At the end of the 2019 college football season, no one could have imagined what would happen in the sports world in 2020.
By March, the coronavirus had taken the world by storm, cancelling winter sports championships, as well as the entire spring season.
Now, here we are, months later, questioning what will happen this fall. Will football season be cancelled as well?
So far, many sports teams, including the Alabama Crimson Tide, have had players test positive for Covid-19. Players started testing positive after they returned back to campus after the NCAA voted to resume on-campus team activities starting June 1.
But the positive cases have not stopped. USC, Auburn, Clemson and many more programs are also reporting positive cases. But in reality, is this a surprise? Honestly, no. It’s not.
Think about it. Athletes from all over the country are returning back to campus. Some were exposed in their hometown, while traveling back to campus, or even when they returned. And considering majority of them are asymptomatic, it makes it even trickier to stop the spread of the virus.
So, what does this mean for the fall football season?
As of right now, the NCAA committee approved a six-week plan that would allow football activities such as workouts and practices to resume in mid-July.
Here are the rules of the six-week plan provided by the NCAA:
If schools are scheduled to have their first game on Sept. 5, then those programs can hold mandatory film study, conditioning and weight training (limit of 8 hours per week, and no more than two of those hours can be used for film) from July 13-23.
From July 24 to Aug. 6, teams can participate up to 20 hours per week (no more than 4 hours per day) on “countable athletically related activities,” which can include eight hours of conditioning and weight training, six hours of walk-throughs with a football and six hours of meetings such as film study or position meetings.
Then, starting Aug. 7, practices may begin.
But, will this continue? Will fall practice even happen?
After all, so far this week, both Iowa and Michigan State have paused football ticket sales due to the coronavirus.
Iowa announced that “only fans who have renewed their season ticket orders and paid per-seat contributions by June 30 will be included in any potential Kinnick Stadium seating plans.”
And Michigan State has followed Iowa’s lead.
MSU shared that they’re giving “those who already paid for season tickets three options: opt out and convert their payments to donations to the Spartan Fund; roll over their payments for 2021 and not attend this fall or receive full refunds for the upcoming season.”
But that’s not all.
On Thursday, Morehouse College, a division II program cancelled their upcoming football season.
David A. Thomas, the school’s presidents had this to say:
“Like all of the decisions we’ve made related to COVID-19, this was a difficult one but was made with the health and well-being of our students and community in mind,” Thomas wrote, adding that teams could not safely travel while maintaining social distancing guidelines recommended by the CDC. “Sporting events also invite individuals to our campus who will not be subject to the testing and monitoring that we plan to implement for our students, faculty, and staff.”
So what does this mean for football season this fall?
Honestly, I don’t know. But, it’s not looking good.
If there is a football season, there’s no doubt that it will be unlike any other season we’ve attended before.
You can more than likely expect temperature checks, wearing masks, much smaller attendance, along with many other changes.
But, what about the players? What does this mean for them?
There’s no doubt that these athletes will want to play. But is the risk far greater than the reward?
The NCAA has some very hard decision to make. And it’s a hard situation either way.
If they cancel football season, the financial fallout for some universities could have a horrific impact on their program for the future.
But if the NCAA goes along with the plan to continue with the season, there will be lengthy measures the teams will have to take to ensure the health and safety of their athletes.
So, there’s no clear-cut answer here.
And as time goes on, we will continue to see universities make these tough decisions such as cancelling the season, limiting ticket sales, and so on.
Literally, only time will tell whether or not we will get to have a college football season this fall.
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