Good morning, Broncos Country!
The coronavirus hit our NFL home officially Thursday when Von Miller’s agent confirmed that the Broncos’ star edge rusher had tested positive for COVID19.
pray for my brother https://t.co/KxdIsXdC5F
— Chris Harris (@ChrisHarrisJr) April 16, 2020
Miller, who is reportedly doing fine at home, is expected to make a public statement today. And I hope he says what I’m about to say:
Take. This. Disease. Seriously.
First for your own health and safety and then for all those around you, especially your loved ones - and your fellow Broncos fans.
Given the odds, it is likely many of us will get it. And the odds are telling us that most of us will survive with minimal long-term health problems.
But most isn’t all.
And I’d kinda like Broncos Country to be healthy this fall to cheer on our favorite team.
Because if there is even the remotest chance of having an NFL season in 2020 - even one only played on TV - then the time to hunker down is now. Everyone. Everywhere.
The league is moving forward with the 2020 Draft April 23-25 in a coronavirus-adjusted landscape that includes no fans, no war rooms and no hugging of players from Roger Goodell. This is our reality, and it’s going to continue for a lot longer than we want if we don’t make the hard choices now.
Benjamin Allbright floated the possibility three weeks ago of players playing games in an empty stadium as a possible compromise to avoid giving up on the season altogether.
And now two days ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told Good Luck America on Wednesday via Snap Chat “there’s a way of doing that” when asked about having football in the fall.
“Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them in big hotels, wherever you want to play,” he said. “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.”
None of those requirements is ideal from a fan’s or player’s perspective, but I guarantee players would rather play some football than no football. And as a huge fan of the game, that’s where I stand too. I would really like to see football this fall - and I’d really like to have healthy teams and players able to do it.
But as Once Upon A Time said in Thursday’s comments, thinking we are in the clear or too healthy or too insulated to not get it, “is the exact reason why we are all kidding ourselves about a full season this year.”
Unless we get serious and stay the **** home now.
“Von has elected to share his diagnosis publicly to emphasize that anyone can be afflicted with coronavirus. … [He] is doing well and recovering at home in self-isolation.”
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) April 16, 2020
Statement from the #Broncos on Von Miller testing positive for COVID-19 » https://t.co/PJW4YZjOp1 pic.twitter.com/nqHEiy6zw9
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