When a player comes into the NFL as an undrafted free agent, they know they are going to have to do just about everything right if they want to stick around in the league.
That is one of the reasons why opting out of the 2020 season was such a tough decision for Detroit Lions wide receiver Geronimo Allison even though he had already been in the league (Green Bay Packers) for four years.
But Allison decided to put his family before football as his wife Evette had just given birth to their first child in April of 2020. He believed that playing football could put him at a bigger risk to catch COVID and bring it home to his family. So, he opted out of the season.
Allison, who is not yet vaccinated, recently spoke about his decision to sit the season out and he has no regrets.
Quotes via Detroit Free Press:
“For myself, for my family, it was the best decision because this is what I do,” Allison said after Day 4 of training camp Saturday. “I play football. Like I said, I know football’s going to be there. I’ll have opportunities to get out there and showcase my talent and play, so I just had to take that time for myself, for my family and just do what’s best.”
“New team, changing cities, middle of a pandemic. Newborn. Like, decision’s easy to make,” Allison said. “You got to do what’s best for you and your family with the unknown out there. So I just made the best decision for me and my family.”
Allison is not yet vaccinated as he considers researching his decision and his family is still living cautiously.
“I think the time helped,” he said. “The time helped. Just let everything kind of mellow out and get some type of normality to it. That helped me kind of understand what I was coming into this year, what I was getting prepared for mentally and then physically wise. So this year, I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew what was going on. They had protocols, they had measures in place to keep us safe and it was all good. So this year I was way more prepared going into it than how it was sprung on us last year.”
When Allison first opted out, he thought it could end up hurting his chances of every playing for the Lions but now that a new regime is in place, he believes he has a fresh start.
“I think if it would have been the same staff and the same operations, I would have been like a little bit like, ‘Will they hold it against me?'” Allison said. “But being with a new operations team and new coaching staff, it’s an open slate for everybody.”
“I feel like it’s wide open,” Allison said. “Everybody’s getting their opportunities here and there, making plays here and there and at the end of the day, they’ll narrow it down and make a decision on who they want, who they feel comfortable with.”
Personally, I respect the fact that Allison is taking his decision to get vaccinated very seriously and that he is taking extra precautions so that he does not get the virus or spread it to others.
Nation, do you believe Allison will make the roster?
