“Not safe” is a pretty relative term when you’re talking about a .0001% fatality rate among that demographic. It’s on them if they’re hanging out with grandma afterwards. The money will sort this all out

You found one player out of 2,000 saying he doesn’t want to play. Nice work detective.

Nice deflection. You wanted prominent players and I gave you that. I hope you've got that 100 ready for Franky.

I've heard more than one NFL media guy saying that the majority of NFL players are not worried about the virus or about playing.

The players are way more worried about no job, no money.

Yes it is.

When this is all over, which is not going to be for a while, Trump will be re-elected President.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/293 ... yer-safety


He's saying this assuming that once they work this out they can start, but again to me this is all bullshit. It can't be worked out, it's too messy. Within the article he reemphasizes how group workouts right now are not safe. If it's not safe now how the hell will actual games be any safer two months from now?

The players are way more worried about no job, no money.

Yup. Everyone still carrying on as if there is definitely gonna be a season. Weird. Vegan knows something Belichick doesn’t I guess

The majority of my case is about logistics. If you read the NFL PA rep closely you'll see that basically there is no viable plan yet to mitigate an outbreak. I assumed people would sit for two weeks and he's saying things like IR. That's kind of scary. Anyway, again, the logistics haven't been figured out. It might be just unworkable.

Yes it is.

When this is all over, which is not going to be for a while, Trump will be re-elected President.

Laurence Holmes is a fucking weirdo, a nerd in denial, and a wannabe. Not a very good radio host either.

Again, if you think they're worried about themselves primarily then you've got it all wrong. These guys are not 17 year olds you can just throw in a bubble for six months. They have familial obligations.

They have a short window to make money. Go ahead and sit out a season and miss a years paycheck or go to work and keep the grandparents away until you are cleared.

Full steam ahead

NFL, players association have yet to answer one big COVID-19 safety question
Adam Hermann
June 29, 2020, 12:14 PM CDT

The 2020 NFL season is scheduled to begin in just over two months, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Whether it will begin on time, and what the league will look like throughout the fall, remains extremely unclear.

Success will rely largely on answering big, important safety questions in order to keep the league's players safe. According to NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, one of the biggest questions remains... unanswered.

Smith chatted with USA Today's Mackenzie Salmon on Monday, and explained where the NFL and NFLPA stand in terms of reckoning with this unorthodox season:


If you wanted to create the perfect sport for the transmission of a virus, it would be football. So how do you deal with the fact that someone's going to test positive, that person is going to have had a tremendous amount of contact with other people on his team? And for the most part, everyone who tests positive will likely be asymptomatic.

So our thinking, it seems to me, has to be focused on, 'How do you test regularly?' And hopefully the saliva test will come online fairly soon, we will be able to test more frequently, there will be a faster turnaround time.

But in Week 4, if five people on one team test positive on a Wednesday, and five people test positive on another team on a Wednesday, and those two teams are supposed to play on Sunday - even engaging in what we'd want to do, a 48-hour or 72-hour time period of two negative tests, you're at a point where, okay, five to 10 people may not be able to play on Sunday. Then what?

Here's where we are right now: we haven't agreed on what happens.

It's good that both the league and the NFLPA are treating these kinds outbreaks as "when" situations, not "if" situations. Earlier this month, ESPN reported roughly 10 teams across the league reported at least one positive COVID-19 test - and that's before 3,072 active players participate in hand-to-hand activity for three straight hours on 17 consecutive weekends.

It's not good that both parties have yet to answer what seems to be the most fundamental question facing the 2020 NFL season: what to do in case of a mass outbreak?

That is basically the only question that matters right now.

Earlier this month, reports surfaced of possibly expanding teams' practice squads in order to bolster the number of players available in the event of a sizable outbreak.

The two sides have 45 days until the first scheduled preseason game to figure out a plan for sizable team outbreaks. It sounds like plenty of time, but we said that about negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA until those talks overran numerous deadlines.

