Ryquell Armstead should be a starting running back for the Jags this season. COVID changed all that

Ryquell Armstead should be a starting running back for the Jags this season. COVID changed all that

Shalise Manza Young

Shalise Manza Young

·Yahoo Sports Columnist

Sun, October 25, 2020, 6:22 PM EDT

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On Sunday, ESPN reported that Jacksonville Jaguars running back Ryquell Armstead is expected to miss the rest of this season due to COVID-19 complications. It should be noted neither Armstead nor the Jaguars have confirmed he contracted the virus, but he has reportedly been hospitalized twice and continues to struggle with “significant respiratory issues” among other problems.

It was only a matter of time before this happened with an NFL player.

An optimist would believe that this could change minds, but it’s hard to be much of an optimist these days.

Armstead is just a few days shy of his 24th birthday. At his NFL scouting combine less than two years ago, he ran a 4.45-second 40-yard dash, put up the 225-pound bench press 22 times and showed off a 7.02-second three-cone.

The point is, he’s fit.

And young.

Just the type of human being some of us are repeatedly told on social media who won’t be affected by COVID. It’s implied that we shouldn’t be concerned whether human beings like Armstead contract the virus because they’ll be fine.

They’re young! They’re healthy!

COVID does not care about any of that.

It feels like this has been written before, but we’ll keep writing it: There is a large spectrum between “perfectly fine” and death. And what happens in between is being learned every day, as this seemingly unending pandemic worsens all over the country and doctors gather more data. Some contract heart issues, some significant lung damage.

They signed up for this!

Sure, in theory. But Armstead is a 2019 fifth-round draft pick. He played all 16 games last season, and after the Jaguars cut Leonard Fournette, he was in line to be the team’s starting back. If he got that chance and played well, in a year it could lead to a contract that could change the course of his young family’s future and enrich it for generations.

Would you pass up that chance? Especially if you were young, healthy and told there were going to be precautions taken in your workplace to minimize a potential spread?

Jacksonville Jaguars RB Ryquell Armstead is theoretically in prime health and shape, but COVID doesn’t discriminate. (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Let’s not forget that the NFL downplayed the long-term effects of concussion and CTE for years. We’re supposed to fully trust it now, when getting games on the fields means billions for the billionaire owners?

Does Jacksonville team owner Shad Khan or Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones truly care what happens to Ryquell Armstead as long as they get their shares of the NFL’s massive revenues?

Do you, as long as you get to sit on your couch on Sunday refreshing stats for your fantasy team?

This has been the risk all along, but these players’ humanity often takes a backseat for on-field entertainment.

And this is a league where time and again fans side with team owners, the billionaires sitting in their gilded luxury boxes with their cronies in billion-dollar stadiums almost always paid for with fans’ tax dollars. They side against the people they actually pay to watch, the ones who are making significant physical sacrifices.

Criticism rained down for months on sports media members who said that playing in a pandemic was a bad idea. The human side of things is why many in the media said it was a terrible idea. We see them as people and understand the challenge of team rosters, coaching staffs and family members healthy through airplane flights, hotel stays and, oh yeah, a high-level contact sport.

ESPN reported that Armstead is “expected” to return in 2021.

But he wasn’t “expected” to require at least two hospitalizations when he contracted COVID because he was young and fit and healthy, so how can anyone make that prediction at this point?

Armstead is the first NFL player we know of whose playing time has been significantly impacted by the virus. For myriad reasons, his life and that of his family’s could be forever altered.

Hopefully he’s the last. But one is too many.

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Nice find - sucks. Still feels like he’s an outlier, to me. I know a dozen ppl who have had it, none of which were anywhere near his level of fitness, or youth. I’ve hard it described ranging from “shitty” to “I’ve had hangovers worse than that,” to “I didn’t even know I had it.”

Seems like there will be outliers. Statistics say this dude is a very, very, very small % of the population. It’s not that it can’t happen, it’s that it is exxxxtreeeemely unlikely to take down a young, healthy person.

