During a normal NFL season, football fans would be out of their minds in anticipation of the start of the regular season on September 10, 2020. The first game will feature the Houston Texans versus the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Unfortunately, this does not figure to be a normal season and football fans seem a little apprehensive about the start of the season and where things will go from there.
All of the apprehension has everything to do with the COVID19 pandemic that the world just cannot seem to shake. While the death rates have dropped to nearly zero, there are still concerns about the virus getting new life heading into the fall and winter.
With no control over the situation or way to predict the future, the NFL has an obligation to do all it can to protect fans, coaches, players, staff members, broadcasters, and of course the players. The decisions that have been made have taken into account the best interest of everyone involved. What is at stake here is the health of participants and the opportunity to have a full and exciting football season. No season would be a travesty for fans and football handicappers with their Betting calculator in hand. People need something to feel good about.
We already know which cities will be allowing fan participation. We also know the limitations teams are placing on said participation. All of that goes towards protecting fans. As for the players and league officials, the league has put behavioural protocols in place to try to prevent teams from encountering the virus on a meaningful scale.
COVID19 Protocols for the NFL
The best the league can hope for is no NFL team gets victimized by an outbreak. In MLB, several teams were forced to the side-lines for a week or more when several players tested positive. The NFL does not want to experience that same kind of disruption. That is why the league has laid out and plans to strictly enforce certain COVID19 protocols. In an effort to help educate the public about the rules players and coaches will need to follow this season, we thought it would be interesting to list some of the current rules for NFL players and coaches:
- Daily testing except on game day
- Unauthorized personnel will not be allowed on the side-lines
- Celebrations will be limited
- Two charter planes instead of one will be used to transport players
- Players will have individual hotel rooms
- Players are not allowed in team facility the day after traveling
- Masks are required when traveling to and from games and while in team facilities
- Use of public transportation is forbidden
- Players cannot have hotel visitors
- No visitors in team facilities
- Players must remain in the hotel when traveling
This is but a small selection of the rules that players are expected to follow. The league will be strictly enforcing all rules, and violators will be subject to fines. Heading into the season this week, fewer that a dozen players are currently under quarantine.
