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When the Ivy League announced Wednesday that it will not hold sports competitions during the fall semester, many did not see that move as representative of what the rest of collegiate athletics will do. The conference has much less to lose financially compared to Power Five institutions, which by some estimates could collectively lose more than $4 billion in football revenues if the season is canceled.
But to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the major conferences should be following the Ivy League’s lead to ensure that the health and safety of student athletes is prioritized over lost revenue.
“The Ivy League has taken a principled stand that it’s going to put the well-being and health of athletes first,” Blumenthal told The Courant. “The bigger football schools, which are dependent on the revenues, may see themselves differently, but my point is, no matter how much a school is a football powerhouse, no matter how big the revenues involved, athletes should be put first.”
As Blumenthal, a frequent critic of the NCAA, speaks out in favor of the Ivy League’s path, the likelihood of holding fall sports nationwide became murky, with some conferences announcing delayed start dates or conference-only schedules. Most significantly, the Big Ten announced Thursday that it is implementing a conference-only football schedule. Elsewhere, the ACC is delaying the start of competition for Olympic sports until at least Sept. 1, while the Northeast Conference, home to Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart, is looking at postponing the start of non-football competition to Sept. 10. Fordham, an FCS program, has also canceled the first three games of its 2020 football season.
In March, the Ivy League became the first conference to cancel spring sports, before other conferences fell in line and the NCAA eliminated winter and spring championships. But as of now, most conferences are still intending to have some form of competition this fall, and Division I basketball and football athletes are planning to or have already made their way to campuses.
Even if other major conferences follow the Big Ten in limiting schedules to conference play, as some rumors have suggested about the Pac-12 and ACC, that won’t eliminate the inherent risks of returning to the field, Blumenthal said.
“The point about a pandemic is that it is transmitted. Close human contact, as in contact sports, are a means to spread it,” Blumenthal said. “We’re learning more about how airborne transmission is probably the most dangerous means of spreading it. And put aside what happens on the field: The locker room, the dorms, the other close physical proximity of the athletes is a potential danger zone waiting to happen.”
The senator said the alarm bells started going off for him he saw that some schools were requiring athletes to sign liability waivers upon their return to athletic activities. He has since introduced a bill alongside Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) prohibiting schools from doing so.
“These letters reflect a clear recognition of the dangers to these athletes and a desire by the schools to avoid any accountability,” Blumenthal said. “So they know the dangers. They want to avoid responsibility legally, but they can’t evade it morally. And I think there are moral issues here, as well as legal ones.
“This has to be seen in a larger context. Why are these schools saying to athletes, ‘If you get sick, don’t blame us,’ when in fact, they’re the ones calling athletes back and threatening to take away their scholarships? Why are they saying to the athletes, ‘We have no legal responsibility or accountability, here, sign your rights away’?”
Major schools like Ohio State, North Carolina and Louisville have already had to pause voluntarily workouts as more positive test results have popped up among athletes and staff — all before intercollegiate competition is, at least in football, on track to resume as early as six weeks from now.
UConn, the largest university in the state, started bringing back its men’s basketball team on June 19 and football team on July 1, while aiming for its women’s basketball players to convene in Storrs during the last week of July. The school is not forcing student athletes to sign waivers and instead is providing them an assumption of risk document.
Blumenthal is hopeful that there will be a push for the NCAA to adopt a uniform set of policies or practices, but it remains to be seen whether such an effort could realistically come together. The NCAA released a brief statement Thursday night that said it “supports its members as they make important decisions based on their specific circumstances and in the best interest of college athletes’ health and well-being.”
He said he’s speaking with colleagues from both parties to determine what more can be done in the broader context of putting athlete safety and well-being first. He drew parallels to the NCAA’s handling of the name, image and likeness issue — for which Blumenthal will be introducing bipartisan legislation — in that the organization has a track record of prioritizing its own profits over its athletes.
“The overriding priority is to focus on athletes’ health and well-being,” Blumenthal said. “The athlete should be put first over any considerations relating to financial revenue or similar considerations benefiting other interests.”
Alexa Philippou can be reached at aphilippou@courant.com.