Trust Issues Early On At CSU
Colorado State did have some trust issues throughout the athletics department. In that same piece written by the Colorado State athletics department, star wide receiver Warren Jackson had questions but then did see change.
“I felt it’s inevitable (to have an outbreak). Just the way we’re living, we’re college student-athletes,” Jackson said. “We don’t have all the resources, especially at this time. We can’t truly quarantine. We have to go to the store, or get something for the car. I would say it’s inevitable. At first, I wasn’t sure they had our best interests in mind, but my opinion has changed. They jumped on it pretty quick. They’ve taken the right precautions, that if a whole house is sick, one guy can’t show up. I think they’ve taken a lot of precautions to provide that safety for us.”
So, perhaps at some point, there wasn’t a clear protocol for everything as this is a once in a lifetime pandemic. From these players standpoint, things are improving.
The Rams football team had a clean bill of health during early workouts but after a the July 4th holiday there was an outbreak and practices were paused. So, it does not seem that players were forced to practice or keep symptoms quiet, plus you can not keep positive tests quiet. If there is an outbreak practices should be stopped.
In soccer, Bailyn Furrow said there was a fear of losing your spot if you got sick. The below quote does not put anything on the coaches but from a player’s perspective missing two weeks of practice puts them behind. It can be a tough choice to make when athletes are usually told to ‘walk it off’ or ‘play through the pain.’ Yet, COVID-19 is nothing like working through a hamstring or ankle injury.
“If somebody feels like if they’re the slightest bit sick, everyone is afraid to say anything,” she said. “They don’t want to get taken out of practice, which needs to change, and it comes down to a personal level.
I’ve heard that from my teammates, like I have a slightly sore throat, but I don’t want tell (athletic trainer) Sarah Weatherford because I’ll get taken out of training and I don’t want to fall behind. I want to fight for my position to start, but if I’m gone for two weeks … I think there’s a hard balance of when to talk and when to not. Before COVID-19, you would tell your trainer everything, and I feel athletes are afraid to tell their trainer anything.”
Athletes want to play, train, and be part of the tam and it can be understandable that they may not want to tell the trainer they have symptoms because this could be the year they feel they can break out into a starting role or it is their last year to make an impact. There needs to be an adult in the room to make sure these athletes talk to trainers if they have any symptoms and get tested.
More Outlets Have Sources
Some on Twitter are saying that maybe the Coloradoan has something against the Rams program and that seems far-fetched, especially when they say there are 10 sources. Also, what is the end goal of doing that because if it is made up they will never work in journalism again.
In saying that, ESPN has sources of their own and different information regarding coach Addazio and the Rams handling of the situation, which included not following Centers for Disease Control guidelines.
There were eight players who tested positive about a week ago and there was not going to be a two-week quarantine according to two players at the meeting.
“I can confirm he said that ‘although the CDC recommends 14 days, we’re going to try to come back early,'” a source who attended the meeting told ESPN.
Another person who attended the meeting told ESPN, “He was making it sound like, depending on the test results, he wants to get back before 14 days. It’s like … is that even possible?”
When there is a breakout it is guided to quarantining for the two weeks as compared to just a few people getting sick and others nearby test negative.
The Rams openly admit there was no mandatory quarantine as the associate athletic director of communications Kyle Neaves said as much to ESPN.
“I can tell you that there was never any official 14-day quarantine,” Neaves said. “When we voluntarily paused — where most others are being shut down by their local health departments — that was instituted in order to give us the opportunity to test the entire team again, which we did on Monday and ran 150 tests.”
With an outbreak one would think a two-week quarantine would be something to adhere to.
A common theme in both the ESPN and Coloradoan piece is that players felt there could be retributions against them. ESPN also says there are text messages and emails to back up these claims.
There also is the appearance of a double-standard when at a party there was a female athlete that tested positive and while she was told to quarantine while the football players were not.
“We can’t do anything,” one player said. “We don’t have a union.”
That quote says it all and why now the Big Ten and Pac-12 are united to help give them a voice for their unpaid work that nets others millions upon millions.