Vanderbilt’s kicker Oren Milstein, a transfered Columbia graduate, decided not to participate in the 2020 season while asking “the ethics of the school football game in a pandemic,” he announced on Twitter.
He is believed to be the first SEC player and the first FBS player in Tennessee to take time off this season due to COVID-19 issues.
“As my teammates and coaches know, I don’t have to participate in the 2020 school football season. It was a very complicated resolution and, in fact, I didn’t take it without much thought,” Milstein wrote to start a Twitter account.
«… I’m willing to sacrifice my fitness, the fitness of my teammates or the fitness of everyone interested in facilitating school football this fall to play football this season.
Milstein did not respond to an interview request. He had been one of the Commodores’ main low-season collectors. At Columbia, Milstein scored 20 of 26 cash goals and 42 out of 44 PAT in his career, winning the Ivy League first team in 2016.
Milstein missed the 2018 season due to injury, did not play in a game last season and announced in May that he would be transferred to Vanderbilt. Three months later, he would finish his Commodores degree before he started in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Football really means a lot to me, yet at the end of the day, COVID-19 is genuine and anyone can,” Milstein wrote. “Much of my reasoning is due to the dubious long-term effects of the contraction of this virus and the examples in developing athletes and other young people who have a serious illness.”
In July, the SEC announced that students-athletes who choose not to participate in intercollex athletics during the fall semester due to COVID-19 considerations will still have their scholarships honored through their university and will remain in smart state with their team. Milstein was not known through Vanderbilt as a scholarshipr or as an individual player.
Milstein remains on Vanderbilt’s list on its official website. On Twitter, he wrote, “I will be the greatest advocate and assistant (of my peers) this year and I will help them.”
Milstein would compete with second-placed Javan Rice for the first-place kicker’s position, which became vacant until the beginning of Ryley Guay. But with Vanderbilt’s first delayed game of the season on September 26, Milstein withdrew from the depths table.
Vanderbilt is awaiting its new 10-game schedule as opposed to SEC teams, which is being finalized through the league’s track and box managers. The Commodores have not yet practiced preseason.
“The SEC and Vanderbilt seek to identify safe game situations for players, but there are few precautions to take when playing football in various cities within a giant team in a school environment, a global pandemic,” Milstein wrote.
“In addition, many of our questions and considerations about our health, school football ethics, a pandemic and the long-term effects of COVID-19 have been unanswered as the country continues to suffer and football activities continue to intensify.”
Rice is now the undisputed favorite for the kicker’s position. Last season, he finished 4 of 4 PAT and his basket, a 28-yard one. Junior Wes Farley, who has no experience in the game, is the other kicker in Vanderbilt’s lineup.
Contact Adam Sparks on [email protected] and Twitter @AdamSparks.