I think we're in total agreement with regards to the severity of the virus and the risks associated.
Well that's good!
Its seems to be about colleges and universities not ponying up the dollars to fund testing and safety protocols like the other leagues, due to players organizing and voicing support for those protections in a way that makes it appear like they're negotiating as an organized body.
I don't think it's about that at all. I think the differences between the pros and colleges in terms of protocols are huge, and are being overlooked.
1) The leagues have been in their "bubble", because that's the player's normal job, and the NFL exists for the sole purpose of playing football. So their entire world can be bent to make them as safe as possible.
But college athletes are actually
in college, and most colleges are still holding in person classes this fall. All those players will be mingling with all those other students who are not in a "football bubble". We may forget it in here because this is a sports-oriented board and we are all fans of college football, but the primary purpose of colleges is not as a vehicle for playing football, but rather education. Football is
incidental to college. The vast,
vast majority of college students don't play football. The vast majority of college kids who do play football will never even sniff the NFL. They truly
are in college for the education.
2) Because of this, the school Presidents (as opposed to some AD's, coaches, and players) are not willing to give football players massive additional protections that are not offered to other students, because other parents and all those people affiliated with the school who are
not enthralled with the football program (and colleges have many of those) would justifiably go apeshit:
"You mean
my kid has to attend in person classes, but football players don't because it isn't safe and they might get the virus??"
"You mean football players can get multiple tests each day to protect them from potentially transmitting the virus to other football players, but
my kid and everyone he associates with can't, and just have to run the risk that the students around them don't have it??"
I mean, yikes. That is an absolutely terrible look for colleges. It's one thing for football players to get some usual privileges that don't really impact other students. It is an entirely different matter when we're talking potential life/health/death. Football people may delude themselves into thinking the tale wags the dog, but ultimately, it doesn't. You could eliminate football and still have a perfectly functioning school. You can't eliminate the school and still have a school football team. And again -- the vast majority of college football players have no NFL aspirations, and want that education. So even if the schools
would agree to let football players (only) take all classes remotely, you'd have a lot of players that wouldn't want to do that, and the school wouldn't want to be perceived as pressuring them not to attend classes when everyone else is.
The college bubble can't happen. Maybe a conference like the SEC where many of the schools have shit for academic standards doesn't care. But "real" academic schools should care, and they will.
Hence why the Big Ten went from releasing a schedule and developing their plan to play just last week, before nearly cancelling the season after it appeared the players were making demands about their own health and safety.
If the players are making demands about their health and safety that go beyond what the schools can reasonably provide to other students -- which is almost certainly the case -- then yeah. That's a perfectly valid reason to slam on the brakes. Especially in light of the report about there being some (rare) some form of encephalitis relating to Covid-19. The schools may feel that they're being set up for a PR disaster if they don't give the players what they are demanding -- which they cannot provide to other students in
their daily lives - and so decided to punt. If they don't give in to all the player demands, they'll be accused of putting those players at risk. And if they do give in, they'll be accused of prioritizing the health/lives of football players over the lives of the 99% of the rest of the student body.