Back to the NCAA Newsfeed

Consider the emotional toll of a fall without football: 'It's like a sucker punch'

All this week, USA TODAY Sports will examine the possibility of a fall without football, and what that would mean in a country where the sport is king.

Roger “Dolfan Maniac’’ Avila, a Miami Dolphins super fan, sounded agitated.

He’d just been asked about the prospect of football Armageddon – living through a fall without football due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“If that would happen, I would say then shut everything down," Avila, 57, grumbled during an interview with USA TODAY Sports. “If the reason is they don’t want anybody to get COVID or spread it, then shut everything down.