SEC commissioner Greg Sankey: Concern for football season is ‘high to very high’

Greg Sankey acknowledged his uneasiness about the college football season happening on Saturday.

In an interview with Marty & McGee on ESPN Radio, the SEC commissioner said his concern for the football season is “high to very high” and admitted “We are running out of time to correct and get things right.”

With COVID-19 cases rising in the South, the SEC may face tough decisions in the near future. The Big Ten and Pac-12 already have announced plans to play conference-only games.

“We put a medical advisory group together in early April with the question, ‘What do we have to do to get back to activity?’ and they’ve been a big part of the conversation,” Sankey said on the ESPN show. “But the direct reality is not good and the notion that we’ve politicized medical guidance of distancing, and breathing masks, and hand sanitization, ventilation of being outside, being careful where you are in buildings. There’s some very clear advice about — you can’t mitigate and eliminate every risk, but how do you minimize the risk? … We are running out of time to correct and get things right, and as a society we owe it to each other to be as healthy as we can be.”

Sankey confirmed the SEC’s deadline to decide on a football season is late July.