Vic Fangio is breath of fresh air during pandemic football
DENVER » With the NFL scrambling to get a full 2020 season in during the coronavirus pandemic, one coach has stood out in his roll-with-the-punches guidance.
And it’s one of the five head coaches fined by the league last month for shoddy mask wearing on the sideline, no less.
Broncos coach Vic Fangio has been personally touched by COVID-19. His daughter, Cassie, who is a nurse at a military hospital in San Antonio, has recovered after contracting the virus that has led to more than 220,000 deaths in the U.S. and more than 1 million worldwide.
So, the repeated delays of Denver’s game at New England because of the
Patriots’ infections didn’t unnerve Fangio, who admonished his players not to gripe about losing their bye week when the league pushed their game at New England back a week.
“That’s part of it,” Fangio said of his daughter’s diagnosis, “but also I know a lot of people have had their lives interrupted in a very negative way whether it be through the illness itself, losing their job, taking a pay cut ... Some small businesses, people who have worked their whole lives to establish a business, are really struggling right now.
“Luckily here in the NFL, so far as players and coaches, we haven’t missed any paychecks,” Fangio said. “We’re just going to keep fighting through and consider ourselves lucky. Yes, we’ve been inconvenienced
and there are a lot of protocols to follow — some of them can be a little overbearing at times — but they’re necessary.
“I think in the big picture
we’ve been lucky.”
How can you complain if your coach is doling out this kind of perspective?
“He’s done a good job, and I think the whole organization has done a great job,” Brandon McManus said after his franchise record six field goals propelled the Broncos to their 18-12 win at Foxborough on Sunday.
“Obviously, it’s our first time dealing with anything like this,” said McManus, who was among the loudest voices in the players union calling for the daily COVID-19 testing back in the summer. “All of us are doing it on the fly and whatever team does that the best definitely has the best chance to win on Sunday.”
McManus received a game ball from Fangio, who also promised to deliver one to his running backs coach, Curtis Modkins, who stayed back in Denver after testing positive for the virus on Saturday.