.jpg)
By Konrad Gonzalez, Staff Reporter
The brutal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has already changed the future of the season for several franchises. Players have suffered significant injuries due in part to the altered off-season and lack of preseason games. The San Francisco 49ers are a ghost version of last year's team, resulting in a change at the top of the predicted power rankings for the league. The New Orleans Saints do not look nearly as scary and threatening without standout wide receiver Michael Thomas who has been sidelined with an ankle injury.
However, the global pandemic has affected teams in more ways than just setting the stage for a season of heartbreaking injuries as the virus has ravaged locker rooms across the league.
Fifty-six total NFL team employees have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Fifteen players and 41 staff members tested positive for COVID between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7: twice as many cases as were reported at any other time this season.
The players union last reported test results on Tuesday, Nov.11. Previously the league had a high outbreak of 26 positive cases ranging from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3.
The team with the most cases was the Tennessee Titans which kept the team off the field for more than two weeks. The tests included about two dozen positive cases and kept the entire team out. The Titans were fined roughly $350,000 by the NFL for protocol violations by the team. The outbreak within the team forced the NFL to reschedule Tennessee’s games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills.
NFL teams have administered a total of 42,978 tests to 7,922 players and team personnel. The latest results are 218 confirmed positive cases and 78 players and 140 staff members in total.
The Raiders have been the team with the most violations and fines thus far. The highest they were fined was $500,000 and a loss of their 6th round pick.
“It sucks seeing how COVID-19 has been affecting a lot of teams,” senior Michael Elizondo said. “I want teams to have a fair game but that’s just how it is.”
After the Titans incident, NFL teams have agreed to a contingency plan to expand the playoff field from 14 to 16 teams as a result of games being cancelled due to COVID-19. So far, games have yet to be canceled but 14 games have been rescheduled.
“With Las Vegas placing seven players on Reserve/COVID list today, there's no change to status of Sunday night's Raiders-Chiefs game,” ESPN reporter Adam Schefter tweeted on Nov. 18. “Those high-risk, close-contact players in quarantine will be eligible to participate in the game provided they continue to test negative.”
In addition to the Titans and Raiders, other teams experiencing problems with COVID-19 include the San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, and the Miami Dolphins. That’s about half of the NFL teams. This obviously has affected teams who have been forced to play games without some of their most important players.
“The upcoming holidays, beginning with Thanksgiving next week, will introduce new risks of exposure that we need to address now,” says NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
New protocols include stricter safety measures like virtual team meetings, wearing of masks by all players and staff while at the facility, and wearing contact tracing devices. Any player diagnosed with COVID-19 must isolate and stay away from teammates and all team facilities for at least two weeks.
As of now the NFL hopes these protocols can prevent any further outbreak as big fines give teams more incentive to follow the rules.
留言