FLU & FOOTBALL

The effects of the 1918 Spanish influenza and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemics were strikingly similar on the city of Massillon and its football teams. Both times, Massillon shut down with exceptions for essential businesses, and football was impacted as a popular contact sport. Schedules were changed, and games were sometimes postponed or even canceled. On display July 31, 2021–January 9, 2022, the Paul Brown Museum exhibition, "Flu and Football," examines the parallels of two pandemics more than 100 years apart.