The Big Ten announced a conference-only schedule last week. Only a few days later came word the conference was moving toward a cancellation of football for 2020.
So what changed?
ESPN reports that doctors have diagnosed at least five Big Ten athletes -- as well as athletes in other conferences -- with a rare heart condition that could have a link to COVID-19.
Myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, is usually caused by a viral infection. Left undiagnosed and untreated, it can cause heart damage and cardiac arrest.
The COVID-19 virus has a link with myocarditis at a higher frequency than other viruses, “based on limited studies and anecdotal evidence since the start of the pandemic,” according to ESPN.
The condition has prompted increased concern among Power 5 conference administrators about the viability of college sports this fall.
Debbie Rucker, the mother of Indiana offensive lineman Brady Feeney, had a Facebook post last week about her son’s potential heart problems after COVID-19.