Why Are We Playing Football in the Middle of a Pandemic?

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What do you do if you’re a star high school quarterback in Southern California but you’re afraid the upcoming season might be canceled? By God, you find some state that’s going to play football no matter what:

Newhall Hart quarterback Titus Tucker has decided to move to Alabama to play his senior season over concerns the 2020 football season in California will be delayed or canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

….The family apparently believes he needs to play this fall to help attract interest from colleges. “He’s worried he’s not going to get any film for colleges, so he wants to play in the fall,” [coach Rick Herrington] said. “They have family friends in Alabama. I’m sure it’s going to happen in other places if [players] find places are playing.”

I get it. But getting it doesn’t change the fact that this is insane. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic. It’s killing hundreds of thousands of people and there’s probably no sport more likely to spread the virus than football. So just stop playing. Everywhere. The country will survive without high school football for one season.

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