Gators head coach Dan Mullen talks with quarterback Kyle Trask in last week's loss at Texas A&M. (Photo: Courtney Culbreath/UAA Communications)
Carter's Corner: A Trip To Texas With Gators That Won't Be Forgotten
Wednesday, October 14, 2020 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When I arrived for my mandatory COVID-19 test on Tuesday morning in the area underneath the south end zone at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the only oddity I noticed was the absence of Paul Silvestri, the UF football team's head athletic trainer.
Normally, Silvestri is holding a clipboard and positioned at the entrance of a tent filled with medical personnel dressed in full personal-protection equipment. He checks you in and then calls your name so the medical staff can grab your test kit, confirm your identity, and then administer the nasal-swabbing test. If no one is in line when you arrive during your test window, the entire process can take less than a couple of minutes and you're on your way.
The procedure is the same for Gators head coach Dan Mullen, UF players, the equipment staff and dozens of others in the University Athletic Association whose jobs involve being around the football program. Silvestri and fellow athletic trainer Spencer Thomas are known primarily to Gators fans as the first people on the field when a player is injured. You may have noticed how quickly they raced to Gators safety Brad Stewart Jr. in Saturday's game at Texas A&M when Stewart suffered a hit to the head from teammate Jeremiah Moon as they converged to make a tackle.
However, since mid-March when the coronavirus pandemic shut down college athletics, Silvestri, Thomas and so many others behind the scenes at the UAA and UFHealth have been on the front lines of defense against COVID-19 in the UF community.
In my view, they are the All-Americans of the 2020 season. That's why when I didn't see Silvestri on Tuesday, I found it odd but not alarming. The process was the same, but in the altered landscape of 2020, the slightest hint of comfort is welcomed with a virtual hug. Of course, we now know Silvestri was dealing with bigger issues and assigned a colleague to fill in at the test center.
"We could not have gotten through this at all without them helping us with protocols and testing and all those things that have allowed us to have, up to this point, safe competition,'' Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin said Wednesday. "But, obviously, we have something going on in our football program."
If you're reading this, by now you know what Stricklin meant by the second part of that statement.
He announced that as of Wednesday, the Gators have 21 team members who have tested positive for COVID-19, and when adding in those players now quarantined due to contact tracing and those sidelined for non-COVID reasons, the Gators have less than 50 available players. Mullen added that two coaches have tested positive. Hence, Saturday's home game against LSU has been postponed and tentatively rescheduled Dec. 12.
The postponement of one of the Southeastern Conference's premier rivalry games is just the latest headline in the sports world and the ongoing battle with COVID-19. Since I started writing this, reports surfaced that Alabama coach Nick Saban has tested positive for COVID-19.
As the Gators work to determine the origin of their outbreak and manage the current situation to ensure everyone's health, they have paused all football activities indefinitely. The team facilities are closed. There are no practices. Yes, it all seems a bit like déjà vu.
What does that mean for those at the UAA who flew to Texas A&M with the Gators, who stayed at the team hotel and walked the same hallways and used the same elevators? For now, we will be quarantined away from the office. We will work remotely. We will monitor our health and continue to be tested three times a week.
"It's really important that everyone remains diligent,'' Stricklin said. "You can't take your foot off the gas, so to speak, as far as doing all the things that we're being asked to do, from social distancing, to masking and good hygiene. It can sneak up on you in a hurry."
When news broke this week about a possible COVID outbreak around the Gators, it certainly hit close to home. The road trip to Texas was the first time I had traveled with one of UF's teams since last football season. In most years, the itinerary includes postseason trips to March Madness, the College World Series, NCAA gymnastics and track, various other journeys to document one of the country's top athletic programs for one its most passionate fan bases.
Not in 2020. Prior to the start of football season, many of the stories on FloridaGators.com had a COVID-19 theme or aimed at off-the-field targets.
That's why it felt so normal – and so good – to be in College Station covering a game. Sure, we wore masks on the plane and in the hotel. We social distanced and took the precautions that have become such a part of our lives this year.
But it felt something like normal.
Were there concerns about COVID-19? For me, yes and no. I turned 50 in February and use medication to manage high blood pressure. According to medical experts, I'm among the demographic that is susceptible to developing issues if infected with COVID-19. On the flip side, I have adhered closely to the recommended CDC guidelines, am otherwise healthy and based on family history, blessed with strong genes.
Bottom line: I respect COVID with a common-sense approach.
