PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham is not taking COVID-19 lightly. He has lost family to the disease, and he knows others who have become infected.
"It's been tough," Graham told WIP's Angelo Cataldi and The Morning Team on Thursday.
He understands some fans are craving the return of sports, Graham said, "but I do feel everybody needs their life, too. And so I'm not gonna play with that at all, 'cause we won't be able to see no sports if we're gone."
"I think people will be outside of the stadium, but I don't know how that's gonna work either. They probably control that too," he said.
President Trump basically confirmed at Thursday night's White House briefing that, whenever sporting events resume, it will be in empty venues for the most part.
"Many of them are going to be starting without the fans," Trump said. "So, it'll be made for television — the good old days, made for television. And it'll go that way. And then the fans will start coming in. Maybe they'll be separated by two seats. And then ultimately we want to have packed arenas."
On potentially playing in front of no fans, Graham told WIP, "Man, it's going to be weird. You gonna hear everybody. You gonna hear everybody yelling. It's almost going to be like old high school practice that you used to go to, like seven-on-seven matches, and there's not many people in the stands, but you can hear everybody on the sidelines yelling and the opposite team yelling. It's gonna be crazy if that's what they come up with."
And if it also comes down to a situation where players have to quarantine away from family in order to play, Graham said it wouldn't be easy but he'll comply.
"Honestly, I'm willing to do it, because I want to protect them, but to have to go through with it, it's gonna be a tough decision for everybody, because we thrive off our families, our fans," he said.
Collectively, the country is trying to end the public health crisis as safely as possible. If games without fans, at first, is the path that will be taken, the president insists it won't be forever.
"When the virus is gone, we're going to have packed arenas, and we're going to be backed to enjoying sports the way they're supposed to be," he said.
In the meantime, Graham says he will continue taking the crisis seriously and hopes everyone else does the same.
"We all just got to do our part and just stay in the house," he said. "And if you got to work, I understand you got to go do what you got to do. But make sure that you stay safe and make sure that you cover up."
