Joel Klatt tells us all why college football players are safest on campus.
FOX College Football’s Joel Klatt gives a strong argument why players need to be on campus.
Klatt is the No. 1 college football analyst for FOX these days, as he calls games alongside Gus Johnson in the booth as a part of FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff. Given FOX’s allotment of games, the television network predominantly calls games in the Big Ten, the Big 12 and the Pac-12.
Players would be safer within the testing structure, protocols, medical care and accountability of a season than outside
— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) August 10, 2020
unintended consequences of these decisions are wide ranging & severe...from deteriorating mental health and increased substance abuse to loss of opportunity
With the Big Ten punting on college football this season and the Pac-12 sure to follow, Klatt doubles down on why there is no safer place than on a college campus for a football player this fall. Klatt sent out this tweet on Monday morning after the Big Ten shut down the season, as well as this 10-minute YouTube video from Sunday afternoon outlining his strong argument.
What is the crux of Joel Klatt’s argument to keep college football alive?
The two big points of Klatt’s argument is players will be tested and be accounted for with greater regularity and precision than if they were to go home for the fall semester because they’re not playing football. Where else is a college player going to be regularly tested for coronavirus and be on the up and up all of the social distancing protocol and medical standards?
While all that can be controlled on a college campus, albeit at a major, major cost to the university, many of these players will go back home to multi-generational living situations. Some of the best college athletes overcame abject poverty to be on a major college campus. Now, they’ll be back home with a considerably worse standard of living than being located in the safest place possible.
This is such a divisive issue and one that has become incredibly political, unfortunately. The virus is being weaponized in a way far beyond what we ever thought possible. Though we are firmly in the midst of a global pandemic, this is a CYA initiative by university presidents who don’t want the liability on their hands if a player contracts the virus, develops major health conditions or dies.
It’s a shame we had six months of lead-up and the college football world couldn’t get it together.
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