‘Football may not happen this year,’ Fauci says as coronavirus outbreaks continue

Don’t start planning your tailgating parties just yet. Dr. Anthony Fauci gave some dire news Thursday morning regarding the future of football.

As football players at all levels are preparing to return to the gridiron this fall, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said football may not take place unless there are major precautions taken.

“Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall,” Fauci said on CNN. “If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year.”

There are more than 2.16 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States and 117,000 deaths as of Thursday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. Many states are reporting surges in cases this month as they reopen following lockdowns.

Fauci’s comments come around one month before NFL players report to training camp. Preseason NFL games begin Aug. 6 and the regular season will start in September.

As players from the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans have had reported coronavirus cases this week, according to NFL Network, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said positive tests are something “we expect.”

“That is part of the increased testing that we will be going through and that is something that we just want to make sure that our protocols are working and to date, we are seeing very positive reactions in the sense that we are making sure we respond quickly, protect the personnel that may be impacted by that and others that may be in contact with them,” Goodell stated.

College football training camps have been recommended to begin Aug. 7, according to a plan proposed by the NCAA College Football Oversight Committee, CBS Sports reported.