That was the question Greg Sankey kept turning over and over in his head on July 18. It was a sleepless night for Sankey, who as commissioner of the SEC, had been wrestling with challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic for several months.
As the number of COVID-19 cases exploded throughout the country, Sankey and the rest of the college commissioners were working on a decision whether to play football in the fall or delay games until the spring.
The question, asked on the Paul Finebaum Show a day earlier, bothered him. So he picked up his phone and began texting, reaching out to a network of former coaches, commissioners and administrators, media members, former players and current athletes.