Joe Kinsey
Videos by OutKick
That didn’t take long. LSU players are reacting to wearing splash shields on their helmets and let’s just say it’s not an ideal situation for some. “It’s like breathing in a Ziploc bag,” lineman Austin Deculus said during an Instagram Story. The program announced Friday it would be using the shields as a layer of defense against COVID when the SEC returns to action in September.
I’m clearly not a doctor, but it seems like there might be a few health issues on the field with these shields if these guys are having trouble breathing in a locker room setting screwing around on social media. Imagine being at the bottom of a pile with six 300-pounders on top of you and there’s a shield in front of your mouth and nose. Seems like that might be a problem down the road.
LSU LB Soni Fonua wearing his COVID face shield helmet: “I can’t fucking breathe under this thing!”
Senior offensive lineman Austin Deculus: “It’s like breathing in a Ziploc bag.” pic.twitter.com/NR3nCNaxXK
— Master (@MasterTes) August 2, 2020
The LSU schedule kicks off September 26 at home against Ole Miss. The average high temperature that time of year in Baton Rouge is 84 degrees in the afternoon. The SEC hasn’t announced kickoff times, but the average temperature at 6 o’clock is 80. I have a hunch the air conditioning in the LSU locker room when these guys shot their video was below 80. I’d say Ed keeps it set at 70 or so.
Add it all up and Ed is probably having a conversation this morning with the equipment staff.
Ed Orgeron on playing football this fall and being flexible:
"You call us at midnight, we'll play in a pasture." #LSU
— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) July 29, 2020
Adapt. Adjust. Splash shields ready to go. pic.twitter.com/v0SW1xXA4m
— LSU Football Equip (@LSUFBEquipment) July 31, 2020
Am I the only one in the world that thought of how fogged up the shields are going to get in the humidity of the south, with the wearer breathing heavily nonstop for 3 hours? I can’t even wear my glasses when I have to wear a mask from the fog….
Fog has definitely been a concern. The shields just haven’t been tested enough by the players, that I know of, for fog to be turned into social media posts. Breathing has been enemy No. 1 going back to early June when Schutt announced splash shields.
This dumb idea reminds me of an observation. There’s only so much you can do to reasonably prevent transmission of viruses before the level of precautions you take appear to represent a form of OCD or some paranoia mental crisis rather than rational thinking. I guess you could wear a hazmat suit at all times if you’re that scared of ever getting sick, but even that’s not 100%. If you have come to that point of thought, I might prioritize checking into a hospital to seek psychiatric intervention higher than studying ways to avoiding covid.
These are times when hypochondriac-level OCD people are apparently welcomed to contribute and drive policies, procedures and standards rather than mentally stable folk. It’s getting a tad tiresome. Maybe at some point the sane will decide to take back the steering wheel from the folks who are long overdue for a vacation to a padded room.
I was already convinced the world was being taken over by stupid people before this. Now it seems like the world revolves around stupid people, and everything about covid is being done to make them feel better. I.e. why do we need one-way aisles in the grocery store if masks are mandated in the business? “It CaNt HuRt So wHy NoT???”
Dr Chao, what’s the impact of these on oxygen intake? Seems to me even a 5-10% reduction would be serious for athletes during play.
Can we expect increased cramping, perhaps even black outs? Certainly at the least it must impact performance level.
Since we only use a fraction of the oxygen we breathe, strictly speaking, the medical impact is minimal. However, the feeling will be certainly “suffocating”, hot and likely fog up. NFL players like JJ Watt have already said they won’t wear them and that Oakley model have vents. If optional, don’t see many wearing them. Perhaps I should write a more detailed article.
Thanks for the reply Doc. I think it would be an interesting topic if these shields are in anyway widely used and/or mandated.
We would all definitely like to get some more clarity from the physiological side of the equation. Thanks, Doctor, for pursuing this important issue for all football fans!!!
How bout this as of April 4 ( 3 months ago) flu cases numbers 56 million, 740000 hospitalized ,62000 dead yet not a peep in the media about it. Not saying the rona is not a real thing but to destroy the economy peoples lives and businesses something else going on here and its not medical. The death numbers on the rona are juiced hospitals get paid more if the death is rona as compared to say heart failure or cancer or anything else. These are CDC numbers btw.