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NFL travel rules for teams during 2020 season are insane
Vincent Frank
NFL players have been demanding for more answers as it relates to COVID-19 protocols heading into the 2020 season.
They are now getting them from the league. I am not sure this is going to make players feel much better with Week 1 less than two months away.
NFL travel rules for teams are strict for the 2020 season
- No use of public or private transportation in other cities.
- No leaving the hotel to go to restaurants open to the public.
- No room visits by anyone outside of the traveling party.
- No use of shared hotel facilities such as pools and gyms.
- Masks required while traveling.
- Buses at no more than 50% capacity.
- At least one open seat between passengers on plane.
This all sounds great in the grand scheme of things. But we’re talking about enforcing this on nearly 2,000 players and hundreds of coaches. That doesn’t even take into account other personnel.
It’s going to be incredibly difficult to police this policy and will ultimately be left up to the teams.
NFL players want more answers as it relates to COVID-19 testing
The backdrop here is a lack of answers from the league and NFLPA as it relates to testing protocols. Houston Texans star J.J. Watthas spoken out on it recently NFL training camps areslated to starthere within the next two weeks. In fact, rookies will be reporting for some teams sooner than that. The obvious backdrop to all of this is an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that’s increasing in size throughout the United States. Players continue to take issue with the NFL’s lack of real protocols as it relates to the virus. One of the game’s top stars has now decided to speak out. In the interest of having everyone on the same page in terms of what we know and don’t know at this time, here are a few things I’ve learned being on four NFLPA calls in the last two weeks with hundreds of other players. This seems less-than-ideal. It also fits in nicely with what othertop-end players have said recentlyregarding the NFL and union’s lack of a clear plan. As we have seen with MLB getting going in the next week, testing issues are not limited to the general public. It has threatened to halt the baseball season starting on July 23. That’s especially true when it comes todelayed test results. It’s nearly impossible to contact trace when its taking several days to get results. Watt is concerned that the league has not even set up testing protocols right now. Will players be tested daily or every other day? It would be nice to know. This is another major backdrop. The league has decided tocut its preseason in halfwith each team playing two games. Though, players want thepreseason scrapped altogether. Given that the preseason is slated to start in about a month, this seems like a big deal. The financial backdrop is real here. It was previously noted that theleague wants to withhold 35% of player payand put it in escrow as a way to make up for revenue shortcomings that will come without fans likely being allowed to attend games. Obviously, players have taken issue with this. What if a player tests positive for COVID-19 during the season? That’s pretty much at least two weeks said player would miss. How would it impact his contract and the team’s roster? As it is, Watt’s list of grievances are understandable. The league is running out of time to put together a plan to start training camp. Without a resolution on this, it’s hard to imagine training camp will get going as planned on July 28. NFL training camps areset to get going here in about two weeks. At the very least, that’s what the league wants us to believe amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve already seen players in leadership positionspush back against the NFL’s lack of safety protocols. An outspoken player is now pushing back against a report that his side is nearing an agreement with the NFL to start training camp on time. That’s knowledge to us. Huge outstanding issues are still unresolved. We havent agreed to anything in their proposal and literally just sent them a response. But all will be revealedhttps://t.co/HcVWtA8OgX As you can see, the initial report from NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport notes that “almost everything is done and agreed to except for number of preseason games and testing protocols.” Sherman is not buying that. Given that the future Hall of Fame cornerback has been in a leadership position within the NFLPA, he’s definitely in the know here. Aftercanceling the Hall of Fame Gamebetween the Steelers and Cowboys, the NFL made the decision to cut preseason schedules from four games down to two for each team. Though, the playersdon’t want to play a single preseason gamenext month. That makes sense in that they are meaningless games. Why risk injury and health to play games that don’t even count in the standings? The league is said to be setting up strict testing protocols as the virus continues to spread around the United States unchecked. Though, players have not necessarily taken a liking to this. At the very least, they want to hear more before drawing a conclusion. Sherman seemed to double down on that Friday. Testing is going to be extremely important for the NFL. We’ve seenissues in this regardaround the baseball world as the 2020 MLB season prepares to start July 23. That can’t be the case when it comes to the NFL. Strict protocols must be in place before training camps open.Texans star J.J. Watt has major issues with NFL’s COVID-19 protocols
J.J. Watt has major issues with NFL’s COVID-19 response, lack of protocols
Keep in mind our rookies are scheduled to report in 48 hrspic.twitter.com/wAH1XyQenfCOVID-19 testing protocols
NFL preseason games?
NFL contract structures to change?
Richard Sherman says nothing is agreed to regarding NFL training camps starting
Richard Sherman says the players have not agreed to anything regarding training camp, preseason
NFL cuts preseason in half, players dissent
NFL COVID-19 testing protocols
All of these policies for traveling parties will end up being mute if there’s not a strong testing program in place. We saw initial issues with Major League Baseball as that sport looks to start its season next week. The good news is that things seem to begetting better in that regard.
However way we spin it, the NFL needs to ramp up its protocols ahead of the start of training camp. The Kansas City Chiefs will be among the first teams toreport for testing this coming Monday.
