Boomer Esiason Floats Theory That College Football Teams Are Trying to Give Themselves COVID-19 on Purpose

The amount of positive coronavirus tests that have come out of early college football activities is yet another reminder that college athletics will be very difficult and dangerous to hold this year. 37 Clemson players have tested positive to date, and numerous other reports from SEC schools suggest the same.

Boomer Esiason discussed these developments on WFAN today. He then took it a step further and posited a theory that these programs are attempting to create their own version of herd immunity by intentionally infecting the student-athletes in their care. He is very careful to frame it as anything but an accusation, but notes he would put nothing past the blood-thirsty crowd that makes up college football's elite. Courtesy of Funhouse:

That is... something. While Boomer has a point about how football coaches will go the extra 10 miles for a competitive advantage, imagine the parents' reaction if they found out Dabo Swinney or Nick Saban were infecting their children, on purpose, with a virus that has resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 people in this country alone. Hell, most of the players wouldn't sign up for that. I cannot imagine there would be understanding about the "herd immunity" concept and how it relates to the viability of college football if Boomer's theory is correct.

Not to mention what Boomer says at the end is wrong. It is PROBABLE that athletes, professional and amateurs alike will come out the other side of a positive test. It is not a guarantee. This whole situation isn't a math equation where you put in two variables and consistently get the same result. Nobody knows the long-term effects. Rudy Gobert might not be able to smell anything for a year and he's been recovered for months.

Let us all hope that Boomer's theory is just that: a theory. If it's anything else, we are somehow in more trouble than it appears.