While UF students with flu-like symptoms are being encouraged to quarantine themselves in their homes, three Gators with the flu took the field on Saturday.
We think it's pretty sweet that we managed to beat Tennessee with the flu affecting our players, but we also question whether the decision to let the players onto the gridiron was a responsible one.
The players are being isolated during the week to prevent further outbreak, but on weekends they are allowed to compete in Florida weather in full-blown body armor.
Considering one of the players had a 101-degree temperature, that doesn't exactly sound like the road to recovery.
When we get the flu, we're so dazed that we can barely follow the plot of a Sarah Jessica Parker movie on TBS, nevermind run 7-yard touchdowns, catch passes or make tackles like Jeff Demps, Aaron Hernandez and Jermaine Cunningham did on Saturday.
We understand the pressure the players must have felt to compete in Saturday's game, and we understand that it was ultimately up to the team's doctors whether or not they were capable of playing.
We just think the risk to both the infected UF players and Tennessee's team was unnecessary.
A New England Journal of Medicine article from 2000 describes a case in which a Norwalk-like virus was transmitted from Duke's team to Florida State's team, so it's possible to pass the swine flu through a contact sport.
Tennessee might have volunteered for a beatdown, but we're sure they wouldn't volunteer to bring an epidemic back to their school.
