On Monday morning, the Miami Marlins’ home opener that was supposed to take place tonight was cancelled as a COVID-19 outbreak has taken place inside the organization according to Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers of ESPN. The Yankees-Phillies Monday night game was also postponed, as first reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
With this story taking center stage, it has caused many to question if college football or the NFL can take place safely without a bubble this fall. Some are skeptical that a full year can finish without it and that has caused others in the media to be upset that they perceive people want the season to fail.
Check out this tweet from Kyle Brandt, who is one of the hosts of Good Morning Football every weekday on NFL Network. Brandt was not sure why some people, in his mind, root for the sport to fail when many depend on games to make a living in this industry.
This tweet has caused a bunch of reaction from Brandt’s colleagues in sports media. Mike Golic Jr. from Golic & Wingounderstood Brandt’s response, but made it clear no one wants the virus to win.
Peter Burns, who covers college football for the SEC Network, emphasized that the Marlins news does have to at least bring up the questions about how football is going to play on this fall:
One other important thing to note as Off the Ball Sports NFL analyst Cian Fahey questioned Brandt’s motives for the tweet.
Of course, there are writers such as Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal that said while Kyle is great on Good Morning Football, he did mention it is the journalist’s duty to seek truth and took a slight shot at Brandt:
A couple of NFL writers replied to Brandt’s tweet, including Ralph Vacchiano. The NFL insider over at SNY said his tweet was offensive and completely wrong. Plus, Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News mentioned it is a reporter’s job to talk about what they see.
Of course, there are some who do believe the NFL will be in much better shape to control COVID-19 compared to Major League Baseball. Colin Cowherd took to Twitter on Monday and wrote to the “doomsday sports media” that the NFL is going to play and restrictions will help.
It is an issue that will continue to be talked about as the USA continues to try to contain COVID-19. It is clear the division is there and as former NFL player Ross Tucker put it, it depends on how people are from a positive/negative standpoint in terms of how they look at the latest news.
The debate will continue on social media for the foreseeable future. However, it is safe to say that the NFL and college football are under the microscope now as MLB had its outbreak just 4 days into the start of their season.