Shannon Ryan: College athletes' voices — such as Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler's — should be a bigger part of the conversation about sports returning
Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler’s comfort level about returning to football will be gauged by one key development in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Is there a vaccine?” he asked.
There’s not. And there probably won’t be when — or if — the college football season begins in the fall.
Eifler spent a one-hour video call Wednesday discussing how he grapples with this dilemma of balancing his passion for football against the risks of playing during a pandemic.
“Yeah, we want to come back and want to play,” Eifler said, “but we just want to make sure our health and our safety is the priority. … It’s hard when you’re taking this process day by day. We got through today, but are we going to get through tomorrow? Sure, I want to go back to workouts, but am I going to be good Friday?”
His valid concerns showed depth of reasoning, compassion for others and relatable anxiety about trying to resume what were once considered everyday activities. Eifler discussed a need for NCAA consistency in testing and other protocols as well as the hope for scholarship protection for athletes who either sit out this season or can’t play if the season is canceled.
“I understand that people want to see us play this season but in reality how can a team full of 100+ student athletes fully function during a pandemic,” he tweeted earlier Wednesday. “Trust, my teammates and I want to play. But schools around the country are showing blatant disregard for student athletes.”
Several current and former teammates shared the tweet, many voicing their support.
Eifler’s scheduled appointment with reporters was postponed a few hours after he received a call from athletic director Josh Whitman and coach Lovie Smith about his tweet. An Illinois spokesman said they were “caught off guard” and wanted to hear Eifler’s concerns before he aired them publicly.
The idea that he needed to clear his legitimate concerns with the athletic department before sharing publicly isn’t surprising, but it does run counter to this age of athlete empowerment. With athletes raising concerns across the nation about problematic cultures in their locker rooms, keep-it-in-house messaging feels unsettling.
“After Twitter it took a left turn,” said Eifler, the son of two University of California professors. “(I was asked:) Is it about Illinois? No, it’s not. I just want everyone’s safety to be the main priority.” He said he believes Illinois’ safety protocols are responsible and help alleviate some of his anxiety.
The truth is athletes’ voices should be nearly as central as scientists’ in the discussion about sports returning. Instead the debates have been dominated by coaches, media and even politicians, and the decisions about playing will be decided by league officials and university heads.
More than 50 college football programs have announced positive coronavirus cases among players or staff members, while others — including Illinois — said they will not disclose whether athletes test positive. Division II Morehouse College canceled its season altogether, and others have suspended workouts after outbreaks. The debate persists about how to safely hold a college football season — logistically and ethically.
“If something like, say, 30 guys wind up contracting the virus, we have to shut it down,” Eifler said.
“It does make players a little skeptical,” he said of outbreaks at other colleges. “That could be me. We share and have group chats with guys: ‘Hey, did you see this?’ It keeps on going. Every week or every day there’s a new case or a new story. I’m waiting for it to calm down and have no cases, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon.”
Eifler said he and his teammates share their worries with each other.
“The football player in me wants to put on pads right now,” he said. “But at the same time, just leaving the house to go to the grocery store (is worrisome). … I know everyone is a little scared, like, ‘Damn, what if I go eat with my friend on Friday and go out to an outdoor seating restaurant?’ You want to do those things, but in the back of your head you’re like: ‘I don’t know. Is it right?’ ”
He has similar questions about team workouts, which began at Illinois on a voluntary basis in June. He said he will resume working out in small groups with teammates Monday, and he will sign a document from Illinois outlining his risks in participating.
“If there’s a vaccine, of course, all the college football players would be like, ‘Put me in right now,’ ” he said. “In the back of your head, it’s, ‘There’s quarantining, and after the quarantining, I guess I’m OK, so I won’t catch the virus again.’ But then there’s long-term effects. There’s always this back and forth.
“From the bottom of my heart, I love football. I want to play with my guys. But then, coming from the personal side, there’s questions like, ‘What if I catch it and I can’t go see my parents anymore?’ ”
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