As the NFL prepares for a full season of games with fans in the stands, the league is also making some policy changes when it comes to players and the Covid-19 virus.
With the new 17 game regular season approaching, the NFL has announced that the season will not be extended or altered to accommodate any team that must cancel a game due to positive cases of the Covid virus among unvaccinated players.
Should there be an outbreak of the virus that results in a cancellation of the upcoming game then that team will have to forfeit that game. However, if the team can make up the game without extending the season, then they will be allowed to do so.
Furthermore, significant financial penalties will also result in the event of a forfeited game. No players will be paid for the cancelled game because of a covid diagnosis in an unvaccinated player. In addition, the team that caused the forfeit will have to compensate the other team for all financial losses.
According to the memo circulated to the teams:
“If a game is cancelled/postponed because a club cannot play due to a Covid spike among or resulting from its non-vaccinated players/staff, then the burden of the cancellation or delay will fall on the club experiencing the Covid infection. We will seek to minimize the burden on the opposing club or clubs. If a club cannot play due to a Covid spike in vaccinated individuals, we will attempt to minimize the competitive and economic burden on both participating teams.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s office may also impose further penalties.
While the Commissioner’s office has stated that there will be no mandate for players to get vaccinated, the recent memo sent the 32 teams clearly states the League’s thoughts on the matter.
Currently all 32 teams have at least 50 percent of their players vaccinated with 14 teams at 85 percent. The current number league wide is 78 percent of the players with at least one shot.
Chief medical officer for the NFL Dr. Allen Sills said, “we’re pleased with those numbers, but we’re not satisfied. We want to see them continue to go up. Certainly those rates are well above what we’re seeing in the rest of society and certainly above the same age group as most of our players are. So a great head-start, more work to be done.”
Any player of staff member who has been vaccinated but still tests positive for the virus may return to work after two negative tests conducted 24 hours apart. Any unvaccinated player who tests positive will have to be isolated for 10 days and test negative before being allowed to return to the team.
In many respects the protocols in place for the 2021 season mirror those of the 2020 season; the big difference being an allowance when it comes to vaccinated players.
Last season, the NFL made numerous concessions in a very fluid situation that saw numerous games rescheduled and played on every day of the week by the time the season had concluded…on time.
A total of 272 games will be played during the 2021 NFL regular season.