Rams’ Brian Allen Is Latest Athlete With Coronavirus

Brian Allen, a center for the Los Angeles Rams, is the first active N.F.L. player to publicly acknowledge he tested positive for the coronavirus, the team confirmed late Wednesday night. Through the team, Allen said he was feeling well and was not in the hospital.

Allen, 24, is entering his third year in the league, and is the Rams’ starting center. He attended Michigan State. He joins New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton as major N.F.L. figures who have tested positive for coronavirus.

Allen reported experiencing some symptoms of the virus, including the loss of his sense of taste and smell, as far back as three weeks ago. “I lost all sense of smell to the point where I had smelling salts here, I cracked them open, put them to my nose and nothing happened,” he told Fox Sports. “All I could feel was texture in my mouth — literally, it was the only sense I had.”

Allen had been rehabilitating from an injury at the team’s training facility in Thousand Oaks, Calif., when the positive test came in a few weeks ago. Coach Sean McVay said that after the test, the Rams closed the facility, in accordance with a leaguewide shutdown mandated by the N.F.L. In a memo sent to teams on March 24, Commissioner Roger Goodell ordered that teams close their buildings to all but essential workers until April 8. The Los Angeles Times reported that it had since reopened on a limited basis.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/sports/football/brian-allen-rams-coronavirus.html