Dr. Fauci: 'Football May Not Happen This Year'

Football fans already are looking forward to professional and college football season, but Dr. Anthony Fauci says in a new interview that he thinks it's "very hard to see" kickoffs happening this fall, considering the continued coronavirus pandemic.

"Unless players are essentially in a bubble ― insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day ― it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall," Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta Thursday. "If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year."

However, plans already are moving ahead for football season. The National Football League's first preseason game is scheduled for Aug. 6, when the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers square off in Canton, Ohio, for the Hall of Fame Game, and players are due to start training camps on July 22. The regular season is slated to open on Sept. 10 with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at home against the Houston Texans.

The NCAA Wednesday approved plans for summer athletic activities and preseason practice for the fall football season, which opens on Aug. 29.  

Meanwhile, this week, several players for the Texans and the Cowboys tested positive for coronavirus,  but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told ESPN that "positive tests are going to happen."

"The issue is, can we obviously prevent as many of those from happening, but in addition, treat them quickly, isolate them and prevent them from directly impacting our player personnel," he said. "So none of those players were in the facilities. All of those players, fortunately, have had either mild symptoms or are asymptomatic."

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