The coronavirus has officially hit the NFL these past couple weeks, causing multiple postponements with a multitude of staff members and players being placed on the COVID-19 list. Similar situations will likely impact sports all over the country.
An abundance of teams have had to shut down facilities for multiple days at a time, some even having to reschedule games for later in the season. The Tennessee Titans of the NFL had to move a week four game against the Pittsburgh Steelers to week seven, also moving around some other games. Other NFL teams have continued to play out their schedule despite the outbreak of the coronavirus on their roster. Cam Newton, starting quarterback for the New England Patriots, missed a crucial game against the Kansas City Chiefs as a result of testing positive for COVID-19 which resulted in a woeful 26-10 loss.
In addition to this, many of the Titans’ players were caught holding a practice without masks at a local high school field, causing the outbreak that forced the NFL to rearrange their schedule.
“The [NFL COVID-19] cases raise some red flags…the NFL seems to have not taken the right precautions in order to stop the spread of COVID around the league,” senior Ben Cope said.
Has the NFL not taken the right steps to prevent the spread of the virus? Can they control the players under these guidelines?
For starters, the only sports so far in the U.S. that have truly been able to function with little-to-no complications as a result of the virus have been those that have successfully created a bubble. This method isolates players in a controlled environment with constant testing and monitoring.
As of right now this procedure has been ruled out by NFL executives due to the considerable amount of players and staff needed to complete a full season, which a bubble would be incapable of sustaining.
In turn, many people are concerned that the same problems that have plagued the NFL, could reemerge for school sports, both high school and college. Schools of course can not do a bubble just like the NFL, for different obvious reasons.
In any public high school’s case, the most you can do is tell kids to quarantine themselves and apply as many reasonable regulations as you can at in-person practices. This on its own is a shaky foundation for a successful high school sports season.
“Lots of players will come in contact with one each other, but I do feel that if students and staff wear masks and respect COVID guidelines, we might be able to pull off school and sports,” sophomore Lucas Masiello said.
As of right now, not many high school sports have been able to continue due to concerns about the virus. It has kept schools in fear of what may happen should they begin sports and then have an outbreak.
“I think as long as players stay safe when out of school and the sports practice smartly then [school sports] will be fine, but if the state cases start up then sports should pause until cases are manageable,” senior Arun Sen said.
It is still a mystery how many schools will handle the coronavirus. It seems that with every passing week there is a new development in Montgomery County’s own policies. Currently it seems that sports that are canceled will stay that way, but it is hard to tell with the constantly changing dynamic of the public’s views.
