Duke doctor, chair of ACC medical advisory team, thinks football can be played safely
ACC football teams hoping to still play in 2020 may have an expert on their side.
Dr. Cameron Wolfe, the chairman of the ACC’s medical advisory team, told the Sports Business Daily that he believes football can be played this season and be done so safely.
Wolfe, a Duke infectious disease specialist, expects the conference to try and play. Wolfe’s confidence comes from all the information doctors have gathered since COVID-19 put a halt to college sports in March.
“We believe we can mitigate it down to a level that makes everyone safe,” Wolfe told The Daily. “Can we safely have two teams meet on the field? I would say yes.”
Wolfe admitted to The Daily that it would be tough, expensive and require a lot of hard work, but is still optimistic.
Several leagues have already called off fall sports. The Big Ten announced on Tuesday that it is postponing college football until the spring, per several reports. The Ivy League was the first league to cancel fall sports, pulling the plug in June. The MAC postponed fall sports over the weekend, becoming the first FBS conference to call off fall sports.
Clemson, the ACCs premier football program, had an outbreak this summer where as many as 37 players tested positive during the offseason. Louisville, another member of the ACC, kicked three soccer players off the team after they hosted an off campus party that led to the spread of 29 cases.
UNC postponed football workouts after a small outbreak over the summer, but has not had any positive results in months.
Last week the ACC released football schedules, with games set to start on Sept. 12. Locally, Duke, N.C. State and UNC returned to football practice last week. UNC had three players opt out of the 2020 season because of concerns, Duke had two.
Wolfe told The Daily there will be some risk expected if the ACC goes forward and plays.
“You have to feel some level of comfortable playing in a non-zero risk environment,” he said. “You can’t tell me that running onto a football field is supposed to be a zero-risk environment.”
Wolfe said athletes take risks of sporting injuries and are OK with it.
“Now the reality is we have to accept a little bit of COVID risk to be a part of that,” Wolfe said.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 3:10 PM.