When I checked into my hotel room in Texas, I noticed all the pillows were uncovered and piled on the desk. A bundle of folded sheets and pillow cases were stacked on one of the bare beds. I called the front desk to make sure this wasn't some pandemic protocol I was unaware of. The general manager assured me it was not and immediately came up and ushered me to a new room, sharing a story about how since the pandemic struck, the hotel had gone from 140 associates most days to only eight during the worst stretches of the past several months.
Meanwhile, I ate dinner alone in my room as did most of my colleagues. We grabbed food prepared for us by a catering service that had set up shop in a meeting room at the hotel. I thought about things that a year ago I did not. I tried to social distance when I rode the elevator, making sure to stand on the other side when receiver Trevon Grimes and I rode down together, or stand back a few feet when running back Iverson Clement showed off an old-school football video on his iPhone. The only moment of trepidation I had was when a family with several small kids jumped on the elevator with me. The wife said they had evacuated from Louisiana due to Hurricane Delta and were staying the night. None wore masks, which is their right as Americans.
Still, I had that thought in the back of my mask-covered head: I hope they don't have COVID.
Truthfully, even knowing what I know now, I would still go with the Gators to Texas A&M. While some will roll their eyes and ask – what else is he going to say? – I've never felt my health or anyone's at the UAA has been compromised during the pandemic.
When Stricklin talks about player safety being at the top of the priority list, I know he is not spouting from some NCAA how-to-deal-with-the-media-during-a-pandemic manual. I've seen it at work and heard it discussed in meetings too many times. I've witnessed the changes -- small and big, in the offices and around the team -- made over the past several months and the commitment by Silvestri and others to ensure the safest environment possible.
Selfishly, I've also wanted football season to happen ever since it was mentioned as a possibility. There is nothing better in sports than game day for an SEC rivalry. I hope the Gators can get back on the field sooner than later. For those who work in an athletic department, it's what we do.
"This is a year that is unlike any we've had before, and it's one that we never want to have again, but it's one that's in front of us,'' Stricklin said. "And so, our financial sheet at the UAA right now is a mess. But you know, the worst day of 2020, as bad as today is – and today is no fun – this week has not been a lot of fun. But as bad as this is, the worst day by far of 2020 was that day back in March when we had to tell our basketball teams and our gymnastics team and our track-and-field team that, even though their postseason was about to start, they were not going to be able to go and compete in it."
So, as the Gators pause, stay safe and stay diligent. COVID-19 is not going anywhere but neither are we. The next round of tests is Thursday morning.
Normally, Silvestri is holding a clipboard and positioned at the entrance of a tent filled with medical personnel dressed in full personal-protection equipment. He checks you in and then calls your name so the medical staff can grab your test kit, confirm your identity, and then administer the nasal-swabbing test. If no one is in line when you arrive during your test window, the entire process can take less than a couple of minutes and you're on your way.
The procedure is the same for Gators head coach Dan Mullen, UF players, the equipment staff and dozens of others in the University Athletic Association whose jobs involve being around the football program. Silvestri and fellow athletic trainer Spencer Thomas are known primarily to Gators fans as the first people on the field when a player is injured. You may have noticed how quickly they raced to Gators safety Brad Stewart Jr. in Saturday's game at Texas A&M when Stewart suffered a hit to the head from teammate Jeremiah Moon as they converged to make a tackle.
However, since mid-March when the coronavirus pandemic shut down college athletics, Silvestri, Thomas and so many others behind the scenes at the UAA and UFHealth have been on the front lines of defense against COVID-19 in the UF community.
In my view, they are the All-Americans of the 2020 season. That's why when I didn't see Silvestri on Tuesday, I found it odd but not alarming. The process was the same, but in the altered landscape of 2020, the slightest hint of comfort is welcomed with a virtual hug. Of course, we now know Silvestri was dealing with bigger issues and assigned a colleague to fill in at the test center.
"We could not have gotten through this at all without them helping us with protocols and testing and all those things that have allowed us to have, up to this point, safe competition,'' Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin said Wednesday. "But, obviously, we have something going on in our football program."
If you're reading this, by now you know what Stricklin meant by the second part of that statement.
He announced that as of Wednesday, the Gators have 21 team members who have tested positive for COVID-19, and when adding in those players now quarantined due to contact tracing and those sidelined for non-COVID reasons, the Gators have less than 50 available players. Mullen added that two coaches have tested positive. Hence, Saturday's home game against LSU has been postponed and tentatively rescheduled Dec. 12.
