Penn State Football Cancels Team Activities Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, No Final Decision On Blue-White
Penn State football has postponed all football-related activities until further notice due to the current coronavirus outbreak, according to a statement from the team posted on Thursday.
The team said that no final decision has been made regarding the Blue-White spring game that’s currently scheduled for April 18.
“We are postponing all football-related activities until further notice,” the team said. “We are assessing this rapidly-evolving situation with the health and welfare of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and community as the priority. We will continue to seek guidance from university leadership, health experts, and local authorities in making decisions.”
The postponement of team activities includes practices, recruiting, media availabilities, and the team’s upcoming pro day. Twelve players — including projected early-round picks KJ Hamler and Yetur Gross-Matos — were scheduled to work out at pro day on March 17 at Holuba Hall.
Before the team made its official announcement, reserve safety CJ Holmes posted and later deleted a tweet on Thursday afternoon indicating that the team wouldn’t have spring practice.
This is far from the first measure taken by Penn State Athletics in response to the current coronavirus outbreak. At this time, all home games are closed off to fans with only a limited amount of essential personnel, families, media, and recruits allowed in. Additionally, the university is replacing all face-to-face class sessions with remote learning from March 16 until April 3.
Penn State football’s team activities and pro day are also far from the first sporting casualties as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Every major college basketball conference tournament — including the Big Ten’s — has been canceled as a result. The NBA was the first pro sports league to suspend play after Utah Jazz big man Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus, and the NHL and MLS soon followed suit.
You can read the team’s full statement here:
We are postponing all football-related activities until further notice. We are assessing this rapidly evolving situation with the health and welfare of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and community as the priority. We will continue to seek guidance from University leadership, health experts and local authorities in making decisions. This postponement includes, but is not limited to practice, recruiting, media availabilities, Pro Day and any other football-related activities. A final decision on the annual Blue-White Game, scheduled for April 18, has not been made.
Penn State Athletics
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