Colleges are Having Athletes Sign Waivers to Practice

Transcript

00:00As college football players from across the country return to their campuses, of course,

00:06waivers are now the topic of discussion as they look to resume athletic activity.

00:12To bring in more on this, Ross Dellinger of Sports Illustrated penned a great piece this

00:18week.

00:19Ross, is this just another power play from college football coaches and administrators?

00:25It depends on who you talk to in the sports law world.

00:30Attorneys have differing opinions on exactly what these waivers are.

00:35Many of them might not be enforceable at all, but many schools are doing it.

00:41They're requiring their athletes to basically sign a liability waiver.

00:47Many of them saying, you know, I won't sue you if I get coronavirus, basically.

00:51We're going to be seeing these things throughout society, even in, you know, maybe a hair salon

00:56or a gym, you might have to now sign a waiver, signing away, you know, your rights to sue

01:03that business.

01:04You know, I think these colleges are doing something similar.

01:07But are they enforceable?

01:08And again, to your question, are they just another power play for colleges on, you know,

01:15athletes that are very young and some that don't have representation at all?

01:19So, a few attorneys have called them scare tactics, you know, others have referred to

01:24them as just faulty documents that are really unenforceable.

01:28Yeah, as we adjust to this new normal, one thing is clear from a long-term perspective.

01:34These are not voluntary workouts that these prospects or these college kids are participating

01:40in.

01:41So, what does the NCAA do?

01:42What's their perspective?

01:43Is there a point that you expect them to step in and try to maybe make something uniform

01:48out of the waiver situation in relation to COVID?

01:52Most attorneys I spoke with do believe that the NCAA, you know, should come up with some

01:58kind of codified, you know, uniform, whatever you want to call it, universal standard for

02:06these waivers.

02:07You know, each individual school doing it on their own might not be the best idea.

02:11You know, the federal and state governments are discussing, you know, proposals, considering

02:17things like that, you know, on a government level.

02:20So, you do wonder if the NCAA is going to get together and have some kind of universal

02:25policy of its own, or just protecting itself, the NCAA itself.

02:31You know, maybe individual schools will have each their own waiver, and then the NCAA will

02:37have one overall waiver to protect itself.

02:40I could see that coming here in the near future.

02:44One thing's for sure, never a dull moment in this 2020 offseason.

02:47Ross Ellinger, always on it for us at SI.

02:50Thanks so much.

02:51Thank you.