The NFL season is scheduled to begin Sept. 10. We'll see if that's what actually happens.

I have MANY years of experience in trying to appreciate steaming piles of dogshit.

Why do they need to announce their plan now? They are going to watch and see how things go with MLB, NBA, and NHL. They would be stupid to not sit back and watch. There is no need to announce any type of plan right now other than get yourselves ready to play.

They can sit back and watch sure but any league operator worth their salary has already developed at least ten plans by now. This isn't a let's figure it out as we go operation.

I have MANY years of experience in trying to appreciate steaming piles of dogshit.

If you think they haven't put together multiple plans then you are pretty dumb. They just have not shared any plans yet nor should they.

Have you read the stuff about no plans by NFL reps themselves?

I have MANY years of experience in trying to appreciate steaming piles of dogshit.

Do you really think there are no plans?

There is not a damned thing wrong with people who are bull shitters.

Do you really think there are no plans?

We're slowly making this a bit absurd. Let me rewind. I care more about plans than announcing the plan. I'm sure they've exchanged ideas and have a few things on paper. But I do think by now - after 3 months - there should be a clearer picture. Players need to know as they decide whether to play. Similar lack of detailed planning is partly responsible for the mlb delay, though they had less time to plan to be fair. The question again is about outbreaks and replacement players in case you have to quarantine a lot of guys. That's going to happen. You can't learn that from basketball because we're talking about 80+ guys per squad and not 20 or so in basketball, including staff.

Buccaneers' Donovan Smith says playing during coronavirus pandemic is not worth the risk


TAMPA, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting left tackle Donovan Smith, the man responsible for protecting Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady's blind side, said Friday morning that "risking my health, as well as my family's health, does not seem like a risk worth taking" by playing during the coronavirus pandemic.

In an Instagram post addressed to the NFL and NFLPA, Smith, who is expecting his first child in three weeks, raised many concerns about how he and teammates are supposed to protect themselves and their families and about the NFL's testing protocols. He also questioned the NFL's proposal to slash 35% of player salaries due to lost revenue.

NFL players are set to report to training camps on July 28. The state of Florida -- which has been one of the more aggressive states reopening -- is seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases, with 244,151 positive cases as of Friday morning, up 11,385 from the previous day, with 4,102 total deaths.

"The unfortunate events of the COVID-19 pandemic have put a halt to a lot of things. Football is not one. To continue discussing the many UNKNOWNS do not give me the comfort," Smith wrote. "Risking my health as well as my family's health does not seem like a risk worth taking. With my first child due in 3 weeks, I can't help but think about how will I be able to go to work and take proper precautions around 80+ people everyday to then go home to be with my newborn daughter.

E
"How can a sport that requires physical contact on every snap and transferal of all types of bodily fluid EVERY SINGLE PLAY practice safe social distancing? How can I make sure that I don't bring COVID-19 back to my household? Yes, we can get tested every day, but if it takes 24 hours to get my results, how can I know each day that I am not spreading this virus or contracting it?

"The reoccurring issue here is how? There are too many 'hows' that have yet to be answered to ease player concerns and ensure the safety of not only myself, but also my family. I just can't imagine how the game will be the same during these unprecedented times."


Smith, who has missed just one game and start in five seasons with the Bucs, also advocated for raising player salaries, rather than reducing them, because of the risks they'll be taking each time they not only practice, but enter team facilities and play.

"Now to hear that 35% of my paycheck may be withheld while we are out sacrificing our health and wellness for the joy and entertainment of everyone else who will be safe at home in front of their TVs? Something isn't right here. That should at LEAST warrant a pay raise due to the risk, not a cut," Smith said. "I am not a lab rat or guinea pig to test theories on. I am a man, a son, brother, soon to be father, and I deserve to be safe at work."

Nate Solder, the player rep for the New York Giants, also questioned the risk of playing, saying in a tweet: "If the NFL doesn't do their part to keep players healthy there is no football in 2020. It's that simple."