Blue White Illustrated

July 2020

Penn State Sports Magazine

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cause another conference is opening way ahead. … I think if you get into it any more than that, then I think you're going to do more damage than you're going to do good." What if the two months or six-week model for a return to official practices can't be accommodated? The NCAA allowed programs to begin conducting voluntary on-campus work- outs again on June 1, but individual states have their own restrictions, so will it even be possible for all programs to play on time? For Franklin, reminiscing on his own college football experience at East Stroudsburg in the 1990s, the answers were obvious. "When I played college football and a lot of people played col- lege football, you weren't there all summer. You were at home, working out on your own, and you would show up and you would be in training camp for three weeks or a month before the season started and you went and played," he said. "So yeah, I think you definitely can do it under six weeks. I think you could do it in a month. Be- cause that's how it was always run be- fore." Even conducting team physicals will have to change. The old model – 120 student-athletes cramming into a train- ing room, moving from one circuit to the next to be cleared by doctors – is now an impossibility. Will accommodations be made for how coaches and support staff interact with their families? Would a de- layed season change the cal- endar for the 2021 season? Can student-athletes be reasonably expected to se- quester themselves from the larger student population to avoid infection between practices and games? These are questions that, for all practi- cal purposes, not only will Penn State football have to answer sufficiently be- tween now and the start of the season, but its opponents would have to do so as well. "This is a lot more complicated than I think a lot of people are looking at it. I think that's where the challenges come," Franklin said. "But we've got to make sure that we're doing everything we possibly can to make sure that the stu- dent-athletes are healthy, and that [also] goes [for] the staff. There are a lot of things that factor in, and I think they're all great questions. That's what makes this whole thing so challenging." Given the stakes for the student-ath- letes and the economies in which college football operates, though daunting, they're questions and challenges worthy of finding answers, if done safely. In- cluding, or maybe especially, a plan in case of infection to Franklin. ■ 111 E. Beaver Ave s State College, PA 16801 www.The-Phyrst.com 814.234.4406 137 Elmwood St. s State College, PA 16801 www.HappyValleyBeer.com Wood-fire Grill 12 Beers on Tap 200 Year Old Barn 821 Cricklewood Dr. s Toftrees, State College www.AmericanAleHouse.net 814.237.9701 s Piano Bar s Sommelier 814.238.1406 814.234.7700 s 1611 Atherton St. s State College 814.941.7788 s Plank Rd. Exit s Altoona www.ChampsSportsGrill.net s Best Game Bar s Large Groups Welcome c lc e W We s p u o r G e g r a L s a e B m a st G e B s S n S h 1 A 1 6 1 0 0 7 7 4. 3 2 4. 1 8 me co r a l l C S r G s rt o p S s p m a h C . www s t i x . E d k R n a l P s 8 8 7 7 1. 4 9 . 4 1 8 S s . t n S o t r e h t 1 A 1 6 1 s 0 0 7 7 4. 3 2 4. 1 8 t e n . l l i r na o o t l A e g e l l o C e at t S STADIUM SEATING Even if there is football this fall, the Nit- tany Nittany Lions may not be able to acco- modate fans due to the coron- avirus outbreak. Photo by Curtis Chan

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