Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and that’s where we are with almost everything today. From including your mask with your cell phone, keys, and wallet, to e-learning for school, to appointments to go shopping, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned normal life upside down.
It’s no different with big-time college football at Ohio State. When the Big Ten reversed course and reinstated the fall football season, it was a jubilant development. But what we see on the surface gives you only a glimpse of what it takes to pull off a college football season.
Everyone knows about the daily testing and medical protocols that have been put in place, but what you don’t hear about is how those in and around the program have been impacted at home.
Take for a moment the coaches within the Ohio State football program. You see what they do on Saturdays in the fall, but they have lives outside fo that at home with a family and other obligations. According to Buckeye head coach Ryan Day, that’s been difficult to juggle. Knowing that kids are often going into schools and potentially bringing the virus home and balancing that with keeping the players who are in college healthy and free of exposure can be overwhelming.
“This has been a difficult time because we understand the ramifications and the consequences for our health, but also just in terms of playing a season, of testing positive,” Day said on a Zoom call Friday. “That’s for the players. They’ve made great sacrifices.
“But it’s also for the coaches. For those of us who have school-age children at home, it’s very, very difficult. To make sacrifices, some of us are not sleeping in our homes.”
Day himself said that he wears a mask inside his own home. He has three children at home and the risk is real. They spend as much time outside together as much as possible.
But for all the pins and needles approach outside of the program, inside the bubble of practice and contact tracing within the team is a safe and secure space.
“When we’re in the building, we feel really, really safe,” Day said. “It’s a great feeling to know in this building, when you’re around our bubble right here, you’re good.
“But once you leave here, everything changes. Honestly, it’s scary, because it can ruin your whole season, just like that, in one day with one exposure.”
Ohio State football coaches and players are serious about COVID precautions, Ryan Day says https://t.co/arp6fVdsP8
— BuckeyeXtra.com (@BuckeyeXtra) October 2, 2020
The bottom line is that the entire program, from players to coaches, to support personnel to administrators have to be very vigilant and often take extreme measures a lot of the public doesn’t see.
Ohio State worked so hard to use its voice to be where things are today that one wrong step could derail a season and opportunity the team has worked so hard for.
Quarterback Justin Fields echoed that reality and mindset when he also appeared on a Zoom call Friday. Knowing that he was one of the main players leading the charge for Ohio State, the Big Ten, and many in college football, he feels the cost is a small price to pay.
“I don’t think it’s that big of a sacrifice to the team, because I think everybody on the team is committed to playing the season. We all want to do well. We know in order for us to do well, we have to first take care of ourselves and make sure we’re staying COVID-free. I think it’s a small sacrifice for a big reward.”
We’re now just three weeks away from the first game of the season. If we make it there and can get this thing over the finish line with another Big Ten championship and run for a national title in tow, there’s a long line of people that will have said it’s well worth it.
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