On Sunday night, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence made a statement on Twitter that as players they are safer playing football at Clemson than they would be going back home should the football season were canceled.
Following Monday’s practice at the Allen Reeves Football Complex in Clemson, Swinney confirmed Lawrence’s statement, saying Clemson is the safest environment for his players without a doubt, as opposed to letting them leave and go home and be in environments where they are not tested every single week for COVID-19.
“They don’t have the type of sanitize environment that we have here,” Swinney said. “The mitigated environment that we have here. The medical care. We have not had a guy test positive in … we have had one since early July, and we have been together every day practicing. That does not mean somebody can’t get the virus, but our quarantine plan and how these guys our cared for, the nutrition, the supervision and, most of all, the motivation to do what they need to do, so they can do what they love.”
Clemson Athletics last reported a positive test on July 10, when six people in the athletic department tested positive for COVID-19.
“So, it has been a really, really fun week since we started last Tuesday, and these guys have been awesome. I am super proud of them,” Swinney said. “Again, how they have been and, hopefully, we can continue to just stay the course, and everybody have an opportunity to play.
“I just wanted to support them and make sure that everybody understands we all know there is risk. We all know there is a virus. But if we cancel football, the virus is not going to go away. And it is truly my belief that these guys are safer here than without us.”
Swinney believes his players are not only safer at Clemson physically, but mentally it is better for them.
“Nobody has to be here. I don’t have to be here,” he said. “I have two kids on the team. I have a junior in high school playing high school football, so we all understand that there is risk. So, if you told me if we cancel football that nobody would get the virus. Hey, I would be the first person to sign up. But that is not reality. The virus is not going away. It is still going to be here in the spring. We have done a good job here of mitigating and finding a way to live with it and do things in a safe way, so again, we can do what we love to do.”
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