NFL Issues New Covid Guidelines for Teams

The National Football League has announced that starting on Saturday Nov. 21, all teams are to operate under Covid-19 intensive protocol. This protocol is expected to last until the last of the season due to rising Covid-19 cases around the United States.

The intensive protocol increases the amount of restrictions for the staff and players on all teams. All players and coaching staff are tested every day before entering any team facilities. The protocol also aims to limit the players’ contact with others by moving things such as meetings fully online.

The protocol also prohibits any sort of player social gatherings outside of the team facilities. This announcement comes just one week before Thanksgiving and means that players will not be able to visit one another for the holidays.

Before the 2020-21 NFL season began the NFL and NFLPA released a video detailing their protocols and rules for Covid-19 during this season. The video featured team medical experts such as Dr. Anthony Caslaro, Head Physician for the Washington football team.

“When coming up with a return to play plan, the most important thing to everyone was to ensure the health and safety of the players and coaching staff,” said Dr. Caslaro in an NFL video detailing the leagues Covid-19 response.

Damian Mancilla is a college freshman who has concerns over attending sporting events in person but still attends sporting events whenever he can.

“I think that regardless of where you go there will always be risks of catching covid. As long as places do whatever they can to make people as safe as possible then I wouldn’t mind going,” said Mancilla.

Teams around the NFL have experienced spikes within their own teams as more players and team personnel are testing positive for Covid-19. The Las Vegas Raiders announced on Nov. 18 that they have placed seven players on the Covid-19 list ahead of their game with the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 22.

According to the Las Vegas Raiders, these players are safety Johnathan Abram, defensive tackles Maliek Collins, Johnathan Hankins and Kendal Vickers, defensive end Arden Key, cornerback Isaiah Johnson and practice-squad defensive end David Irving. These players were placed on the list one day after another player Clelin Ferrell tested positive for Covid-19 and was placed on the Covid-19 list.

The Philadelphia Eagles also announced on Nov. 19 that they placed five players on to the Covid-19 list. According to the team they had come into contact with an unnamed member of the team that tested positive for Covid-19.

“The individual close contacts who were identified through contact tracing are in self-isolation,” the team announced in a statement on Thursday. “We are actively following the NFL and NFLPA intensive protocols.”

Players who test positive or who have come in contact with someone with covid are placed onto the covid-19 list. These players are not allowed to participate in team activities such as games or practices and must test negative before they are allowed to play again.

The Las Vegas Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles are not the only team that has had to place several players on the Covid-19 list. According to the NFL, earlier in the month teams such as the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and others placed players on the list and were forced to such down their facilities.

According to the NFL, the league has allowed the teams themselves to determine if they can have fans in attendance for any of their home games. Some teams in the NFL such as the Cincinnati Bengals or Cleveland Browns are allowing fans in their stadiums at a very limited capacity of just around 12 thousand. According to teams such as the Chicago Bears, they must follow state-imposed guidelines and are not allowed to have any fans at their home games.

In Green Bay, the Packers announced early in October that they would not have fans within their stadium until the Covid-19 numbers significantly dropped. According to the National Football League Players Association data chart, the Packers seem to be the most at risk with daily positive cases rising by the thousand in Wisconsin. Which means that the Packers might not see fans at Lambeau Field for the rest of the 2020-21 season.

Jacob Deutsch is a sports fan and likes to play recreational soccer with his friends. He has concerns for the future of sports as a whole going forward. “I really hope that this is all over with by next year, because I want to be able to go to sports games again in person,” said Deutsch.

The NFL announced in late October that it has already made plans to allow fans to be in attendance for Superbowl 55 in Tampa Bay. The league announced that it aims to fill the stadium at 20% capacity for the game on Feb.7, 2021.