Before the 2021 NFL season even began, Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that there would be NO rescheduling of games this season to accommodate teams with outbreaks of the Covid-19 virus.  In a statement sent to all 32 teams, Goodell said, “we will make every effort, consistent with the underlying health and safety principles, to play our full schedule within the current 18 weeks.  Each team is obligated to have its team ready to play at the scheduled time and place. There is no right to postpone a game, and games will not be postponed or rescheduled because of roster issues affecting a particular position group or particular number of players.

HOWEVER, after over 100 positive cases were announced in just two days, the NFL has rescheduled a number of games in week 15.

The game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns set to be played on Saturday afternoon – December 18 – has been moved to Monday and will be a part of a doubleheader with a 5pm EST start on the NFL Network.  The Browns could be down as many as 16 of the 53 man roster if it had been played on Saturday.

The games originally scheduled for Sunday between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams and the game between the Washington Football Team and the Philadelphia Eagles have both been moved to Tuesday.  FOX will carry both games beginning at 7pm EST.  Currently Washington has a total of 21 players and personnel on the Covid list.

In a statement, the NFL said, “we have made these schedule changes based on medical advice and after discussion with the NFLPA as we are seeing a new, highly transmissible form of the virus this week resulting in a substantial increase in cases across the league.  We continue to make decisions in consultation with medical experts to ensure the health and safety of the NFL community.”

Commissioner Roger Goodell added, “if games are postponed, we will make every effort to minimize the competitive and economic burden on the participating teams.”


The NFL isn’t the only sport suffering with Covid related issues…
In NCAA basketball, Kentucky is set to play North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic being held in Las Vegas on Saturday.  Seton Hall has had to cancel their second game due to Covid issues.  UCLA cancelled its game against North Carolina in a pause of all team related activities.  UCLA has also cancelled a game with Alabama State.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have also had to cancel a game in the Sports Classic due to Covid issues.

To date a total of 20 men’s and 36 women’s college basketball games have been postponed or outright cancelled due to Covid.


Cancellations and postponements in the NHL have been coming at epidemic proportions.  As the NHL has paused the activities of two more teams – the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers; a total of 20 games have been postponed so far.  The Calgary Flames have also been shut down through at least Christmas.  Not only have the games been postponed, the facilities have also been closed with no team activities.

 The NHL is hoping to avoid a complete shutdown over the virus as a new fast moving variant has appeared.  Currently 10 percent of the NHL roster is under the Covid protocols.  While no serious cases have been reported so far, the change in scheduling puts a trip to the 2022 Winter Olympics in China in jeopardy; as well as, major issues when it comes to travel across the border for games.  Current laws state that only people who have been fully vaccinated or test negative within 72 hours of travel may cross the border between the United States and Canada.

In further efforts to curtail the spread of the new omicron variant, Canada may soon re-impose capacity limits on venues.