The coronavirus pandemic is slowing beginning to take a turn for the better in Arizona and in certain parts of the country, but those improvements have not been enough for some college football players. Over the weekend reserve quarterback Kevin Doyle became the first Arizona player to announce his decision to opt out of the season due to concerns about playing games amid a global pandemic.
He simply doesn't feel safe enough right now to suit up and take the field with other players in a contact sport that will prevent him from sticking to the CDC guidelines for helping to avoid catching the disease.
The Pac-12 has already announced that any athlete wishing to sit out the season because of those same concerns can do so without penalty or fear of losing their scholarship.
Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley and Minnesota's Rashod Bateman are two of the most prominent players to opt out of the upcoming season for reasons related to COVID-19 and there will likely be even more before the start of the season.
There is also a collection of Pac-12 players that are prepared to opt out of the season unless certain demands are met by the league with uniformity for COVID-19 protocols among the biggest concerns.
Arizona has been quite cautious with how it has approached playing through the pandemic with a slow, drawn-out approach to bringing athletes back to campus to conduct voluntary workouts. So far there have only been three reported positive cases of the virus among hundreds of tests conducted by the program's medical staff.
The Wildcats restarted their reentry program this week after halting the process in June because of the increasing positive cases around Pima County.
As more players work to figure out whether they will be in or out this season, Doyle took to Twitter Tuesday to further explain his decision and back his program for how it has conducted the workouts and reentry process so far.
“Over the past few days, I have seen many comments on mine and other player’s decisions to opt out,” Doyle said Tuesday. “I want to make something clear; The University of Arizona has done a great job with their protocols for Covid testing and overall player safety. I feel very confident in their ability to keep us safe while we are lifting and working out. They have done a great job social distancing us and everyone wearing a mask while in the facility. This is shown through the very low number of positive cases we have had on the team. The program is being in a huddle, in the bottom of a pile, or around guys breathing on each other.
“You cannot social distance while playing the game of football, which is why I opted out. I opted out early because I wanted to give my coaches and team proper notice once I figured out my decision. Football is a team sport, but Covid is a personal battle that we all have to deal with in a way we best see fit.”
One Arizona player who has contracted the virus is redshirt freshman receiver Jaden Mitchell. He explained Monday that the illness forced him to stay quarantined for a month. While he is not planning to opt out of the season, Mitchell does understand the reservations many of his peers have about playing out the season.
“As Someone who had COVID for 3 weeks and had to quarantine for 4 weeks. This virus is no joke,” he said. “I lost 14 pounds and am still working on gaining it back and reconditioning myself. My training staff and everyone at the University of Arizona has done a GREAT job of making us feel safe and taken care of. Even though they did everything they could, being in a room or house for 28 days had a great impact on my body and mental health. The fact of the matter is that if this virus gets ahold of you and you experience symptoms, it will have a great impact on you. There are so many possibilities in a sport where 100+ people are in a locker room, 70+ players travel, add on coaches, staff, trainers, and more and I don’t see how that will work. We are physically touching each other every single snap.
“On top of that we are getting paid $0 risking our health for peoples entertainment. People who have and will never step foot on the field. I LOVE the game more than life AND I am NOT opting out, but I do need players, coaches, fans, and everyone to realize the severity of not only the pandemic, but also the injustice.”
For now the Pac-12 continues to move ahead to its modified conference-only season that will begin Sept. 26. Teams will be allowed to begin training camp practices starting Aug. 17 although Arizona has not yet released its plan for when it will be opening up camp with its freshmen and newcomers just arriving to Tucson this week.
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