Koloamatangi believes the risk of exposure to COVID-19 by playing football is too high to play this season.
More than 50 players have already opted out of the 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic. Among those are Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley and reserve lineman Leo Koloamatangi. Mosley already explained why he opted out of the season, but now Koloamatangi has given his reasoning: he doesn’t want to risk exposing his family.
Koloamatangi understands first-hand the effects of the virus. He told KITV4 in Hawaii that he lost two “close” relatives to COVID-19 and doesn’t want to potentially bring the virus back to the rest of the family, including his infant daughter. He offered a damning indictment on the NFL’s decision to continue the season as scheduled, too.
“As athletes, we all accept if I go out there and play, we’re going to at some point contract the virus,” Koloamatangi said.
There have been 56 positive COVID-19 player cases since training camps opened up, and 106 total positive cases throughout this offseason. Many more players have been added to the league’s Reserve/COVID-19 list, which is for anyone who’s either contracted the virus or been in close contact with a positive case. Four Jets players – Bryce Hall, Shyheim Carter, Ahmad Gooden and James Burgess – have been added.
During the pandemic, Koloamatangi has tried to do his part to help in Hawaii, the state where he went to college. Koloamatangi and three others helped launch a website in March that collects information on symptoms, location, risk factors and other data provided by users. That data is then confidentially shared with healthcare officials in the area.
“We’re hoping to be a part of that movement, we’re hoping to help whoever we can — if it’s one, if it’s a thousand, it doesn’t matter,” Koloamatangi said in March. “It’s just being able to be there in times of crisis like this.”
