Former BYU WR Dax Milne: ‘It Was Good To Hear The Real Facts’ On COVID-19 Vaccines

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Former BYU and current Washington Football Team wide receiver Dax Milne discussed what he learned about the COVID-19 vaccine after head coach Ron Rivera invited an immunologist to speak to the NFL team.

Milne spoke after hearing coronavirus vaccine researcher Kizzmekia Corbett debunk myths and answer questions from players about the vaccine.

Washington selected the former BYU receiver with the No. 258 overall pick during the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft in early May.

In June, Corbett joined Washington’s team to discuss COVID-19 vaccines via a videoconference call.

“I know myself and all these other guys were exposed to what you might call fake news or just rumors on social media about the vaccines, and maybe conspiracies and stuff like that,” Milne said. “Some guys are obviously for it — getting the vaccine — some guys still have a little bit of hesitancy. But personally, it was good to hear the real facts, and I plan on seeing a lot more people getting the vaccine on the team.”

Rookie Dax Milne said the vaccine talk helped. Says he had heard “there had been deaths from vaccines and a lot of side effects.” Expert told them was a lot of fake articles; said she debunked with studies etc. says guys feeling more comfortable now. Says he hasn’t gotten yet

— John Keim (@john_keim) June 9, 2021

One of Milne’s teammates, Montez Sweat, said he was against the team trying to encourage its players to be vaccinated.

“I’m not a fan of it,” Sweat said of the vaccine. “I probably won’t get vaccinated until I get more facts and that stuff. I’m not a fan of it at all.”

Washington brought in Harvard immunologist Kizzmekia S. Corbett to speak with players Tuesday night about the vaccines, according to @AP.https://t.co/unDJTJHEwW

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 10, 2021

Rivera said that nearly half of Washington’s roster has been vaccinated. After strict restrictions during the 2020 season, the NFL has loosened its rules surrounding COVID-19 protocols for players and coaches that have been fully vaccinated. Some of the eased restrictions include not having to wear face covering or be tested daily for COVID-19.

“When it gets down to the real facts and the actual studies that they’ve done, with real information, there’s been no deaths from it,” Milne said of Corbett’s remarks to the team.

“The big thing is we’ve got to be able to facilitate the opportunity for these guys to understand,” Rivera said. “There’s a lot of messaging that’s out there; they get it off of Twitter and some of it is good, some of it is bad. I’m not sure if these guys watch the news as much as I do and try to gather enough information, but we are really trying to help them, because if we can get to that herd immunity, we can really cut it loose and really be able to spend time with each other.”

“I don’t want to speak out of turn,” Milne added, “but it sounded a lot more safe than we all thought it was. I think we’re feeling a lot more comfortable with it now.”

As of June 10, 141.6 million people or 42.6 percent of the population in the United States had been fully vaccinated from COVID-19, according to the CDC.

Milne is currently participating in Washington’s offseason program.

Dax Milne. pic.twitter.com/ZPXjmvjJba

— John Keim (@john_keim) June 10, 2021