Will NFL Players Get Vaccinated To Avoid Forfeits?

Will NFL Players Get Vaccinated To Avoid Forfeits? | Sports Takes & News | TooAthletic.com

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The NFL is expected to take a hard stance against teams that face a Covid outbreak during the 2021 season. Unlike the 2020 season, when games were rescheduled, the league has informed teams that the forfeiture of games is possible this season if unvaccinated players test positive for Covid. This has some players questioning how much longer they will play in the league, citing their personal freedom to choose over the NFL’s desire to see them vaccinated. So, as training camps open, what will NFL players choose: Get vaccinated or forfeit games?

Several reports quoted the NFL commissioner advising teams that during the 2021 season, if they faced a Covid outbreak within their organization, there will not be as many options to reschedule games as they had last year.

As the memo states:

“If a game is cancelled/postponed because a club cannot play due to a Covid spike among or resulting from its non-vaccinated players/staff, then the burden of the cancellation or delay will fall on the club experiencing the Covid infection. We will seek to minimize the burden on the opposing club or clubs. If a club cannot play due to a Covid spike in vaccinated individuals, we will attempt to minimize the competitive and economic burden on both participating teams.” 

In this upcoming season, the first year of a 17-game, 18-week schedule, the NFL has already warned teams that a 19^th week for makeup games is not available. Which means that if bye weeks don’t line up for teams affected by a Covid outbreak, a forfeit of that game by the team experiencing that outbreak may be declared. 

DeAndre Hopkins deleted a tweet “questioning [his] future” in the NFL after the league announced any team with a COVID outbreak due to unvaccinated players could result in a forfeit pic.twitter.com/PsOeCWQy4u

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 22, 2021

Many NFL players have shied away from discussing if they have been vaccinated, with others admitting they have not been, saying it is their choice. One player, Arizona wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, posted on Twitter:

“Never thought I would say this, but being put in a position to hurt my team because I don’t want to partake in the vaccine is making me question my future in the @NFL.”

Freedom?

— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) July 22, 2021

The tweet was later deleted and replaced with the post “Freedom?”

The NFL Players’ Association responded to news reports about the forfeiture of games by releasing a statement which said:

“The only difference this year is the NFL’s decision to impose additional penalties on clubs which are responsible for the outbreak and the availability of proven vaccines. The protocols we jointly agreed to helped get us through a full season last year without missing game checks and are effective, when followed.”

It should be noted that if/when any NFL game is declared a forfeit, players from both teams are not paid. This could leave the game checks of one team in the hands of another if an outbreak occurs and it is deemed unsafe and not possible for their opponent to take the field as scheduled. All this is simply the NFL making sure that all 272 games scheduled this season are played, or those responsible for causing a game to be missed are held accountable, with a potential playoff berth and very likely game checks on the line across the NFL.

These changes proved one thing: the NFL is back in business, and their business is making money. 

With teams now on notice that the risk is theirs to take on if their players are not vaccinated and they are forced to deal with a Covid outbreak, how the next few weeks play out will be interesting. The NFL has already openly discussed having players wearing bands during practice and even during games that indicate they are not vaccinated, with players on both sides then aware that close contact might be putting them at risk. When you have nearly $10 Billion in revenues on the line, which is what the NFL made last year with few fans in attendance, being a player able to put on a uniform is, now more than ever, a privilege, not a right. 

Yes, every NFL player has the freedom to choose, just as every NFL team and the league itself has the ability to impose rules of their own which may be in conflict. With every NFL player now knowing what might happen, will DeAndre Hopkins or Cole Beasley, the outspoken member of the Buffalo Bills, reconsider their position, or risk their own game check as well as the money to be earned by their own teammates?

Personal choice and personal freedoms often come with a price and require sacrifice. That sacrifice, however, should not come when someone else makes a decision you have no control over. With the deadline to opt-out of the 2021 season for Covid having passed, many players will be under the microscope within their own locker room. 

How thing play out this season remains to be seen; however, I would hate to be that first player who tests positive after Labor Day when the season is underway. So, perhaps NFL players will learn from other teams and not put themselves and others at risk; sadly, however, over the last year, players have not done that, which means for the 2021 season, the NFL will probably be faced with a difficult choice … Will they actually forfeit a game because an unvaccinated player tests positive? 

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Will NFL Players Get Vaccinated To Avoid Forfeits? | TooAthletic.com

The post Will NFL Players Get Vaccinated To Avoid Forfeits? appeared first on TOOATHLETIC TAKES.

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By: Rafael Thomas
Title: Will NFL Players Get Vaccinated To Avoid Forfeits?
Sourced From: tooathletic.com/will-nfl-players-get-vaccinated-to-avoid-forfeits/
Published Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2021 06:43:01 +0000

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