Faion Hicks and Jack Sanborn on why Wisconsin football has a high vaccination rate

At Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis, Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst mentioned that the Badgers have an 85% vaccination rate headed into the 2021 season.

CB Faion Hicks and LB Jack Sanborn were two of three Wisconsin player representatives at Big Ten Media Days, and added context to why the Badgers have had such a high vaccination rate despite not making it mandatory in any way.

“For the guys who are vaccinated, I think they’re seeing what happened last year and how it affected the team,” Hicks said. “They don’t want to go through that again.”

What happened last year? Wisconsin had their season upended by COVID-19 as they had two games canceled after their season opener and had players miss games due to the virus during nearly every week of the season.

“What helped was our medical trainers educating us, for those that were worried, like me,” Sanborn said. “They didn’t pressure anybody, even the guys on the team who aren’t vaccinated. It’s more so like, ‘the information is here.’”

Wisconsin heads into the season hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s pauses and cancelations.