NFL’S top doc ‘optimistic’ about upcoming season
Trump dismisses Fauci’s comments that league needs ‘bubble’ environment
The NFL remains hopeful that its plans for dealing with the novel coronavirus pandemic will enable it to conduct a complete and on-time 2020 season this fall and winter, according to its chief medical officer, despite the concerns raised Thursday by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s most prominent infectious diseases expert.
President Donald Trump took to Twitter to comment Friday on the remarks made by Fauci, a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, to CNN. Fauci said it might not be possible to hold a football season if players are not isolated from others in a “bubble” environment.
“Tony Fauci has nothing to do with NFL Football,” Trump wrote late Friday morning. “They are planning a very safe and controlled opening. However, if they don’t stand for our National Anthem and our Great American Flag, I won’t be watching!!!”
Allen Sills, who has served as the NFL’S top medical official since 2017, said in a phone interview on Thursday evening he’s being “realistic” but also remains “optimistic” that the league will be able to begin its season on time in September and play it to completion. Sills expressed respect for Fauci and said that Fauci raised relevant issues, but said he believes the protocols being finalized by the league and the NFL Players Association will be effective.
“You certainly can have a set of protocols that apply to all facilities and have a degree of consistency of how you approach the operation of the club, whether that be the layout of the facility, the cleaning and disinfection protocols, the screening and testing,” Sills said. “So that’s what we’re aiming for, is consistency across all 32 clubs ... That’s why I think the catchphrase that we’ve been using is that we have to remain flexible and adaptable.
“We’ll have to continue to work with public health authorities at the local, state and national level to try to keep our eye on what’s happening in individual communities. And I think those protocols will be dynamic. I think that what you see us start out with will very likely change in a number of ways. And that will reflect the fact that there’s new knowledge along the way.”
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN in comments published on Thursday: “Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall.”
NFL officials have been in contact with the White House coronavirus task force, other medical experts, governors and other state and local officials, and leaders of other sports leagues.
“When I talk about a bubble, to me what that means is everyone is operating from the same set of guidelines and principles with regard to behaviour, with regard to testing and screenings when they’re at both the facility and away from the facility,” Sills said. “We completely support that concept.”
When I talk about a bubble, to me what that means is everyone is operating from the same set of guidelines and principles with regard to behaviour.