Another two cases of why anti-vaxxers hurt themselves.

Certainly, people are entitled to their opinions and are free to take whatever actions they choose. However, when those choices endanger other people, there must be consequences.

Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich was fired in the middle of the season with a 4-3 record after refusing to comply with a mandate that state employees must be vaccinated against COVID.

Coach Rolo was fired with cause and will thus not be paid the balance of his annual $3 million contract, which had made him the highest-paid state employee. Who does that help?

Not him and his family or his team, which also loses four assistant coaches for the same reason. Rolovich claimed a religious exemption but had no corroborating evidence and the school acted to protect the hundreds of football players, coaches and staff.

While he may get back into coaching somewhere, someday, it sure looks like his career is on life support, where millions of people contracting COVID wound up after falling deathly ill.

Rolovich might have asked for a leave of absence and given his assistants a chance to do the same. This controversy first went to court last spring, so there was plenty of time to work out a compromise.

Back East, former Panthers and Patriots quarterback Cam Newton never said publicly he was not vaccinated. Now he has been and says he is ready to play football again, perhaps as a highly paid back-up QB who sits on the bench unless the starter gets hurt.

That is a very sought-after role on most NFL teams for players who are paid handsomely just to practice. Newton did what he needed to get back in the game, but his future is in serious doubt.

More than likely, the Patriots told Cam he could stay as a back-up quarterback and short-yardage specialist if he agreed to that role and would get vaccinated. He might have said no to both conditions, and now is unemployed while promoting himself for a new job.

Why do so many people gamble this way?

A well-respected local health administrator believes there is a correlation between voting and getting vaccinated and living a healthy and wealthy life. Maybe Rolovich and Newton better understand that now.

 

Photo via Young Kwak/Associated Press.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
Supreme Court Weighs Vaccine Rules Affecting More Than 80M
Written by MARK SHERMAN and JESSICA GRESKO The Supreme Court began hearing arguments Friday on major Biden administration efforts to bump up the nation’s vaccination rate against COVID-19 at a time of spiking coronavirus cases because of the omicron variant. The justices on the conservative-oriented court were taking up the questions of whether to allow the […]
US Mandates Vaccines or Tests for Big Companies by Jan. 4
Written by DAVID KOENIG Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested for the virus weekly under government rules issued Thursday. The new requirements, which were first previewed by President Joe Biden in September, will […]
NYC Braces for Fewer Cops, More Trash as Vax Deadline Looms
Written by MICHAEL R. SISAK, MICHELLE L. PRICE and KAREN MATTHEWS Mounting trash. Closed firehouses. Fewer police and ambulances on the street. That’s the possibility New York City is bracing for come Monday as a COVID-19 vaccine mandate looms and thousands of municipal workers remain unwilling to get the shots. Police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors […]
UNC Health, Duke Health Share Employee Vaccination Rates Following Mandate
Ahead of Tuesday’s deadline for employees to report their COVID-19 vaccinations, UNC Health and Duke Health systems each reported vast majorities of employees in compliance. Spokespersons for the health systems shared more than 95 percent of employees at Triangle-area UNC Health locations either reported their vaccination status or exemption status as of Monday. At Duke […]
OCS District Adopts New Health Protocols for Employees, Rejects Vaccine Requirements for Athletics
The Orange County Schools Board of Education adopted new COVID-19 mitigation measures for employees on Monday, including required surveillance testing, reporting of vaccination status and weekly coronavirus testing for those who are unvaccinated. The board, which held a virtual, specially-called meeting to consider these health protocols, unanimously passed seven of the nine measures requested by […]
Mack Brown Back in Texas and At Peace After the Hall of Fame Coach's North Carolina Departure
Mack Brown is back to living in Austin, Texas, and spoke with the Associated Press about his departure from UNC and new chapter of life.
When RFK Jr. Was Presented With the Science on Vaccines He Said He Needed To See, He Dismissed It
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent insisted to senators that he’s not anti-vaccine. But he repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus.
Stroman On Sports: The College Football Championship
Sports businesswomen, UVA professor, UNC faculty member, and host of “If You Only Knew,” Dr. Deborah Stroman spoke with 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com News Director Brighton McConnell on Friday, January 17. They discussed the College Football National Championship Game, pitting Ohio State against Notre Dame. They talked about the process to get to the national championship game. The also talked about the business and spectacle of big-time sporting events, and more.
Stroman on Sports: The College Football Playoffs
Dr. Deborah Stroman is an UNC Faculty Member, former college athlete, and expert on sports and business, and host of "If You Only Knew." She spoke with 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com News Director Brighton McConnell on Friday, January 3. They discussed the current college football playoff format and its implications. They also discussed a controversial sideline penalty called on a bench player, and more.
5 Things We Know and Still Don’t Know About COVID, 5 Years After It Appeared
COVID-19 is less deadly than it was in the pandemic’s early days. But the virus is evolving, meaning scientists must track it closely.
›