Paul Chryst “grateful” to have a chance to play

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that things change quickly.

A month ago, a Big Ten football season didn’t seem possible. Now, Paul Chryst and the Wisconsin Badgers are preparing to kickoff their season in mid-October. The Badgers head coach and his team are simply thankful to have the opportunity to play football this fall.

“With all the uncertainty and the rollercoaster that it’s been, you’re just grateful that you get a chance to have a season,” Chryst told ESPN Wisconsin’s Wilde & Tausch.

The operative word there is “chance.”

How are Chryst and his staff trying to keep players safe and healthy now that training camp has resumed?

“The hardest thing is going to be, ‘How do you create your own bubble?’ This is going to be the one time that we ask [players] to be more selfish. That’s to know who you’re with and around,” Chryst continued.

The head coach also cautioned the public to withhold judgment on players who do indeed contract COVID-19.

“I’m certainly not an expert on COVID, but you can get it a lot of different ways. Just because a guy got COVID doesn’t mean he was out at the bars two nights before that.”

Keeping players safe will be an ongoing effort through the college football season. The Badgers kickoff their season at home against Illinois on October 24th.

You can hear Chryst’s full interview with Wilde & Tausch here.