Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood: Jimmy's 2020 Vision on Play or No Play

The former University of Washington safety doesn't mince words when addressing whether to hold a college football season or not this fall.

Jimmy Rodgers was fearless when he played University of Washington football.

Put his body on the line over and over.

Didn't think twice about it.

It's just what you did as part of the Huskies' vaunted 1984 Purple Reign defense.

He was the strong safety and the back-row leader for an overly aggressive bunch of guys who beat Michigan and Oklahoma rather handily — both away from Seattle — on the way to an 11-1 season and No. 2 poll ranking.

Now more than three and a half decades later, Rodgers addresses the health concerns for a totally different college football landscape and, as a middle-aged man, he views things much more cautiously.

COVID-19 can't be fixed like a torn hip labrum, a surgery that Jimmy had performed in Portland a few weeks back. 

"I don't think we're going to have it," Rodgers said flatly of the coming season, "and I think we should quit trying to have it."

He recognizes the current UW players no doubt will do whatever they're asked, but the former Husky great thinks it's unsafe to play football this fall. The players' general health is more important to him than trying to squeeze in a bunch of games to appease everyone else.

"This is a much bigger subject to me than just the season," he said.

Rodgers says this as he wears a protective mask and practices social distancing wherever he goes in Seattle these days. He says this as takes the novel coronavirus pandemic as serious as anyone.

"I think we should scrap the whole season," he said.

A former co-captain, he's always been fairly blunt about what he thinks. The same holds true when he's asked about the potential surrounding this current group of UW defenders.

While the Huskies have had three players named first-team All-American in the preseason — cornerback Elijah Molden, outside linebacker Joe Tryon and defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike — Rodgers still isn't ready to join those singing praises of this UW defense just yet. He needs more proof. Visual proof.

He thinks the safeties in recent seasons have been too short and not nearly physical enough.

"I'd like to see them with someone back there who can cover and bring it — bring some force," he said. "It might be a sign of the times, where that part of the game is gone."

Rodgers recognizes that there's a lot of hype surrounding this coming defensive unit, making people that much more eager to have a season, but he's a hard sell. 

Why shouldn't he be? 

He played for the Purple Reign, considered the greatest UW defense of all time. He has high standards. 

"I've heard about it, but we've had five years of OKGs," Rodgers said sarcastically, referring to former UW coach Chris Petersen's propensity for recruiting players known as Our Kind of Guys. "The proof's on the field. We haven't seen it yet."

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