Dr. Anthony Fauci gave an interview to Snapchat on Tuesday in which he was asked if sports can return later this year.
“There’s a way of doing that,” Fauci said. “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them in big hotels, wherever you want to play . . . have them tested every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family and just let them play the season out.”
Obviously, playing in empty stadiums with quarantined rosters is a non-starter at the college football level. Major League Baseball is in talks of doing just that, with the entire league sequestered in the Phoenix area, but such an idea is unrealistic for college football.
Fauci not an elected official, and his opinion stated in a Snapchat interview is not a royal decree. It could also change given a rapid advancement in treatment.
That being said, Fauci is the closest thing our country has to a COVID-19 point person, and any college president thinking of putting his or her team back on the field this fall absent, absent a major change to the current lay of the land, would need to explain to stakeholders why they are going against his recommendation.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.