we find out that a team lied about a positive test? If you think that’s impossible, I’d remind you that there have been plenty of player mistreatment scandals during the 21st century in which coaches have pulled rank on trainers in order to keep a player on the field.
Remember Tim Beckman at Illinois? What about Kevin Wilson at Indiana? And obviously, who could forget about the mess at Maryland with DJ Durkin? Those situations all turned nasty in a hurry.
If it ever came out that a coach or trainer covered up a positive test, one would think we’d see some sort of NCAA-levied punishment. I don’t know how extreme that would be. We could be talking about a loss of scholarships if a team was found guilty of not following proper protocol for a positive test. Or would there possibly be eligibility issues? Perhaps the NCAA would have policies in place to treat this as a player who wasn’t academically eligible who played, though obviously the health concerns are more serious than whether a student-athlete failing classes plays linebacker.
Again, I don’t know. Hopefully these rules are put in place before the start of the season because this is unlike anything we’ve ever seen training staffs have to deal with.
5. And how many of them will lie about a positive case?
Man, I hope that number is zero. Being transparent about a potentially fatal virus seems, um, wise? Because it’s not just about whether 21-year old Power 5 football players can get through an illness. It’s about making sure proper protocol is followed so that others in the community aren’t impacted.
Can you imagine how LSU fans/players/coaches would feel if it came out that Texas knew that one of their starters previously tested positive but played anyway? Remember how upset LSU fans were with the infamous Devin White targeting call in 2018? Multiply that by 100.
If all goes according to plan, we won’t have any situations like that in 2020. Training staffs will be honest and forthright about positive tests, and we’ll have all the information out there. We’ll all agree that making the best of a bad situation is better than deceiving and endangering for the sake of wins and losses.
That would definitely mean too much.
The answer to 1 is Arkansas against Charleston Southern October 3, 2020, and it will be announced 8 minutes before the game. The answer to 2 is “no.” I’m not sure about 3-5.
If teams find out who is positive now and quarantine appropriately, they could get things under control before the season starts. The big challenge will be to keep players from getting re-exposed, whether in classes or in social situations. It’d be wise for players to take online-only classes in the fall whenever possible. The most effective solution would be for the NCAA (or conferences) to allow for an “injured reserve” classification of quarantined players. Then, mandatory testing of active players could be carried out every week and any team with a positive case on the active squad would to be required to forfeit their game. Hopefully, no player would want to be the one to cost teammates the chance to compete, so they would be careful about exposure.
Of course, there might not be enough tests to allow for weekly testing of a bunch of entertainers. Other priorities might rightly take precedence.
How would these universities have treated the a flu outbreak during the season last year? Players are on campus how bout some sports on this site If I wanted to hear more liberal nonsense I’d go elsewhere this is not the platform for any of the writers political views stick to twitter and let’s hear about player led workouts
Lighten up, Francis.
In what way is this political? And specifically, how is it “liberal”?
By all means, enlighten us with what I’m sure will be an exquisite and detailed breakdown of Connor’s ultra-liberal anti-sports manifesto that he had the audacity to post on this sacred website. Please, professor, we must hear more!
It’s actually in response to the articles in which they do push that agenda, but don’t allow the community to comment back, and while I know it to be naive, I would just like to come to a sports blog and read about sports, have the option to read about sports, as a distraction from the rest of the liberal media driven frenzy that assaults the airwaves and cables. On site such as this I fully embrace the Homerism of the fans and beat writers, but this isn’t a political forum nor do I think it should be, we, as I stated earlier, finally have athletes back on campus and I for one would prefer to hear Neil go on about how Trask and Mullen will take the world than one more socio-political op ed piece that belongs on the comment board of the times
Since you asked
You don’t HAVE to read the article, ok? I guess you totally missed the headline, which clearly stated what the article was about?! Quit your whining, there are plenty of other things to be upset about.
Epic moron.
We live in a nation where brain-washing is alive, well, and full-speed-ahead. Not just respiratory illness, but literally, about 50 other totally unrelated contagious life-threatening diseases, when not treated, are common on every college campus. There is absolutely nothing conservative or liberal about these facts of science. And guess what, it’s legally morally and ethically, none of our business who has been sick with what. The exception is only for those who were in contact with the sick people, that’s it, everyone else just shut the hell up.
Couldnt agree more
What an enema nozzle….
Losing a Star Player Prior to a Huge Game ? Yes, it will surely affect the Point Spread.
People under the age of 25 aren’t at risk of dying from COVID. They are at more risk dying from dehydration and heat stroke practice. Almost 2 million people have it in America out of 330 million. It’s absurd. 90% people have recovered who had it and its climbing. The media blew it up and scared everyone. Most of the people who have died have been 65 and older. I feel bad for the ones younger and middle aged who have died, but there really haven’t been that many. It’s time for sports to be back for good.
So an athlete gets it, is asymptomatic, takes it home, and a grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle or parent dies. Contact tracing after the elder relative gets sick traces it back to the athlete, who now has to deal with the fact that he caused his loved one’s death. The universities also have to face the prospect of lawsuits from bereaved families. Even if the universities prevail and avoid a financial hit from lawsuits, the PR will be a nightmare. For these reasons, the universities will be careful about procedures.
These kids don’t live in a vacuum. Just because they’re not dropping dead in large numbers doesn’t mean you can just ignore the consequences of disease spread via athletics.
