COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State insists the two-page document football players and other athletes signed before returning to voluntary workouts is not a waiver of liability for possible exposure to COVID-19 — or even a legal document. Some legal experts, however, remain suspicious of the “Buckeye Acknowledgment and Pledge.” If it’s not a legal document, then why was a signature required — as well as a parent’s signature if the athlete is under age 18? If athletes are being educated and checked for COVID-19 symptoms before every workout, why was the pledge necessary? Since first reported by the Columbus Dispatch on Sunday, the Buckeye Pledge quickly became a new target for those who see an unfair balance in rights and representation between athletic programs and college athletes. Ohio State said every athlete returning to workouts signed the form. The document never uses the term “waiver.” It never asks athletes to…
Continue Reading: What Ohio State’s ‘Buckeye Pledge’ COVID-19 risk acknowledgment really says, and why legal experts take issue
