Alabama football is well above the 80 percent vaccination threshold that SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey mentioned at SEC Media Days in July. In fact, the Crimson Tide is nearing 100 percent.
Coach Nick Saban told ESPN that all but one of its guys have been vaccinated.
“But it could still be an issue,” Saban said. “They say if 90 percent (of your team) is vaccinated, you’re OK, but who knows? At least if you’re vaccinated, you don’t have to quarantine guys.”
Saban said at his Nick’s Kids Foundation event on Aug. 5 that Alabama football would be using the same COVID-19 protocols as it did in 2020 for the next six weeks or so.
The SEC does not have a forfeit policy in place, but Sankey said at media days that was being considered. In 2020, games would be rescheduled if teams didn’t have enough healthy players. Sankey said in July that the SEC is considering removing those roster minimums.
“That means your team needs to be healthy to compete,” Sankey said in July. “If not, that game won’t be rescheduled. And thus, to dispose of the game, the forfeit word comes up at this point.”
Sankey told The Athletic in the past week that the SEC is still determining game management of COVID-19 protocols.
“Our athletics directors,” Sankey told The Athletic, “will continue to discuss the COVID roster policies, particularly my reference that, ‘Be ready, be healthy to play, if you’re unable to field a team, that would be deemed a forfeit.’ We’ll have to finalize that one before the start of the season.”
