ATLANTA (WXIA) - Stadiums continue to sit empty.

There are few answers on when they may be filled again. While leagues and conferences discuss a return to sports, many of those plans bar fans for the foreseeable future.

While times are unique, it's not the first time sports has been affected by a pandemic.

"The virus is on a similar time track," said Andy McNeil, a Georgia Tech graduate and mechanical engineer. "History does repeat itself."

McNeil has had an image in his office for years of Grant Field at Georgia Tech in 1918. One image shows the team on the field. The other, the stands - filled with fans wearing masks over their faces.

A note on the back of the picture reads "Georgia Tech during 1918 pandemic."

McNeil's great-grandfather, Thomas Carter, took the picture.

McNeil first found the images as a child. When he rediscovered them later, he had the originals blown up so he could frame them.

It's been a talking point for years as people inquired about the pictures. An era that once seemed unimaginable, now a reality.

"When the coronavirus started, I was like, 'Wow, I had a family member who lived through this'."

McNeil's great-grandfather, Carter, loved adventure. Hoping to learn more about the Flu Pandemic in 1918, McNeil listened to old tapes his family had produced. In them, were interviews with Carter.

Perhaps attending a football game during a pandemic was seen just as daring.

"People understood the ramifications of the Spanish Flu at that time," McNeil said. "Would he be alive if he didn't wear a mask? Who knows."

Society has come so far in some ways.

The world is currently rushing to produce a vaccine for COVID-19, yet the image of a football game in 1918 mirrors what life looks like today, with many people donning face coverings.

"It's a dose of reality," McNeil said. "Before coronavirus, I couldn't imagine being at Georgia Tech with a mask on. A pandemic never crossed my mind. It's a reality that history repeats itself, and we can get through it, but we have to do the right thing."

izzou:
See as person nack suit and tie because him wan watch football

Tufiakwa

Ishilove:

Those were the times

Everyday na suit.

Even the women then: the dress na like 1000 yards of cloth dem use sew am

I thank God say I no dey then

Ishilove:

https://www.wthr.com/article/vintage-picture-shows-football-fans-wearing-masks-during-1918-pandemic

izzou:


Everyday na suit.

Even the women then: the dress na like 1000 yards of cloth dem use sew am

I thank God say I no dey then

mansakhalifa:


They should calling that American football of theirs "Football".

Ffs, this is something that they play with their hands half the time, so why try to confuse us

fulaniHERDSman:

Enoch07:
and we'll repeat it again in 2020 or 2021

DanseMacabre:
Hmmmm. There's nothing new under the sun indeed.

So this brings to fore the question, what are we missing

See how crowded football fans are simply by wearing masks. Yet even with our masks circa hundred years later, with all our medical and scientific advancements, they're telling us we cannot congregate. Some people are insisting on waiting till a compulsory vaccine is found before resuming activities fully around the globe.


This is despite the fact that COVID 19 has been proven beyond all doubt to be far less severe than the Spanish Flu.


I must indeed be missing something.

Ishilove:

Better then than now that immodesty is the order of the day

Ishilove:

Confuses me too

DanseMacabre:


2120 or 2121 you mean.

Ishilove:

I guess they are erring on the side caution?

DanseMacabre:
Hmmmm. There's nothing new under the sun indeed.

So this brings to fore the question, what are we missing

See how crowded football fans are simply by wearing masks. Yet even with our masks circa hundred years later, with all our medical and scientific advancements, they're telling us we cannot congregate. Some people are insisting on waiting till a compulsory vaccine is found before resuming activities fully around the globe.


This is despite the fact that COVID 19 has been proven beyond all doubt to be far less severe than the Spanish Flu.


I must indeed be missing something.

Enoch07:

Bros u do already see d future. quickly open one church one side abeg make I come drop my tithe

izzou:
See as person nack suit and tie because him wan watch football

Tufiakwa

izzou:


Better?

Ishilove:

Yes. Is keeping your private parts private too much to ask?

People still dress decently these days...

Women look more smart and beautiful these days, unlike when they were covered like 50kg bags of millet

excanny:


T-shirts were newly invented then and wasn't so popular.

izzou:


People still dress decently these days...

Women look more smart and beautiful these days, unlike when they were covered like 50kg bags of millet