Newton Councilor Criticizes BC Football Team Locker Room Moment

NEWTON, MA — A Newton city councilor is criticizing a video clip circulating of Boston College football players celebrating a victory in the locker room with no masks.

"As an elected official in Newton, where much of the Boston College campus is located, this video upsets me," Bowman tweeted Sunday. "BC football players do not live in a bubble. COVID-19 is real and deadly, but clearly no one here cares about that."

Video shared by the BC Football Twitter account shows the team reveling in its victory over Texas State on Saturday.

In response to Bowman's criticism, Boston College athletic director spokesperson Jason Baum said the team was tested three times each week and had tested that Friday and quarantined in a hotel until the game Saturday, per ACC regulations.

"The momentary post-game celebration in the locker room involved team members who had zero positive COVID-19 tests," he said. "The team quickly returned to the COVID-19 protocols it has strictly followed, and will continue to adhere to these protocols to help ensure the safety of our team members and the well-being of the BC and neighboring communities."

But Bowman pointed out that false negatives are likely when anyone gets tested quickly and for that reason, it is critical that people continue to be diligent about minimizing the spread of the virus.

"It seems that BC is willing to admit they took a break from COVID 19 protocols to celebrate, which does not seem wise," she told Patch. " It seems like BC football worked hard to not have any COVID cases. Why risk that for a few minutes of celebration that could have been done outside or at least with masks on if they were going to be inside?"

Bowman said since her original tweet, she's got some criticism but, also a number of residents and Brighton neighbors concerned about the college's response to potential unsafe student behavior have reached out in support.

The back and forth came as Massachusetts is seeing an uptick in the number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus.

"Hopefully my tweet had a positive effect in helping BC see the unnecessary risk they put players in," said Bowman. "I hope that there are many future celebrations for the Eagles and that they will be done so following COVID protocols for the safety of the players and the safety of the broader community."

Since the football team returned to campus in June, the school has administered more than 3,700 tests with only one coming back positive.

For the week of Sept. 21 to Sept 27, of the 8,359 Boston College community members tested, 41 tested positive. So Far this week only two have tested positive. As of Tuesday, 43 Boston College students were in isolation.

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