I would think there will be continuous testing at school. The player would know he had the virus before he went home. Players are already testing positive once arriving at school. Grandpa has already been exposed. Almost 40% of virus deaths are related to nursing homes. The elderly need to protect themselves. Everyone else needs to be aware.
Your right about the vacuum. The player could have picked it up from a relative and passed it on. It doesn’t necessarily mean he got it on the field.
I think we should all understand this scam is coming into play with the election year, the elderly are dying from old age or another health issue and they are chalking it up to the covid19, what happened when aids got discovered and people were dying left and right? Did the whole world shut down? No. The fact that the “infected “ are not even one percent of the population is a joke by itself.
Not to mention when you wear gloves for ten hours a day rather than washing your hands, all you are doing is spreading germs. Speaking of germs, you have to come into contact with them to build your immune system, common sense. When you wear a mask for 8 hours plus it is terrible for your health, have people forgot about carbon monoxide poisoning? Get your heads out of your ass’s
Lawsuits from bereaved families? They can’t prove where the dude picked it up.Lawsuit fails…
Not true at all. A few kids have died from it here in Atlanta. Alot of 20+ yr olds have died also. The virus has mutated 3 times already.virus has killed blacks at a higher rate too since most of these teams have mostly black players this virus is bot a joke.
If you look at our city of more than 2 million metro population, the age group with the most positive cases is the 20-29 age group, and about 56% of the positives are males.
Next, if you look at the ages of the 5,900+ positives in our city, and then look at the 70+ deaths, while there is a pocket of 80’s, 90’s, and even one at 100, there were also deaths as young as one month and a pocket between 20 & 29 and 30 & 39.
As others have already mentioned, and I have said previously, lawsuits can bankrupt a university if the case being decided is a negligent death.
Then, there is another something that I can see happening. What if certain schools definitely do not announce in advance that starters will be missing the game? Let’s say that four of Alabama’s top tacklers are sick on Friday and are ruled out for Saturday, but it isn’t announced. Thus, while Georgia won’t know about this in advance to exploit it beforehand, neither will the thousands of people betting on the game. So, reverse engineering this a little, let’s say an unscrupulous Arnold Rothstein, Aiden Clayton, and Aaron Nelson decide to send people with Covid around to infect as many Alabama players as they can. Then, they bet big on Georgia, and the news never comes out, so the line doesn’t move. It can even be more involved. What if corrupt gambling syndicates paid sick students to infect just the offensive starters, as they make their way to the practice facility on Wednesday. By Friday, all the QBs and WRs are ruled out. The gamblers go big on the Under, when neither team has an offensive attack.
College football needs to enforce a rule like the NFL where players are “out”, “questionable”, and “probable”, and they are listed 72 hours before kickoff. Then, if teams fudge with the data, there should be a forfeiting of money in the 6-figure range.
Find your happy place.
First things first there Connor. A reasonably intelligent person knows about the federal laws known as HIPAA. It is against federal law for the university to talk about any medical issue unless the person signs a waver. You can stop this cover up conspiracy. Second, there are steps to help prevent getting the virus but not a torn ACL. An injury is much more random
I’m guessing that they will have all players, trainers and staff line up before game day team workouts and get their temperature checked.
NCAA\SEC\P5 may even mandate that everyone get tested at least once a month.
NCAA could also threaten to levy heavy sanctions for covering up positive tests, especially when other teams/teammates are exposed.
Kinda curious why the comments are shutdown on the article about the woman who leaked Fromm’s texts? I think I know why >wink wink< but to state the obvious will cause more millenials to cry and whine.
If it makes sense, as horrible as it sounds, you’d want everyone to test positive now way before the season begins. Have them quarentine now, have their bodies develop the antibodies it needs. In another rediculous comparison..No one gets the Flu twice a year.. So if players are testing positive it is a good thing. That means they’ll less likely be spreading the disease come fall.. It’s bad enough teams like Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mizzou can’t tackle already. Imagine hearing, “Well coach, I didn’t wanna tackle the guy cause I afraid he had Covid-19!”
I’m gonna love the SEC this season..
Auburn Tigers: 12-1 SEC Champs.
CFP Finals: Auburn vs Clemson
Final Score: Auburn 27 – Clemson 21
Bo Nix Victorious!
Sluva Luv, that would be a fantastic idea if Covid-19 was influenza, but it is nothing like the annual flu bug. It is a closer relative to the common cold but much worse. It affects both respiratory and vascular elements of the body in addition to causing pain, itching, and numerous additional secondary issues. It also continually mutates, and there have been recorded second cases, especially in Asia. Just like with a cold, you won’t catch the same Covid virus again, but unfortunately, like getting a cold a second time in a year from a cold germ with a different virus serotype infecting you, you can catch a different mutation of Covid. In theory, you should be less symptomatic the second time, but you can just as easily transmit it to others.
I’m very much aware of the difference. I’ve had the flu as well as just recovering from Coronavirus. A very different respiratory infection. For the sake of these young men with millions on the line, they’re sacrificing their futures for the public audience. I just want a somewhat normal college football season. I want Auburn to win the West, I want Alabama to lose to LSU again and I would love to see Vandy reach a bowl game.
These players that are testing positive came back to practices from AHOME! They didn’t get it im the car on 5he way back