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How The NFL is dealing with COVID-19

PFF has released the data it has provided to NFL and NCAA teams over five years for each of the five-year PFF releases. Sources: 1

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has threatened to suspend MLB for a week because of positive tests during the season. The NFL and the NFL Players Association took a big step forward on Monday by agreeing to the COVID-19 testing protocol. Rookie quarterbacks and injured players have been going through the process since last week, and on Tuesday the NFLPA announced that 21 players had tested positive. On Monday, the NFL players' union reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the first time on the protocol. Sources: 4, 6, 8, 12

The memo also states that the commissioner can punish NFL clubs that fail to impose discipline on non-players or club employees who break the rules or engage in risky behavior. Players deemed high-risk for COVID-19 can earn up to $350,000 in past NFL seasons if they opt out after this season. The Cowboys have drawn the 2020 option to start the offseason, but it doesn't come with guaranteed money. Sources: 3, 17

Given that, the NFL is expected to expand training camp to prepare players for next season. As Watt noted, players will have little say in training until the NFL and the NFLPA reach an agreement with the NFL. Sources: 0, 15

The regular season begins on September 1, with the Houston Texans traveling to Kansas City for their first game of the season against the Chiefs. The preseason will not take place this year, and the regular season was scheduled to begin on October 2 against the defending champion New York Giants before the preseason game was canceled due to pandemic. The Houston Texans, who play their second consecutive game on September 10 against the New England Patriots, are the first of those games on the schedule. Sources: 3, 7, 13

The NFL Players Association would have to join the playoff bubble, but there could be momentum to make it happen. If the NFL doesn't adopt the bubble strategy of the NBA and NHL, the game could become even more dangerous than it already is. The spread of the field will be a problem and, as with other sports, they may have players who are uncomfortable participating in the COVID 19 pandemic. Sources: 2, 15, 16

If NFL players suddenly develop severe symptoms, it could be a long time before the league recovers. Let's try to have an NFL season and if there are positive tests, then it should go ahead with full force. We have already looked at the impact of COVID 19 on the NBA and NHL and it is not good. Sources: 8, 16

The fact that the NFL now has more than five dozen players with severe symptoms of COVID 19 does not mean that this season will continue without problems. It's time they really worked to find creative solutions so they don't end up without a position in MLB. Sources: 5, 11

For now, fans will have to wait for sports content while the NFL and other sports leagues work out their own solutions to the problem. The NFL has made sure it will monitor the changes and adapt accordingly, but for now, sports fans will still watch from the sidelines while they are at home. Sources: 7

I would love the NFL to find a way to play a season with 16 games and playoffs in the fall, but so far they seem to be following the baseball model, hoping for the best. With every day that passes, more questions arise about what can and cannot be done. The NFL will have to be very creative if it wants to play a full season. Sources: 8, 16

Players prefer preseason games and use the summer to raise their workouts to a level that allows them to be ready for the regular season, which begins Sunday when the Chiefs take on the Texans in a nationally televised Thursday night game. Players prefer a preseason game and are using the summer to raise their workouts to a level that will allow them to start the regular season on Monday with the nationally televised game against the Texans. Sources: 14

The league requires teams to start a preseason game after 15 days in training camp, though if the Hall of Fame game is a casualty, everything else on the field remains relatively intact. Sources: 1

The next example I have is the 2011 season, whose schedule went off the rails due to a protracted labor dispute between the NFL and the National Football League, which suspended virtually all off-season activities from March to the last week of July. While the lockout overshadowed the NFL's 2010-2011 offseason, the 2012-2013 season, and even the 2013-2014 season, both of which were late offseason, this year dwarfed both the number of days off and the delayed offseason games. Sources: 1, 10

Fall football was the best - it worked, and Fall football was one of the most successful seasons in NFL history, if not the best. This is a breakthrough that could have a big, positive impact on NFL seasons beyond the big issues. 

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