NEW ORLEANS —
How do you keep football players safe? A local doctor is heading the national medical committee that has the task of keeping college athletes and coaches safe by creating a virus-free bubble.
Behind the scenes, doctors are in the huddle working on a safety playbook for fall football. Tulane orthopedic and sports medicine physician Dr. Greg Stewart is Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee for the American Athletic Conference of the NCAA and Chairman of the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee for the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. He is part of the team advising college teams nationally and high school players in Louisiana.
"Those of us that are in the medical field, that are in sports medicine, are doing absolutely everything we can in order to have fall sports," said Dr. Greg Stewart, an Associate Professor of Orthopedics at Tulane.
The college advisory committee is creating a coronavirus-free bubble by:
-Testing two times a week
-Temperature and symptom checks
-Physical distancing around team busses, and the sidelines from fans
-More locker room cleaning
-Not using footballs that fans catch
-Changes in huddle play calling
-Masks
RELATED: Column: A way to save the NFL season
"The different helmet companies have all worked on coming up with a shield to protect your eyes, as well as something across the bottom," he said.
Dr. Stewart says possible season shifting, or moving game dates in high risk areas, involves advance decision making. Governors need to get involved too on workarounds and waivers.
"If the Saints are traveling to play the Giants, and New York is quarantining everybody for 14 days, well obviously there’s no way the Saints can go up two weeks early."
Outdoor games are safer than recirculating air-conditioned domes.
"One of the nice things about the outdoor stadiums is that we know that ultraviolet light kills this virus," Dr. Stewart said.
He says the bubble may be harder to create in the NFL because of its size.
"Part of what they’re going back and forth on is the players’ association wants daily testing, and the league wants to test every other day."
And to keep all athletes safe, he says what the fans do right now, is even more important.
"If everybody behaved and did what they were supposed to do with all of this, we can get there. We can still get there," he said.
That takes the entire community wearing masks, physical distancing and not hanging out at big social gatherings.
Dr. Stewart says right now they are using nasal swab testing but they are hoping to switch to a coronavirus saliva test at some point.