News broke out late Monday morning that Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott was one of “several” Cowboys and Houston Texans players who have tested positive for the coronavirus recently. It has since been clarified by Ian Rapoport that only two Cowboys players have tested positive, but Elliott is the only one to have his name revealed. Elliott’s agent Rocky Arceneaux confirmed to Rapoport that Elliott is “feeling good.”

It’s certainly easy to make jokes about how OF COURSE it was Zeke who tested positive for the virus. This is the guy who has been seen by everyone at basically any bar in Uptown Dallas and who even was the face of a TMZ story this spring of he and quarterback Dak Prescott hosting a large house party in the middle of the pandemic that had the country completely shut down at that time.

Cowboys Dak Prescott, Zeke Elliott Party with Friends, Violate TX Quarantine https://t.co/fIs5f9KmdI

— TMZ (@TMZ) April 11, 2020

While those jokes are certainly easy to make, it’s not really fair to Elliott at all. He isn’t the first DFW athlete to test positive for the virus and he definitely won’t be the last.

Earlier this month, a yet-to-be-named FC Dallas player tested positive for the virus not long after the team had started to resume training at their facilities in Frisco. No other players or training staff tested positive for the virus, but the team still temporarily stopped training for some time.

Next week, NBA players are set to return to their team’s training facilities to begin their month-plus ramp up towards trying to resume their season in Orlando at the end of July. All players will be tested in a June 23rd-June 30th window in order to allow for a proper quarantine window before the team departs for Orlando on July 7th. Let’s all hope that all players test negative and everything is fine, but there is almost a 100% chance that players will test positive around the league.

We should expect the same when the NHL opens up training camps for their resumed season on July 10th.

Probably a lot more when the NFL starts training camps later this summer.

The virus is still very much here, even if we’re trying to get sports (and normal life) going again.

While it’s likely that most, not all, of these athletes in prime physical condition will be able to fight through whatever symptoms come with their unique experience with the virus, that doesn’t mean it’s still not a very serious deal that can be passed along to loved ones who have underlying health conditions that could make them at very high-risk for being seriously affected by contracting the virus and unfortunately becoming one of the 117K+ (and coutning) who have died because of it in the United States.

If this virus has shown anything, it proves that no one is immune to it.  Actors, musicians, politicians, athletes and any random person walking down the street could have contracted it at some point the last few months and thousands more still will in the future.

Prayers and support to Zeke and his family. He seems to be okay as of now and hopefully he is fully recovered in no time. Please, just continue to respect this virus and the damage it can do to anyone.