WEATHERFORD, Texas — Cleats and clorox wipes. That's what Ken Seals brings to football practice these days.
"Having the clorox wipes, wiping [the football] down," Seals, a senior at Weatherford high school, says is important right now. "Just making sure that we're being safe as we can, given the situation."
COVID-19 has put a halt to almost all sports. But for a collection of elite North Texas football players -- each of whom headed to play Division I Football -- the training has not stopped.
Seals, a Vanderbilt signee to play quarterback in the fall, has a clear motivation for why he's taking that risk.
"Alabama, Georgia, LSU," Seals says. "Different players that I'm going to be hopefully lining up against next year -- I do think that they're continuing to get the same work in, with their teammates."
If the example set by local stars Dak Prescott and Dez Bryant is any indication, he's probably right.
One of the coaches that runs these workouts for Seals and his fellow prospects, Joey Moss, says the workouts are entirely voluntary, and that the players are pushing for them.
"I'm not saying that what's going on isn't serious," Moss says. "I understand that we all have to be cautious with what's going on, but, I also don't want to be an extremist, to where we're all walking around in bubble suits."
When the group practiced on Tuesday, though... there were high-fives and handshakes as they all met up. Something Seals acknowledged afterward...
"Probably not the smartest idea, if I had to admit it, going around and shaking everyone's hand before practice starts," Seals says. "It's kinda counter-intuitive."
But even absent high fives and handshakes, many basic elements of the game require getting closer than health experts advise.
"I mean, I hope and I pray that we're staying safe, and obviously I pray that my parents don't get it, and no one else's parents or grandparents get it," Seals says. "You know, that's not what we want, at all."
Bottom line, the question is this -- is it worth it?
"I do think it's worth it. I don't want to sound like I am just not giving credit to this virus. I do think that it is dangerous. But I do think that the work that we're doing, and being out their on the field, is irreplaceable."