Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby made it a point to remind everyone that college football will still be dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic this fall as he made a push for player vaccination during Big 12 media day on Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Dave Wilson.
Bowlsby, who highlighted the fact that the Big 12 was able to complete 90% of its 2020 season, said that the league plans to revisit their testing protocols this fall.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever introduced a topic that was less warmly received than the revisitation of protocols,” Bowlsby said. “With the Delta variant, there are good reasons we need to be vigilant. There’s still going to be a fair amount of testing. Yeah, we wish we were done with it. But we’re probably not quite done with it.”
And while the Big 12 cannot mandate that their players be vaccinated, he certainly supports it.
“We are certainly, as we go forward, encouraging student-athletes to get vaccinated. … Frankly, anyone not getting vaccinated is taking unnecessary risk. And that’s not just student-athletes, that’s anyone in our society.”
“For a student-athlete, you’re rolling the dice on whether or not you can participate [if you’re not vaccinated],” he continued. “You’re going to be in a testing protocol.
