Are You Ready For Some… Postponements?
Well folks, it happened. To be honest, I’m surprised it took this long, but nonetheless, here we are. The NFL now has a dilemma with the pandemic due to another member of the Tennessee Titans testing positive. While there is a movie called Remember The Titans, this is not exactly a moment Mike Vrabel’s team will want to be reminded of in the future. Granted, the Titans aren’t alone as the Patriots now have 3 players who tested positive, which was caused their next game vs Denver to be pushed back. So now what?
For starters, I can already hear many people saying how the NFL should’ve instituted a bubble like the NBA and NHL did. While that sounds good, the fact is you have one big issue with that, and that’s the size of a traveling party in the NFL. Let’s use the Los Angeles Lakers as an example. Their squad consists of 18 players and when you include those who are on the bench such as trainers and coaches, you have around 25–30 present on the court on game day. On offense alone, the Titans have 21 players. That doesn’t include players from the practice squad who may be with the team during the week that won’t dress on Sunday. On gameday, you might have two to three times more people on an NFL sideline that you would courtside at an NBA game. Multiply that amount of people by several NFL teams, and you have a logistical nightmare in terms of where to accommodate people.
Aside from the bubble not being an option, it’s something that isn’t being used so we can just ignore it. However, the bubble is something that’s viable for the postseason due to there being less teams involved and would resolve the issue of travel. So far, it’s proven to be a successful model with MLB to the point where fans will be allowed in limited number at the NLCS and World Series. Part of the reason this is possible is due to these series being held in Texas, which has pretty relaxed restrictions compared to the rest of the country. Is this something the NFL will consider once we get to the Super Bowl?
That’s where this gets slightly interesting as the big game will be played in Tampa, Florida and just this week, Governor Ron DeSantis told the Miami Dolphins they could play in front of a full crowd at home. Unless there’s a spike in the positive cases again (knowing Florida, there probably will be), chances are the availability to play a Super Bowl with a sell out crowd is a high possibility. Now will the fans go? While seeing games in empty stadiums isn’t fun, it’s better to be safe than sorry and it’d be a shame if Super Sunday is to blame for another spike in positive cases. I was glad to see the Dolphins will allow up to 13,000 fans for their home games, despite being told they could fill up their home stadium, and I hope that remains the same when February comes around. Granted, you know the NFL will want to sell out those $100,000 tickets at the 50-yard line.
But before we get to that point, we have to have a full season. Last thing you want is a situation similar to what the Marlins and Cardinals went through with all the positive tests and postponements. MLB adjusted by playing several doubleheaders that lasted 7 innings and were able to squeeze it into their schedule. The NFL doesn’t have that luxury due to being unable to move many games around and the fact that the games are a lot more grueling. While baseball players are used to playing every day, football players are used to having more time in between games. While fans love Thursday Night Football (when the games are good), players aren’t fond of dealing with a short week since there is less time for preparation. Every sport requires a team to prepare for each game extensively, but none more than football.
Players and coaches usually have a routine that they like to stick to, and anytime that gets disrupted, they don’t hide their displeasure and that will affect their performance. But as much as players hate short weeks, we might be headed down that path if there are more players, coaches or members of an NFL organization that test positive. If these people have taken every possible precaution and still test positive, then there’s not much you can say. If they’re being reckless, then it’s time to clamp down. Some coaches made headlines due to facing fines for not wearing a facemask while on the sideline. Later, the Las Vegas Raiders were also in the news for allowing someone without credentials into their locker room.
If you love football so much to pursue a career in it, wouldn’t you do whatever is possible to ensure a full season can be played? While the league and team executives can try to enforce rules, at the end of the day, these are all adults that can make decisions for themselves. I don’t feel there is much the league can do at this point, as the enforcement of any more rules would either require approval from the players association or cause some outrage with commissioner Roger Goodell, who isn’t exactly loved by the players. When the NFL decided to go through with their season, they knew of the big risk that was present. While they enforced some rules to prevent the pandemic from affecting the course of the season, you knew someone would either be reckless or run into bad luck and cause for a partial shutdown. All we can do now is hope there aren’t any more positive tests or postponements that would cause a team to forfeit or for the league to halt play.
