Aaron Donald: "I Don't See How You Could Play a Game Without Fans. I Don't Think It Would Be Fun."

I know we're all so starved at this point that we will accept professional and collegiate sports in any form whatsoever, but Aaron Donald is the first professional athlete I've seen to say what I've thought some deal about: are we really sure sports without fans will be fun?

When I really think about it, I'm not sure any of us understand how radically different sports are going to look with nobody in the stands. In a normal scenario, how many people would tune in if a scrimmage between the Cavaliers and Hawks was televised in September? I know I wouldn't.

I have a sneaking suspicion that once sports come back in whatever form they're able to, a lot of people are going to realize what a big impact the crowd had before. And obviously not just on the game itself and its flow, but in its enjoyability. I don't know that watching basketball from a glorified rec center at Disney's Wide World of Sports or a football game in a cavernous, empty stadium is going to be very enjoyable, regardless of the level of competition.

I really hope I'm wrong. I hope the games are just as entertaining and we all love it as much as our sports-starved brains would have us believe right now. I just think once we get used to the new sports landscape — for however long it's going to last — there won't be nearly as much excitement as we all think.