Ed Orgeron and Mike Pence Emphasize Importance of Football

Vice President Mike Pence and LSU head coach Ed Orgeron appeared together at an event today on LSU’s campus, and Coach O right off the bat made an impassioned plea for football season. Video is via WAFB in Louisiana:

“We need football,” Orgeron said. “We need to play. This state needs it. This country needs it.”

After that, Coach O repeated what the SEC conference asked of its constituency on Monday: Wear a mask.

Elizabeth Crisp, who covers the White House for Newsweek, covered some of Vice President Pence’s marks after Orgeron spoke:

.@mike_pence after Coach O's remarks earlier about resuming football this fall: “I’m very confident that our universities can develop plans to safely reopen campuses and restart sports programs.” He said the two talked privately about it at more length.

— Elizabeth Crisp (@elizabethcrisp) July 14, 2020

.@VP: #coronavirus spikes created more demand for resources but he says country can meet demand: “We monitor very closely the availability of PPE & we’re going to continue to ensure we have a strong supply of PPE.” (Some health providers have voiced concerns about shortages)

— Elizabeth Crisp (@elizabethcrisp) July 14, 2020

As much of the media continues to question whether college football season will happen, it is still my belief that the major conferences and especially the SEC will figure out, some way and some how, to have at least a partial season.