Seeking Safety, Noah Cain Returns to State College for Voluntary Workouts

Noah Cain’s press conference with reporters began fairly typically, for the coronavirus era, anyway.

The Nittany Lions’ sophomore running back said he was back in State College, having returned last Wednesday, but hadn’t yet worked out with the team, which resumed its on-campus activities Monday. Having taken his COVID-19 test on Monday, Cain said he was still awaiting the results but was expecting to get a workout schedule from Penn State within the next few days.

His days in quarantine were, predictably, “different,” he said. Having to sit inside for days on end, Cain described finding opportunities to work out while making big adjustments to his day-to-day living.

The norms ended right about there, though.

Hailing from Baton Rouge, La., an area that has been hit hard by COVID-19, a question about his hometown prompted a recounting of the personal impact the virus has had on his life.

“It was hectic,” Cain said, noting that four close family members, including his mother, have been infected with the virus. “I've seen what it can do to you. It definitely needs to be taken seriously. This is not a joke. My cousin had it, my auntie had it, my mama had it.”

Updating their conditions, Cain said that all had recovered and are now “doing better” from it, but for a “month and a half,” he said he experienced an uncertain, difficult time.

Cain wasn’t able to return home because of it.

Spending most of his time the past three months in Arizona and Dallas, Cain described a situation in which his cavalier attitude toward the pandemic dramatically transformed into one in which he took its seriousness with much more precaution.

“It's definitely a serious thing. The coronavirus is a real, real serious thing that needs to be taken seriously. It's scary. Some days you don't know if the person is going to make it, honestly,” he said. “That just taught me to take it more seriously because I ain't going to lie to ya'll, at first I was just like, I'm not gonna get it. But as time went on and the loved ones close to me started getting it, I started taking it more seriously and taking the precautions that are needed.

“Everything they say about the virus, you lose your smell, you lose your taste, throwing up, vomiting, stomach hurting, it's real. It's a real thing. So that's why I've taken it as kind of disrespectful when people don't take it as seriously because it's a real thing. I've seen what it can do and some days you don't know if you're going to make it, honestly. It's hurting you, it's killing you. My cousin had blood clots in his body from it. So there are definitely precautions that need to be taken that's needed.”

Now back in State College, Cain expressed his confidence that those precautions are very much being put into practice throughout the Penn State football program.

He noted that friends on the teams have told him social distancing and wearing face coverings are standard, the typical touching between teammates during workouts completely abandoned. “You gotta just keep your distance and mind your business, honestly,” he said. “Get your work in and get out because the last thing we need is for some people to start becoming too touchy and the next thing you know, we're in a big mess with this virus, it's so easy to get it. So they've been telling me, man, you got to keep your distance from everybody and just get your work in.”

Before returning to State College from Dallas, though, Cain first had to decide to get back onto an airplane and incur the inherent risks of air travel, he said.

But, having spoken to both of his parents, the family decided that the best decision was to return to State College, which has seen relatively few daily cases throughout the pandemic. Compared to the cities that he had been staying in, the option to return to Penn State was one that ultimately felt safest, he said.

“I really just spoke to both of my parents and they really felt like it was best for me to come back to State College, just knowing how it's a small town, how I can just be isolated where I'm staying and just be away from a lot of the extra nonsense at the crib or wherever I'm at,” he said. “With them opening everything back up, it was gonna be easy for me to be exposed to more and more people. So I was just talking to my family and they felt like it was best for me to come back up here during this voluntary time, just seeing where things go.”

Holding out hope that more and more medical developments will take place to ensure safety between now and August, Cain acknowledged his optimism at having a season and doing it safely, starting with these first steps of returning to voluntary team workouts this month.

“It's a big step. We still have guys coming in here slowly, day by day. But I think that's a step forward for us just having a season this year and just getting back to having team chemistry,” he said. “I think it's important for us all to be back amongst each other, just so we can see each other's faces again. So whenever that time comes back for camp, our faces aren't foreign and we're used to each other's vibe and chemistry and everything. So I think it was a good step for us coming back to these voluntary workouts.”

*******

• Talk about this article inside The Lions Den

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue-White Illustrated

• Follow us on Twitter: @BWIonRivals, @NateBauerBWI, @RivalsSnyder, @DavidEckert98

• Like us on Facebook