Almost every person in America has experienced how the deadly coronavirus pandemic has affected people’s freedoms and ability to participate in everyday experiences.
Packers starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers has certainly had his own experience – from Zoom meetings and independent workouts to the inability to participate in workouts at Lambeau Field and inside the Packers’ facilities.
He says he wants to be able to use an NFL season to do what sports has seemingly always done in times of need, bringing people together, but understands there are greater issues at stake for society to think about.
“I’m very hopeful we can have a season,” said Rodgers during a news conference Friday.
“I think the important thing to think about is the state of the country…36 million people on unemployment right now, rising poverty levels.”
He cited those items and even increased suicide hotline usage as a reason to focus more energy on the problems of the virus and economic recovery instead of the future of football at this point.
“A lot of fear going around the pandemic. I hope we can use common sense moving forward and make decisions that are going to be in the best interest of all people moving forward,” he said.
As for the games themselves, he says he has not thought much about the possibility of games without fans due to the dangers of 80,000 people in a stadium without social distancing – which could easily spread the deadly virus to thousands of people at one time.
“People are definitely looking for something to bring us together,” he said.
“I know there’s a lot of conversation about it. It definitely would be a weird situation to not have fans in the stands. I hope that’s not the reality.”