(ThyBlackMan.com) For most of the country, we are about a month away from the 2020-21 school year starting. Parents are deciding on the important decision of what to do with their child regarding in-person schooling amid a pandemic that continues to affect thousands and kill large amounts of people on a regular basis. Teachers and school staff are also weighing their own decisions about reporting to school this fall. For nearly every person who works in a school, the decision to return to work is mostly motivated by money as bills and financial debts continue to mount.
It is also fair to say that many people look forward to working to get back a sense of normalcy and gather socially after the quarantine has restricted social gatherings in different ways over the last several months. Major professional sports are part of “normal” American culture and they have restarted in recent weeks. America’s most popular sports league, the National Football League, had its “opt-out” deadline pass for its players on August 6. Like many things during this COVID-19 pandemic, there were several personal and introspective reasons why some of the men of the NFL decided against returning to work in 2020.
Washington defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio has been a coach in the NFL for many years including having multiple stints as a NFL head coach. He is ready for the 2020 NFL season but doesn’t apparently doesn’t like NFL players opting out because of COVID-19 concerns. While on Twitter, he wrote, “I think most players understand the risk of playing the game of football. The priority is not trying to be perfectly safe. If so perhaps you should never drive your car.” The ridiculousness of comparing driving a car to playing football amid a pandemic is hard to comprehend. Del Rio might want to actually speak with Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Marquise Goodwin or a few NFL players from the 67 total NFL players who opted out about their deeply personal decision to skip the coming 2020 NFL season. Here are some of the more thoughtful and eloquent quotes from NFL players who will miss the 2020 NFL season:
“I really realized that if something like that gets out of hand, I can not only end up in the hospital, but I could potentially end up in the grave.”-Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Michael Pierce, who has asthma
“My mom is my rock, my everything … My mom, she just was like, ‘Whatever decision (you make), I’m behind you’ … Football is my life, especially coming off a championship and wanting to do a repeat — which, you know, I know they’re gonna handle that. But at the end of the day, this was something personal.”-Kansas City running back Damien Williams, whose mother was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer
“Me and my fiancée are just more concerned with the health of our family than football — especially the new addition to our family.”-New England Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who welcomed a new baby boy on July 16th with his fiancée
“Family is first. Always has been. Always will be. In such unpredictable times, it’s been one of the constants on my mind as I’ve worked through one of the toughest decisions of my life. My closest family members have experienced the life-threatening impact of COVID-19 first hand and for their and my own safety, I’ve decided to opt out of the upcoming NFL season. This was not a decision I took lightly but it’s what is best for my family and myself at this time.”–Green Bay Packers wide receiver Devin Funchess
Staff Writer; Mark Hines
