Indiana's Brady Feeney Wants to Play, But 'We Need it to Be Safe'

Indiana freshman offensive lineman Brady Feeney went to Twitter Monday morning to weigh in on the canceling of the fall football season, and Indiana coach Tom Allen said players have been positive in the first four practices.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — As college football players speak out across the country about their desire to play football this fall, Indiana freshman Brady Feeney — who got seriously ill from the COVID-19 virus last month — spoke out on the subject.

Feeney, a freshman offensive lineman from St. Loius, had to be rushed to the emergency room with breathing problems. He's better now and back with the team, but still needs further testing on heart issues, among other things, according to his mother in a Facebook post last week. 

Monday morning, he said, "Covid-19 is serious. I never thought that I would have serious health complications from this virus, but look at what happened. We need to listen to our medical experts.''

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Feeney also responded back to people asking for more specifics on his illness, and on whether he still wanted to play. He has not yet been cleared to practice.

"I want to play, but I truly believe that we need it to be safe. Information on my medical history with Covid-19 is widely available,'' he said in a tweet. 

Indiana football players have been back on campus since mid-June, and everyone has been tested for the coronavirus before they arrived. The second wave of players came two weeks later. Men's and women's basketball players have returned to campus for workouts as well.

The first announcement about testing showed that there were zero positive results in  the first 187 tests of players, coaches and staff members. But they started to explode from there, with 33 total positive tests out of 490, and football workouts were forced to be paused because of multiple positive tests, including Feeney's.

Indiana started practicing last Thursday, and actually practiced in full pads Saturday morning before the Big Ten presidents paused the accelerated practice schedule. They practiced in short and helmets again on Monday morning. 

Indiana coach Tom Allen said Monday that the players have assimilated quickly to the protocols set up by the medical team, including wearing face coverings during practice. 

"We're seeing it every day with our players. There's definitely some concern, and I get that,'' Allen said. "But the players are now kind of getting in the flow and seeing how it's working of actually playing real football with this, and there's been a lot of positives the last few days.

'I don't know anybody's motives or anything, I just that our guys feel really good about it, and they're looking forward to moving forward.''

Related Stories on Indiana football

• NOT LISTENING:  Several well-known college football players spoke up on Sunday on Twitter, ending each with a #WeWantToPlay hashtag, but no one in a position of power is really listening. CLICK HERE
• TOM BREW COLUMN: Indiana practices in pads, but in the end is it really going to matter? CLICK HERE
• DOLSON'S DAYS: New Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson has taken over at the worst possible time, and his days are consumed with dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on the university. CLICK HERE