What I never understood is why it was thought to be safer away from the team and it's safety protocols in comparison to signing with an agent an being on your own in different cities training around people who's not constantly being tested?
I think Covid was used as an excuse to save his draft stock. He quit, signed with an agent and bought his mother a house or whatever. Every kids dream is to be able to take care of their family so I get it but just be honest about it. I wish there was data to compare the efficacy of transmission over the past season as a football athlete compared to a normal citizen.
Yeah, because "the team and its safety protocols" were soooooooo effective. We had multiple players and coaches contract COVID, and even more who were forced to sit out for contact-tracing.
Did Greg get COVID "being on his own in different cities training around people who's not constantly being tested"? And how do you know what his protocols were? Regardless of your seemingly extensive knowledge of everything about Greg Rousseau over the past year, from a PURELY COVID STANDPOINT, Greg seems to have come out of the last year with less impact to his health than, say, Al Blades Jr.
And stop it with apples-oranges comparisons (which will probably not work out well anyhow). Greg's comparison is not to "a normal citizen", it is to a person who took significant precautions. Or his UM teammates. And Greg seems to have done quite well on both counts.
As for the (not very relevant) comparison of transmission between "a football athlete" and "a normal citizen"...
Through today...approximately 31.5 million reported COVID cases in the US on a population of 328.2 million, which is a 9.6% transmission rate for a period exceeding one year. For a football team of 85 players, that equates to 8 players. Therefore, if fewer than 8 players on a team contracted COVID, then those oh-so-impressive "football team safety protocols" could be deemed to be effective, and if more than 8 players on a team contracted COVID, then the transmission stats would be WORSE than those for "a normal citizen".
Without knowing EXACTLY how many players contracted COVID vs. the number who were ruled out for contact-tracing...but given the length of time many players were out and how many teams across the country had to cancel/reschedule games due to COVID outbreaks...it certainly seems like the number of COVID infections per team may well have exceeded 8. In some cases, by large margins.
But, again, unless you have evidence that Greg Rousseau contracted COVID in the past year, then it would appear that HIS HEALTH was protected by his decision. Maybe not his draft position, but that's a different issue.
I'm not sure where the "Covid was used as an excuse to save his draft stock" comes from. HOW? Everyone who opted out has cited COVID. It's not like Greg concocted some brilliant plan that only he has been able to take advantage of. And in a year where Greg could have played in a DE rotation with Jaelan Phillips and Quincy Roche, it is not so crazy to think that he could have had 11.5 sacks, which is how many Kwity Paye had IN FOUR YEARS. Are you honestly making some sort of argument that Greg would have done SO POORLY in 2020 that he would have LOWERED his draft position? Because, if not, the only other options are "same draft position" and "higher draft position".
For right or wrong, Greg made his decision based on COVID and the input of his mother. You don't have to like it or agree with it, but I hardly think it was "an excuse to save his draft stock".
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