Days After Florida Gators Coach Called for 90,000 Fans in Stadium, Game Against LSU Delayed Because of Covid Outbreak
Going to a home game at “The Swamp,” the Florida Gators football stadium, is a thunderously raucous experience, with over 90,000 fans cheering loudly enough to register on the Richter scale, and it’s understandable that head football coach Dan Mullen would want his team to enjoy one of America’s best home field advantages…
…Except for the fact that we’re in the middle of a pandemic.
After last week’s loss to the Texas A&M Aggies, a visibly frustrated Mullen told reporters that he hoped that University of Florida officials would allow a full crowd at the stadium for this Saturday’s game against LSU, citing a recent lifting of attendance restrictions by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“The crowd was certainly a factor in the game,” said Mullen, “and I know our governor passed that rule, so certainly, hopefully the university administration decides to let us pack The Swamp for LSU next week,” expressing his hope that “we [should] have 90,000 in The Swamp to have that home field advantage that Texas A&M had today.”
That was last Saturday.
On Wednesday, the Gators football team announced that they were postponing the game with LSU and suspending all football team activities after a growing list of players and coaching staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. The latest update on the team has at least 21 players with Covid-19, along with two coaches, and an unknown number of support staffers.
The game has been rescheduled for December 12. Missouri and Vanderbilt also rescheduled their upcoming game for that date after Covid cases among the Commodores.
UF Athletic Director Scott Stricklin told reporters in a Wednesday afternoon press conference that the team had fewer than the SEC minimum threshold of 53 scholarship players available to play Saturday, due to positive cases and required quarantines, plus unrelated injuries or other reasons for being sidelined. Due to the recommendations that those who test positive should isolate for 10 days and close contacts to quarantine for 14 days, the Gators’ home game against Missouri October 24 is also in doubt.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the state’s lone statewide elected Democrat and a frequent critic of DeSantis’ pandemic response, appeared on CNN to discuss the story with Brianna Keilar.
Fried, who attended UF during some of the same years as this reporter, was asked by Keilar if she thought the news would make DeSantis change his mind about lifting restrictions.
“No,” replied Fried, noting that she instead expected DeSantis to “dig in even deeper,” and referring to the governor’s recent “absolutely appalling” maskless appearance at a Trump rally in Sanford, where he was seen giving high fives and rubbing his nose.
Fried then explained how she understood the desire to get back to normal and enjoy the game.
Look, I was past student body president of the University of Florida, I bleed orange and blue. I understand the magic of packing The Swamp and having all of our fans, especially a home game against LSU but really Coach Mullen should be focused on getting a new defensive coordinator because we are being slammed in our secondary and going through our front lines and the run, that’s where our focus should be, not putting all of our fans and visitors into the stands and into The Swamp at risk for the not only getting Covid but spreading it across the state and the country.
Fried also noted that Florida was experiencing a spike in Covid cases, and even an outdoor football game created ample opportunities for transmission of the virus, with fans crowded close together and being inside to visit the concessions areas and restrooms.
“We understand how important it is to get football season, especially SEC Football, back into where it used to be,” said Fried, “but not at the risk of so many people across the state and our country. This is really a poor decision and an opportunity to really spread this virus and put a lot of people’s lives at risk.”