The postponement of one of the Southeastern Conference's premier rivalry games is just the latest headline in the sports world and the ongoing battle with COVID-19. Since I started writing this, reports surfaced that Alabama coach Nick Saban has tested positive for COVID-19.
As the Gators work to determine the origin of their outbreak and manage the current situation to ensure everyone's health, they have paused all football activities indefinitely. The team facilities are closed. There are no practices. Yes, it all seems a bit like déjà vu.
What does that mean for those at the UAA who flew to Texas A&M with the Gators, who stayed at the team hotel and walked the same hallways and used the same elevators? For now, we will be quarantined away from the office. We will work remotely. We will monitor our health and continue to be tested three times a week.
"It's really important that everyone remains diligent,'' Stricklin said. "You can't take your foot off the gas, so to speak, as far as doing all the things that we're being asked to do, from social distancing, to masking and good hygiene. It can sneak up on you in a hurry."
When news broke this week about a possible COVID outbreak around the Gators, it certainly hit close to home. The road trip to Texas was the first time I had traveled with one of UF's teams since last football season. In most years, the itinerary includes postseason trips to March Madness, the College World Series, NCAA gymnastics and track, various other journeys to document one of the country's top athletic programs for one its most passionate fan bases.
Not in 2020. Prior to the start of football season, many of the stories on FloridaGators.com had a COVID-19 theme or aimed at off-the-field targets.
That's why it felt so normal – and so good – to be in College Station covering a game. Sure, we wore masks on the plane and in the hotel. We social distanced and took the precautions that have become such a part of our lives this year.
But it felt something like normal.
Were there concerns about COVID-19? For me, yes and no. I turned 50 in February and use medication to manage high blood pressure. According to medical experts, I'm among the demographic that is susceptible to developing issues if infected with COVID-19. On the flip side, I have adhered closely to the recommended CDC guidelines, am otherwise healthy and based on family history, blessed with strong genes.
Bottom line: I respect COVID with a common-sense approach.
When I checked into my hotel room in Texas, I noticed all the pillows were uncovered and piled on the desk. A bundle of folded sheets and pillow cases were stacked on one of the bare beds. I called the front desk to make sure this wasn't some pandemic protocol I was unaware of. The general manager assured me it was not and immediately came up and ushered me to a new room, sharing a story about how since the pandemic struck, the hotel had gone from 140 associates most days to only eight during the worst stretches of the past several months.
Meanwhile, I ate dinner alone in my room as did most of my colleagues. We grabbed food prepared for us by a catering service that had set up shop in a meeting room at the hotel. I thought about things that a year ago I did not. I tried to social distance when I rode the elevator, making sure to stand on the other side when receiver Trevon Grimes and I rode down together, or stand back a few feet when running back Iverson Clement showed off an old-school football video on his iPhone. The only moment of trepidation I had was when a family with several small kids jumped on the elevator with me. The wife said they had evacuated from Louisiana due to Hurricane Delta and were staying the night. None wore masks, which is their right as Americans.
Still, I had that thought in the back of my mask-covered head: I hope they don't have COVID.
Truthfully, even knowing what I know now, I would still go with the Gators to Texas A&M. While some will roll their eyes and ask – what else is he going to say? – I've never felt my health or anyone's at the UAA has been compromised during the pandemic.
When Stricklin talks about player safety being at the top of the priority list, I know he is not spouting from some NCAA how-to-deal-with-the-media-during-a-pandemic manual. I've seen it at work and heard it discussed in meetings too many times. I've witnessed the changes -- small and big, in the offices and around the team -- made over the past several months and the commitment by Silvestri and others to ensure the safest environment possible.
Selfishly, I've also wanted football season to happen ever since it was mentioned as a possibility. There is nothing better in sports than game day for an SEC rivalry. I hope the Gators can get back on the field sooner than later. For those who work in an athletic department, it's what we do.
"This is a year that is unlike any we've had before, and it's one that we never want to have again, but it's one that's in front of us,'' Stricklin said. "And so, our financial sheet at the UAA right now is a mess. But you know, the worst day of 2020, as bad as today is – and today is no fun – this week has not been a lot of fun. But as bad as this is, the worst day by far of 2020 was that day back in March when we had to tell our basketball teams and our gymnastics team and our track-and-field team that, even though their postseason was about to start, they were not going to be able to go and compete in it."
So, as the Gators pause, stay safe and stay diligent. COVID-19 is not going anywhere but neither are we. The next round of tests is Thursday morning.
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