ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit Is Telling Sports Fans Hard Truth About How Coronavirus Could Cancel Football Season

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstriet is the sobering voice of reality in the sports world. Despite unbridled optimism from owners desperate to make money and an American public itching for distractions from our daily dystopia, it is unlikely sports resume for months, and fans might not be allowed to return to facilities for even longer than that. With the coronavirus continuing to wreak havoc across the U.S., it seems ridiculous to fantasize about 72 fans, never mind 72,000, packing into Michigan Stadium to see the Wolverines in September.

Tom Brady might be heading to Tampa Bay, but the science says it may not be safe for him to play for the Buccaneers until 2021.

In a recent interview with ESPN Radio, Herbstreit said he would be stunned if football is played this fall at the amateur or professional level. “I’ll be shocked if we have NFL football this fall, if we have college football. I’ll be so surprised if that happens,” he said, via TMZ. “Just because from what I understand, people that I listen to, you’re 12 to 18 months from a (coronavirus) vaccine. I don’t know how you let these guys go into locker rooms and let stadiums be filled up and how you can play ball. I just don’t know how you can do it with the optics of it.”

Canceling the NFL season would be one of the most devastating cultural symbols of the coronavirus’ everlasting impact, which might explain why President Donald Trump recently phoned owners and begged them to not call off play, reports Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair. But it might have to be done. With the global count for cases passing 700,000 Sunday, countries across the world, including the U.K., are bracing for lockdowns that could last until the summer. Trump extended social distancing guidelines in the U.S. until April 30, though they could last well beyond that date.

Even if the U.S. economy begins to reopen later this spring, it’s difficult to imagine sports operating as usual. LeBron James may bemoan the possibility of finishing the NBA season without fans, but it might be the league’s only option. At the least, playing games without fans would salvage TV revenue, since the networks would still receive programming.

There are additional risks to restarting sports besides packing fans into stadiums, of course. In football locker rooms, more than 50 players are asked to share a confined space, which is not even permitted in vast swaths of the U.S. right now. As Herbstreit explained, no coach or executive wants to be responsible for an entire team falling ill.

“I don’t know how you let these guys go into locker rooms and let stadiums be filled up and how you can play ball,” he said. “I just don’t know how you can do it with the optics of it.

“Next thing you know you got a locker room full of guys that are sick. And that’s on your watch? I wouldn’t want to have that.”

History shows us pandemics come in waves. The 1918 Spanish Flu, for example, first roared up in the spring and then returned in the fall. The White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx projects 100,000-200,000 deaths from the coronavirus as a best case scenario. Right now, U.S. deaths are over 2,100.

Those harrowing numbers tell us the worst is yet to come, and decisions will have to be made over the next few months. Some college coaches say they need at least four to six weeks to prepare their players for training camp, which starts in late July or early August for most programs. With the NHL reportedly now thinking about playing games through August, it seems whimsical for college football to plan on starting Aug. 29, or the NFL to kick off Sept. 10.

So far, NFL business has been unaffected, with free agency processing as planned and commissioner Roger Goodell vowing to hold the NFL Draft next month. But business transactions can be completed virtual or in small settings. The same cannot be said for NFL games, never mind practice sessions. Maybe social restrictions will be loosened by late summer, but that still wouldn’t leave football teams with nearly enough time to begin their seasons as scheduled. Even optimistically, we could be looking at delayed starts.

It is naive to think everything in the world will fall victim to the coronavirus except football. Every aspect of our routines have been disrupted. We must start preparing for a fall without football, or at least a fall with a lot less football.

Herbstreit is telling us the hard truth.