Wonder what the variables are that allow some to be afflicted harder than others?

That’s because he is an outlier. The science and data is straight forward on it.

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Completely agree, bro

That’s exactly what he is.

If you want to put the world in a bubble to protect the few than your always going to find what your looking for.

Nearly every illness has complications and side effects that are extreme for a few.

He’s not even a confirmed Covid case. Seems a bit of an overreaction to me.

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People are desperate to make this into something that its not. This is the first time I can remember seeing an age demographic that stretched from 20 years old all the way up to 44. That’s a hell of a spread. But they need that spread because you get into the higher risk category once you get close to 40 and over. I wish we could just let the data and science be what it is instead of trying to sell people on something. This guy seems like he is fit, but we don’t know his medical history. But its crazy when I see articles talking about “perfectly healthy 28 year old” but when you get into the details they are obese and have asthma problems. Its like “c’mon bro.”

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Yeah he’s definitely overreacting. Hospitalized. Possible severe respiratory damage. What a loser. Obviously y’all haven’t had someone close to you affected.

What the ???

I lost two close relatives to Covid… that statement really rubbed me the wrong way.

Your doing exactly what this writer is doing.

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Than you shouldn’t call it an overreaction, that really rubbed me the wrong way.

You completely missed what he was saying. But its clear you have an axe to grind, so its not surprising. Would you care to add something to this thread? Because picking a fight to bicker back and forth isn’t going to last long.

No I clearly didn’t miss his point. Saying it’s an overreaction is an opinion that many won’t agree with. Funny how you think I’m the one with the axe to grind when y’all are basically trying to tear the writers opinion apart.

So they don’t even know if he has it? Hmmmm, maybe he has something else.

Judging by the article and doing a quick search online, it seems pretty obvious that he tested positive at some point. So I’m not sure where the notion came from that they don’t know if he has it.

It’s never been confirmed by him, his agent, NFL or the team.

It’s been reported he had Covid like symptoms. It somehow got out that he has been hospitalized twice for respiratory problems. No one really knows if those symptoms are Covid related or not. No one knows his past medical history. No one knows if he has asthma or some other illness that could explain his symptoms either. It’s a leap.

Even if it was Covid… Let’s assume for arguments sake that it was … He’s an outlier… and there could very well be other factors involved here… We just don’t know.

The author made a leap with no evidence or facts to support it. Which is why I claim it’s an over reaction.

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I know a dozen or so ppl that have been effected. 2 got weird skin conditions that were uncomfortable. The others either didn’t even know they hd it, or described it as “I’ve had worse hangovers.”

One of those people did tell about her older aunt that died, but she had all sorts of other stuff going on.

Speaking to what we have experienced, read, seen, or trying to “tear apart.” Taking the drama out of language helps to see things more clearly.

I am interested in truth, and based on what I have seen, this is not that. Is this an article about a player that got Covid, or is it a persuasion piece, to try to put people into a fear state? Feels like the latter, to me. “Covid knows no bounds of age, health, etc…” Removing that statement would make the article more neutral. Leaving it in defies science, data, and reality.

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My truth is a really good friend of mine got it, was in the hospital for almost 100 days where only his wife could see him and he came out a different person. I wish there was a way to show you guys the difference.

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Thank you for the honest post, brother.
Sending love to you all.
When we get emotions involved (personal experience), it changes the meaning we attach to things.

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The article sucks . He is 100% an Outlier . A HUGE overreaction to one case . This article is riddled with agenda, a piece less about compassion for the player or his situation ( Which sucks…wish him the best) and more about yet another "Sports Writer " using his or her platform to attack a system that they deem oppressive and cruel …

She offers no solutions … the only solution you can even pretend she has is …No Football .

His financial impact for his family and future are a concern and because he is an outlier the other 2400 players should also have his issues?

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I just think wether it’s overblown or not families are being effected and we all need to do whatever we can to help each other.

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