Stills: Players Staying Safe, Healthy will Require ‘Sacrifice’

The major theme of the 2020 football season is caution. Whether it is having an abundance of caution or taking precautions, everyone is talking about caution.

With West Virginia University starting classes last Wednesday, college students have descended upon Morgantown. The WVU football team has been without a positive COVID-19 test for a few weeks, but with more young people in town, the team knows there will be more risks.

“The coaches know it’s hard being our age and this stuff happening,” defensive lineman Darius Stills told the media Saturday. “During college, you want to experience stuff that’s outside of football.”

With schools like NC State and East Carolina already having to postpone games due to COVID outbreaks, there is a real threat present.

As a senior, Stills is one of the leaders on WVU’s team this season. He said in order for the team to be healthy and play this the players have to be willing to sacrifice doing other things.

“It’s all about sacrifice,” Stills explained. “We’re all getting to play football and our sacrifices have gotten us to this point…One night isn’t worth the whole season getting canceled.”

Stills said he tells his guys to think about how their actions might affect the team, instead of just themselves.

“I just try to tell my guys ‘be careful, make the right decisions. I know you’re grown and you’re going to do whatever you want regardless but just keep in mind you’re not really affecting you, you’re affecting your whole team if something bad goes on’.”

West Virginia is scheduled to open the season next Saturday, Sept. 12 against Eastern Kentucky.