Kirby Smart Debunks Long-Term Risks of COVID-19

With the Big Ten returning to the world of playing college football in the fall thanks to suddenly finding resources for rapid testing, and rushing their season into the back end of October in order to be considered for the College Football Playoff, Kirby Smart displayed yesterday why the SEC and the Georgia program are seemingly lightyears ahead.

In response to a question regarding whether or not he fears potential long-term risks of a player contracting COVID-19, Kirby said the following:

"I don’t know what long-term risks you’re referencing, because every flu virus is associated with the possibility of getting myocarditis, and the research that’s been done hasn’t shown that COVID-19 is a greater indicator of getting myocarditis than any other normal flu symptoms. We didn't actually check kids for myocarditis when they got the flu and they had other viruses."

And when he says those things, he's not just speaking off the cuff about a virus he's uneducated about. Smart and his medical staff have long been studying the effects of COVID-19. "Now, we've actually put ourselves in a better position, because we're testing the heart. We're doing EKGs. We're doing ultrasounds. We’re checking everything now, after this, so it’s really much safer, in terms of not wanting a player to get diagnosed or have myocarditis after having COVID, when before we didn't necessarily do all those tests after something that could have caused it," Smart said.

What separates Georgia's program apart from others? They actually have baseline data on all of their players, scans of their hearts in order to identify any drastic changes occurring within their system:

"The key, and what we all want, is to not have a young man playing or performing or doing extra exercise and be dealing with myocarditis, so how do you prevent that? You test, and you research, and you look at it. Ron [Courson] and his staff are doing a tremendous job of that. We're very fortunate at UGA to have a baseline test on every kid that's ever come in here. So, after they have COVID, or maybe they have antibodies for COVID, we're able to test them and look and see what the differences are in their hearts. We're very fortunate to be able to do that, which makes me much more comfortable with the decisions that have been made.”

There's a reason you've seen just one opt-out from this Georgia team. It's not because Georgia doesn't have players that have high draft capital on their roster. It's seemingly because their players not only want to play, but feel safe doing so under Smart, Ron Courson, and the rest of the medical staff in Athens.

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook @BulldogMaven & follow us on Twitter at @DawgsDailySI.