Stephen A. Smith, Finebaum react to Trevor Lawrence testing positive for COVID-19

Best wishes to Trevor Lawrence on a full recovery

by Tony Crumpton - Assoc. Editor - Fri Oct 30 13:12:12 GMT-04:00 2020

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence has tested positive for COVID-19 and is out for Saturday's game with Boston College.

Lawrence's health status is the main topic of national sports talk currently as media pundits discuss his healthy and debate different scenarios regarding his ultimate return to the gridiron.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith had the following comments on his First Take show on Friday morning.

"First order of business is to wish him nothing but the best of health and hopefully that he will get back on the field. That’s number one. That’s what we wish for anybody that comes down with this virus."

Smith doesn't think Clemson will lose on Saturday.

"Number two, am I concerned about Clemson? Not in the slightest, even without him, they should beat Boston College."

He thinks that Clemson might still get a playoff spot with a loss.

"Number 3, even if they were to lose, I don’t think they would fall out of the top 4, which means they would still be ripe for a playoff spot. Number 4, we speak about the greatness of Trevor Lawrence. We will monitor this as it goes along. He is 31-1 as a starter. This year he is completing 70% of his passes. He got 17 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. We know he is the prohibitive number one pick in the upcoming NFL draft. He is that elite. We understand that, so if he does come back, probably against Notre Dame. I’m not going to be surprised by that at all. We will watch at how he is playing to gauge the significance of the impact of him contracting COVID-19."

ESPN personality Paul Finebaum compared Trevor Lawrence to Superman during the show.

"I think in this case there is more at stake for Trevor than just getting back for the game. I think in sports, we just think about these guys as being super men, and he has been Superman. But just because he is a great athlete and the best player in college football doesn’t mean he is going to go through this as easily as other people."

Finebaum understands that Lawrence might not be able to play against Notre Dame.

"We are watching, and when was the onset? We think it was Wednesday, maybe it was Tuesday. Why is that important? Well, the ACC guidelines stipulate he has to quarantine for 10 days and then pass through other hoops. Will he or won’t he be eligible for the Notre Dame game? It is only the biggest game of the year in college football. It is at Notre Dame. If he goes through all this and is fine, then he will be able to play, but there is so much more at stake, as both of you have pointed out. This is the number one pick in the draft. I hope that he doesn’t come back just to be a hero and to play football because he can because this game is really not that important. I know Clemson fans and Notre Dame fans are saying, how can you say that? Well, if Clemson were to lose this game, it was relatively close, then they have still have a very smooth path to the college football playoffs. They win the rest of their games, which they will. They play in the ACC Championship game, perhaps against Notre Dame and win they are in, and that’s all there is to it."

Finebaum hopes that the doctors make sure they make the right decision for Lawrence's overall health.

"I hope everyone is calm. I hope the doctors are judicious and make the right decision, but it is interesting. Two weeks and two days, we were sitting here talking about the other biggest name in college football - Nick Saban testing positive, and turns out it was a false positive, and everyone forgot about that. But this is a case that everyone will be watching and learning from."