Having taken some personal days off this past week, I was still perusing the internet for any insight about whether or not there will even be a 2020 football season.

While I cover college football and make a living from its news-cycle, I also know when it’s time to accept the challenges that have been presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Can I continue to keep revenues flowing if there’s no season? Sure, no problem.

I cover recruiting and that will continue regardless.

But what about the revenues lost by the universities? As of today there are contingency plans to help athletic departments recoup some of the money lost — but this goes beyond just money.

Let’s talk about masks…

I don’t know about you, but by the time I get home from running errands and wearing a mask, my throat is irritated and dry, and I feel like I spent the day in a pollen-infested barn.

That, in itself, concerns me about young people doing rigorous workouts and trying to go live in a physical game that lasts for 60 minutes.

Not to mention the virus, itself.

The flood of information about this virus has left most people wondering what to believe…and until there is a definitive solution, why take a chance? It may burn itself out — we may develop what they call a “herd immunity”, but again, what to believe?

This is where I stand in agreement with the players who are threatening to opt-out of the season; they too want answers.

Granted, I am not fond of the part where they ask for money and shared compensation — but they are young men who have legitimate concerns about their own health. They are entitled to that and deserve to have those answers.

So should the season just be canceled?

Every single death right now is blamed on COVID — you could hit a semi-truck head-on on a back road and it would be ruled a COVID death.

This is the hysteria of the world we are living in right now.

Just yesterday a report came out about a young man who began to have stomach issues and wound up in ICU before finally passing away. His family was denied the opportunity to have an autopsy, but were totally confused when his death was ruled a COVID death.

His test for COVID had come back negative.

What are we to believe? Is this a political virus? Is this a “plandemic” as some call it? Is it as serious for young people as it is for older people with underlying conditions?

I, for one, don’t know — which is why I still wash and sanitize my hands, my cellphone, and my car keys when I return home.

Are we so in dire need of our fall sports that we allow young athletes to find out the hard way?

These are the questions that are not answered right now — and until they can be — we might need to concentrate our energies this fall on binge-watching Netflix and riding this thing out.

I would be for a later season, but what about the NFL draft? Will there be waivers given to athletes that would allow them to be granted another year of eligibility?

There is certainly a lot to consider here.

As for recruiting, it will go on just as it has. I do think that in-person on-campus visits should be able to take place, with the caveat that masks and mandated safety measures be in place (just as they are for going to the grocery store).

In some states they are implementing 14-day quarantines before you can even enter.

I don’t have all the answers; no one does at this point, but until this goes into the history books and leaves our current reality, accepting what may be inevitable is our only choice.