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COLUMN: Illini LB Milo Eifler Is Trying To Tell Us Something - Will We Listen?

Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler expresses legit concern about playing football during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Milo Eifler had one heck of a Wednesday afternoon.

Let us recap, shall we?

At 11:37 a.m. CST, Eifler took to Twitter to present an idea that was based in rational thought about universities pushing forward with plans to start a 2020 college football season on Labor Day weekend. At that moment, Eifler’s day was already ahead of the curve on having a productive day. Apparently nobody has bothered to tell Eifler that Twitter, which he later said he has “love” for, can be the first and last bastion of cesspool social discourse filled with idiocism, racism and hate. And can’t we all thank God for simply that?

Not long after he hit send on his tweet, Eifler’s Zoom video conference meeting with local and statewide media, scheduled for just a few hours later, was postponed for what Illinois athletics officials said was to “learn about Milo’s concerns expressed on Twitter”. Loosely translated, Eifler now had some phone calls from pretty important people to answer first. The first came from his head coach Lovie Smith as Eifler said the Illini fifth-year coach wanted to immediately check on his projected starting linebacker. The next call was from Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman as Eifler said the head athletics boss at U of I was wondering why the star player didn’t express these concerns with him, Lovie Smith or the athletics department first before going to Twitter. A valid point and request.

However, I might also be able to logically argue Whitman could’ve been desperately concerned that a player is voicing serious and unanswered questions that could figuratively take a blowtorch to this financially ten-figure college football social experiment hundreds of athletics officials all across the country seemed determined to undertake. Need I remind everybody all these college football in the fall during an ongoing pandemic plans are being done at institutions of higher learning while having every possible respected health official in our country suggesting the exact opposite is safe.

Before noon on the first day of July 2020, a senior linebacker has looked at the COVID-19 procedures and protocols in place at not just the University of Illinois but all around this country. He’s seen the positive tests at college football powerhouse all across the country. And what does he do? What every college student is ultimately taught to do. He began to question authority. He began to publicly utter questions that start with three magical words “but what if…”

But what if there’s no vaccine? But what if several dozen or more players test positive for the virus during the season? But what if we need to take a long road trip during the season? But what if I have an in-person, on-campus class during the week that takes place right before football practice?

Eifler arrived back on the University of Illinois campus this week for these voluntary summer workouts, which he’s smart enough to know are voluntary in name only when depth chart spots, starting jobs and leadership roles are being defined during these June and July periods.

In almost every sense of the comparison, Eifler has proudly assumed the role of the child in the Hans Christian Andersen tale as he is willing and able to point out to the emperor he isn’t well dressed at all but instead is butt naked.

In a lot of ways, Milo Eifler is the wrong person to be asking these thought-provoking questions. He is a 22-year-old college student trying to play a sport where adults twice his age have promised him they’ll protect him.

And to those who suggest the Illinois linebacker is just a young uninformed kid, who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I present you the very proud parents of Mr. Camilo Eifler. Mom’s name is Rachel Morello-Frosch, an environmental health scientist and professor in the environmental science department, policy and management department and the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley. That’s who Eifler said Wednesday he’s getting his “real deal facts” from and it’s possible the phrase “momma knows best” may never have been applied better. Eifler’s father, David Eifler, has two master's degrees (Library and Information Science and City Planning) and holds the title of “Environmental Design Librarian” at Cal-Berkeley. I don’t know about you but I’m going to go ahead and concede that these aren’t the kind of folks to likely raise a son to ignore the outside world around them in the effort of being a jock. It’s also my opinion David and Rachel should be and probably are so damn proud of what their son did on July 1, 2020 and will in likelihood continue to do whether he plays another down of football ever again.

It’s those folks all across the country, including most importantly those inside the Indianapolis offices of the NCAA headquarters, who have made the promises who should be asking the questions and coming up with answers. And on the other hand, Milo Eifler is exactly the correct person to be sharing these deep seated concerns he’s clearly been having. The 22-year-old sociology major, who is scheduled to graduate from Illinois in December, has looked around and transformed into Howard Beale in ‘Network’. Twitter is Milo Eifler’s window that is now open. Only he doesn’t come across at all “mad as hell” but don’t kid yourself if you think this young man is going to take it anymore.

“I just want to know the NCAA knows what’s going on right now," Eifler said to local media Wednesday. "They know that we’re kind of at risk for continuing with practicing and with the playing of sports. I’m sure from their perspective, sure they would want a college football season to happen. Do they know what we’re really going through? I’m working out with my team and doing all of this, but we’re still at risk. We’re not superheroes. I want the NCAA to know that and be more vocal.”

If more people listen to Eifler and his concerns, which were applauded and echoed by a lot of his current Illinois teammates on Twitter Wednesday, then good luck to everybody in college athletics and specifically at Illinois who attempt to put this toothpaste back in the tube.