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- Mar 19, 2019
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It may seem like three years or even three decades. Actually, it’s been only three months since everything changed.
March 11. The President addresses the nation about the pandemic. Tom Hanks announces that he and his wife have COVID-19. Rudy Gobert tests positive, and the NBA shuts down.
So here we are. Three months later. Much more is known about the virus. Much still isn’t. And three months from last night, the Chiefs will host the Texans in the first of 256 regular-season games.
Where is the NFL in its preparations? It was encouraging, on one hand, to see the detailed protocol distributed by the league to all teams over the weekend. It was discouraging, on the other hand, to try to reconcile the careful measures that will be taken to prevent the spread of the virus during the week with the cauldron of spit, sweat, and blood that will happen for three hours every Sunday (or Monday or Thursday). And it is concerning, to say the least, that the NFL Players Association hadn’t agreed to the protocol before it was promulgated.
There are many questions to be answered before the season starts, and every answer leads to more questions. What happens if a player tests positive? What happens if half the roster tests positive? What will the league do to replenish a team that sees 10 or 20 or more players sidelined for being positive, even if they are asymptomatic?
The XFL had a ninth team of players who were in shape and ready to go. The NFL may need a 33rd team (or more) of game-ready players who can be plugged in on very short notice.
If, as the league did in 1987, replacements quickly were hired to replace 28 rosters of striking players, the league needs to be ready to mobilize in similar fashion again. The league also needs to be ready to effectively treat any players, coaches, staff, etc. who develop the illness. Although the inevitable positive tests won’t shut down the NFL, what happens if a player or coach or someone else dies of COVID-19 during football season? Would that end the experiment and, in turn, the 2020 season?
Many react to these questions by asking, “Why are you rooting against football being played?” The truth is that we want football to be played, and that we’re flagging these issues in the hopes that those questions and all others can and will be properly addressed before the time comes to play the games.
It’s been 92 days since everything changed. The NFL has 91 days until it all gets started. And those 91 days will pass by quickly, especially as the NFL and the NFLPA try to anticipated and resolve all issues that have emerged and that will arise as the calendar continues its inevitable migration to September 10.