Chicago Bears: Joel Iyiegbuniwe has a message about COVID-19

The world is in the middle of a health pandemic like nothing I have ever seen in my lifetime. Even the Chicago Bears are weighing in on COVID-19.

The year is 2020 and in some ways, it feels like we are living out the beginning of a dystopian novel. Unfortunately, this is not just a book we can close and choose to ignore. Health officials have been working around the clock to try and put a stop to the coronavirus known as COVID-19, yet some people choose to ignore the warnings and severity. Well, maybe Chicago Bears fans will listen to one of the team’s players if they fall into the category of feeling invincible.

Chicago Bears linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe is not a doctor. That said, he comes from a family of doctors and plans to pursue a field in medicine after football. His parents are both in the medical field. His father is the director of public health at California State University San Marcos and his mother is a nurse. While doing an interview on 670 the score, Iyiegbuniwe made the following comments regarding COVID-19.

"“People my age can be a little stubborn sometimes and feel like they don’t have to listen and they’re above what’s going on. Personally, I’ve been doing as much as I can to tell my friends and family to just stay away and try to minimalize contact with people. I think it’s important. The news has done a good job and social media has helped relay that message to people.”"

Iyiebuniwe makes a strong case to some of those people out there who are not taking the threat seriously. Just look at how the spring-breakers are treating the COVID-19 virus in Florida. The state has yet to close all beaches, but many of the local officials have closed the beaches they oversee. Iyiebuniwe is 24 years old, yet he is letting his friends and family know to be more careful.

If you do not want to listen to medical professionals or politicians, maybe a Chicago Bears player who is young and lives in a family of medical professionals will sway you? He went on to say:

"“A lot of people aren’t taking it as serious as they should,” Iyiegbuniwe said. “My mom has been telling me a lot that I need to do a good job of staying indoors and staying away from people. A lot of people don’t think it’s as serious as it is and they can still go out, whether it’s going out on the weekend or even going out to the gym. It’s just important to stay away from people right now. That’s a big message that’s not really getting across yet. But hopefully in the next days and weeks people can realize that this is something that needs to be taken seriously and they should listen to the news and professionals.”"

As the Chicago Bears are trying to get ready for the offseason, Iyiegbuniwe and teammates have to switch up their normal routines. Players are having to work from home as opposed to using the facilities at Halas Hall. With the way things are going with this virus right now, it will be interesting to see how guys stay in shape. Hopefully, once everything passes and life gets back to normal no one on the Chicago Bears will be too out of shape come the start of the season.

The Chicago Bears themselves have taken a stand against the COVID-19 coronavirus as well. The team recently donated $250,000 to the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund.

As I said in the beginning, we here at Bear Goggles On are not medical professionals. We are not here to claim we know anything more than what we have been told by doctors and medical professionals. We hope that everyone and their families are staying safe. We hope that you are all doing your part to help fight this nasty virus. We will get through this and hopefully, football will be right around the corner. Everyone knows we need the distraction.