High school football, COVID-19 and Texas Rangers converging at Shin-Soo Choo’s house
Class 5A and 6A football teams can begin practicing Monday for their delayed season.
The Texas Rangers’ 60-game season is just more than three weeks from reaching its end.
They might be three tense weeks at the Choo household.
Shin-Soo Choo has been the most vocal Rangers player about the need to adhere to safety guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. As an MLB player, he has essentially confined himself to his house, his hotel room and ballparks.
He is the father of three, including a 15-year-old boy who is gearing up for football practice and potentially opening himself and his father to contracting COVID-19.
Many young persons who contract the disease do not experience severe symptoms and can be asymptomatic.
Still, the number of colleges and universities reporting upticks in COVID-19 cases are on the rise nationally, and locally TCU had to postpone its Sept. 11 football season opener against SMU because of an outbreak.
So, what’s a dad/MLB player to do? Choo isn’t going to stop his oldest son, Alan, from playing.
“It’s really hard, a 15-year-old, for me to say, ‘Don’t do it,’” Choo said. “If he was 10 years old or 11 years old, I’d say, ‘Hey, don’t do it.’ It’s a simple thing.
“But he’s 15. He has his own mentality. It’s a hard talk, but hopefully he understands: ‘If you get sick, we live together in the same house. I go to the clubhouse every day. So, You have to be smart.’”
Alan told his father that he is strictly adhering to protocols, wearing a mask wherever he goes and washing his hands every few minutes. He can’t control what others are doing, but the UIL has given football teams protocols they must follow to help minimize the risk of an outbreak.
MLB players don’t have to test positive to be placed on the COVID-19 injured list. An exposure to someone who is COVID positive can also lead to a stint on the IL, as the Rangers did with right-hander Luke Farrell last month.
Alan was reminded of what’s at stake for his father.
“I told him, ‘It’s a lot of responsibility. If you go out there and something happens, don’t forget your dad’s still in the season,’” Choo said. “I don’t want to be that guy that spreads to the team. ...
“We’ll see. I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
This story was originally published September 5, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
