Members of the Colorado State Rams have reportedly been told not to report coronavirus symptoms.
According to Coloradoan.com, members of the football team have been told by coaches to not report coronavirus symptoms, and have been threatened with a cut in playing time if they sit out for being sick or needing to isolate. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
The same report claims that the Rams have been accused of “altering contact tracing reports to keep players practicing.”
In one specific example listed by Coloradoan.com, a player was showing symptoms, but didn’t want to get tested because he didn’t want to sit out. The player didn’t come to practice the next day, and the damage was potentially already done if he had the virus.
However, several players hit back at the claims on social media, and more or less debunked the story as nonsense.
As disturbing as the Colorado State report is, there are a lot of CSU players who say the story has some major issues. pic.twitter.com/dC5XKetZad
— Kevin Sweeney (@CBB_Central) August 4, 2020
Still, the university announced late Tuesday night that an investigation would be conducted in the aftermath of the report.
Statements released Tuesday night from Colorado State from athletic director Joe Parker and football coach Steve Addazio. President Joyce McConnell has said there will be an internal investigation pic.twitter.com/kbvfgqWIW6
— Kevin Lytle (@Kevin_Lytle) August 5, 2020
I find this report incredibly difficult to believe. In fact, I’ll take it even a step further. It’s one of the most unbelievable stories I’ve seen during the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s not to say that it’s not true. It just means that I have to make a mental jump to believe it. If a coach was found to be covering up coronavirus cases and symptoms, he’d be fired for cause immediately.
There’d be no buyout or settlement. He’d just be gone. Is any coach dumb enough to risk that? I have a feeling the answer to that is a firm “no.”
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There’s a chance this is real, but several players have already claimed it’s not. The problem is that all of this stuff would have likely spread like wildfire before this report surfaced.
It only would have taken a single tweet from a player alleging a cover-up and all hell would have already broken loose.
We’ll see what the investigation finds, but I’m finding it incredibly difficult to believe that CSU tried to cover up cases or intimidate players into not reporting them.