Former players Alexander, Aukerman & Woolfolk chime in on coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting all platforms of American society and just everyday life, which includes sports and of course this time of the season it would be spring football and college football recruiting.

For example, the NCAA announced that no visits to college campuses can happen until April 15 and coaches cannot be on the road. The ban affects prospects across the nation, who were already schedule for trips to various colleges and universities.

GoBlackKnights.com reached out to several former Army football players to see how they are adjusting to this pandemic, and how they see the impact on both professional and college sports.

“I’ve bought into the practice of social distancing.” said former wide receiver great, Aaron Alexander (2001-2004). “I’m only leaving the house on an as needed basis. This is quite a bit different, because with my normal schedule, I’m in an airport and catching flights 2-3 days a week.”

For linebacker Alex Aukerman (2014-2017), who made our GBK All-Decade Team, here’s his response. “The biggest difference I guess would be the DoD ban on travel,,” he stated. “I’m currently at Ft Knox in Kentucky and drive back most weekends to Indiana to be with my wife who is at Med School in Indianapolis. So it looks like she’ll be driving down to Kentucky for the foreseeable future.”

All-Everything fullback Darnell Woolfolk (2015-2018), who is recently married chimed in with his thoughts on the subject.

“The Army is currently not letting people take pass or leave outside of 250 miles of post,” declared Woolfolk. “I personally have a pregnant wife, so I am constantly worried about her health and safety. Also, with all the restrictions with NFL scouting, I cannot participate in a Pro-Day which I have been training for and trying to live out a dream of getting the opportunity to play in a NFL uniform. The best thing to do to stay safe during this time is to make sure that you have the essentials to stay clean. Always making sure you wash your hands after interactions, preparing food, using the restroom, etc.”

All of the aforementioned former Black Knights have their own thoughts on how they see the impact of COVID-19 on both professional and college sports.

“When it comes to athletics ... I feel really bad for these athlete for a multitude of reasons,” said Woolfolk. “Being an athlete, I know that if I had time taken away from me I’d be devastated. You work so hard in the off-season to showcase your talents and work hard to achieve your goals as a team. For collegiate athletes, it brings up a hard decision. To take an extra year of classes or to graduate. Would these athletes have to pay another year of tuition? A lot to think about for a young adult. At this rate it looks like it will manifest, but I pray it does not.”

For Alexander, he appears to believe that despite all that the nation is dealing, that the glass is half-full and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“I’m very optimistic about our doctors arriving at a solution,” Alexander explained, as he rolled out his thoughts surrounding today’s athletes who are careers could be impacted as well. “The actual timeline of that solution ... I’m not so sure. I’m not certain that any of the spring sports will have much of a chance this year. It’s incredibly unfortunate for these collegiate players. To think, as a former college athlete, it takes so much effort and practice to get to peak performance ... this down time can either be squandered away, or it can be used to refine the mental and physical conditioning aspect of the game that do not require another person or group.”

Like Alexander, Aukerman suggested that spring ball may not saddle up this 2020 campaign.

“I would personally be surprised if spring ball happens,” Aukerman projected. “With Air Force sending home their bottom three classes, colleges switching to online across the country, and the nature of how many instances of close contact occur at West Point (formations, classes, etc.) ... I would anticipate that the leadership would take a lot of precautions before returning back to business as usual.”

“It is difficult to say what I’d do if I were in these current athlete’s shoes, but I think they have a pretty unique opportunity here,” Aukerman added. First, our opponents that have transfers and early enrollees use spring ball to get a leg ahead and familiar with the offense/defense, half of our freshman class will have a year of the offense under their belt and the defensive players will have an understanding of the tempo of practice and the expectation of the effort needed each play. Secondly, I think this is a chance for the guys to return home, probably be sent a S&C program from Coach Hughes, and that can be their primary focus while also being able to eat more, sleep more, and get bigger with not as much emphasis on military requirements besides schoolwork.”

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