Speaking to the media at Florida State University on Tuesday alongside Seminole players and university President John Thrasher, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he still wants to see football played in Florida this fall despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. He also extended an invitation to schools and conferences whose seasons have been canceled to compete in the state.
DeSantis’ comments came the same day that the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced that they were canceling all sports for the fall 2020 season, with the intent being to postpone them until the spring. DeSantis, however, said he sees value in the sport being played on time.
“We want to make sure that folks know that we value the opportunities for our student-athletes in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.
“I asked President Thrasher and (FSU football coach Mike Norvell) about, hey, if some of these other conferences shut down, can we welcome their players to the state of Florida?” DeSantis continued. “I’m not exactly sure how the NCAA rules work on that. But I can tell you, if there’s a way, you know, we want you guys to be able to play as well.”
DeSantis said that being with the program during an athletic season would provide more structure to players than if the season were canceled and that they’d be more likely to contract the virus without the restrictions programs would put on them.
“That means the world to so many of our student-athletes,” DeSantis said. “We talked about some of the college players who may not necessarily be (going) pro. There’s a lot of high school players who may not be able to get to college on it, but man, that’s an important part of their development.”
DeSantis’ eagerness to resume sports in the state comes in spite of the fact that Florida is currently one of the states most impacted by COVID-19 with over 500,000 confirmed cases and over 8,000 deaths. Though it will be open in the fall and students will be living on campus, the majority of students will be taking classes online, with about 65 percent of total instruction planned to be conducted online.
Thrasher made the case for playing football this fall, citing the best interests of student-athletes.
“What we frankly want to send is a message to some of the other schools that may be teetering on whether or not to play football,” Thrasher said. “We think it’s in the best interest of our student-athletes for us to play football. We can do it safely. And we can do it productively for them, as well as the absolute culture of our university. And certainly, this community of Tallahassee. We’re ready to do it.”
When asked about the economic impact of not having a season, Thrasher said it would be “significant.”
“Football drives everything else,” Thrasher said. “When you have football, you’re able to support the other sports, the Olympic sports and everything else.”
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