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State representative from Ohio says there will be an ‘insurrection’ if there’s no college football or NFL season
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One Ohio lawmaker paints a pretty hectic picture when talking about the possibility of not having a college football or NFL season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Ohio House Majority Leader Bill Seitz (R-Hamilton County) said recently that there would be an “insurrection” if college football or the NFL season isn’t played this fall.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” Seitz said, “if we roll around to early September, and they say that there will be no pro or college football, at that time there will be an insurrection no matter what Amy Acton says.”
Acton was appointed the director of health for the Ohio Department of Health by governor Mike DeWine. She’s held that position since February 2019.
“She has tunnel vision and that’s appropriate,” Seitz said. “Her job is director of the Department of Health, so she;s looking at this through the lens of what is optimal for public health. But I think she is not sufficiently cognizant about the damage this has done to our economy.
“She’s got a job to do, but it can’t be the sole determinant of what we do.”
College football is a huge revenue generator, not just in the state of Ohio, but across the country. The sport funds several jobs within the athletic department, as well as many other sports programs. There would be massive cuts across the nation if the season was canceled.
Not only would the cancellation of the season negatively affect the college and universities, it would also hurt several small businesses around campus that depend on those six to eight Saturdays per year for major revenue.
Several schools are currently moving forward with the plan of hosting on-campus classes in the fall, including Purdue, Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan in the B1G. That’s a good first step in getting college athletics to return this fall, as many have said that sports won’t resume if students are not permitted on campuses.
There’s still some time for key decision makers to decide on what’s best moving forward. But there would likely be some unrest if college football’s 2020 season was canceled.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB