"I love to see Ohio State whoop ass every year, but we'll take a year off."
Texans' Bradley Roby discusses his biggest takeaway from decision to postpone college football
Houston Texans cornerback Bradley Roby spent three seasons playing his collegiate career at Ohio State. During his tenure with the Buckeyes, Ohio State went 30-9 and advanced to the Orange Bowl — where they lost to Clemson in 2013. Although the Buckeyes would prefer to come away with a championship victory, it is safe to say that Ohio State may do anything to have a similar season in 2020.
On Tuesday, the Big Ten Conference became the first Power Five School to postpone its fall season due to the ongoing concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic. The news came a week after the release of their 10-game conference schedule, which had a projected kick-off date of September 3. Shortly after the Big Ten's decision, the Pac-12 followed in their footsteps.
The conference's decision led to coaches and student-athletes taking to Twitter with the hashtag, "#WeWantToPlay," in an attempt to keep the season from getting deferred. The #WeWantToPlay hashtag is the identical phrase their contemporaries used in the NFL — in an attempt to do the same.
However, unlike the continuation of play with a few minor changes in pro-football, most conferences took the initiative to prioritize the safety of their student-athletes. Roby understands the choice for postponement.
"I think that college athletes will be surrounded by a student body of 40,000 to 50,000 people at some schools," Roby said. "We're professionals and we get tested every day and things like that. I think as a professional it might be easier to have that discipline off the field compared to an 18-, 19- or 20-year-old. I understand it. It's unfortunate."
Besides the financial loss, the most significant ramification of no college football in the fall is the impact on the 2021 NFL Draft. Players may miss out on a chance to increase their draft stock — especially the seniors who are entering their final year of eligibility. As a former first-round pick of the Denver Broncos (2014), Roby says he feels for the players whose futures may be permanently affected by this decision.
"That was the first thing that I thought about," he said. "I was like, 'man, what if I was coming out and I was a junior about to get to ready to be a senior, ready to prove everything and then all of a sudden there's no season.' That would kind of suck."
He continued. "I always have to put myself into other people's shoes. So, when you think about that, it's like, I have no idea how they're going to be able to sort out who's who and things like that. It's going to be very interesting how it moves forward and luckily that's not my job to figure it out."
While at Ohio State, Roby recorded a total of 178 tackles (138 solo hits), 19 pass deflections and eight interceptions, while receiving First-team All-Big Ten Team honors in 2012 and 2013.
