NFL should call an audible
One of the keys to handling the coronavirus pandemic is adaptability. Yes, masks work. So does social distancing and washing your hands.
While many have been sidelined due to the virus, people and businesses willing to reinvent themselves have been able to survive.
Restaurants in the North End of Boston have maintained a semblance of normalcy by blocking off streets, thus creating outdoor seating offerings.
In the sports world, the NHL and NBA resumed their seasons inside a bubble setting. Both sports plowed through and will crown a champion.
The NFL, which eschewed the bubble scenario, is now facing multiple coronavirus questions within the first month of its season. Last week’s Steelers-titans game was postponed until later this month after 20 Titans players and coaches tested positive for the virus.
Closer to home, the Patriots- Chiefs matchup was delayed 27 hours after Patriots’ Quarterback Cam Newton tested positive last Friday night. The game should have been postponed.
Since the incubation period is between two to five days, it should not come as surprise that five days after Newton’s positive test All-pro Cornerback Stephon Gilmore tested positive.
While Newton did not travel to Kansas City, even the notion of putting possibly-infected people in two airplanes for an hours-long trip is the height of irresponsibility. Planes are aluminum tubes that serve as giant petri dishes for the virus to spread in.
With that in mind, The NFL should put a hold on the season and reconfigure like hockey and basketball successfully did.
Take two weeks off and put together a bubble plan and resume the season. A single bubble with 32 teams, consisting of more than 3,000 players, coaches and trainers, would be impossible.
But since nearly every problem has a solution, multiple bubbles would work. Set up four bubble cities, each accommodating eight teams. Houston, Indianapolis, Tempe, Arizona and Arlington, Texas are the optimum sites since they are home to NFL franchises which play their home games in stadiums with retractable roofs. In addition, they have all hosted Super Bowls, so those regions would have sufficient facilities to accommodate eight teams.
To create a fair playing field, the Texans, Colts, Cardinals and Cowboys would not play in their home stadiums.
Put the AFC East and AFC North teams in one setting. The AFC South and West teams at another. Do the same with the corresponding NFC divisions.
Is this a perfect solution? No. But in these Covid-19 times, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
The NHL and NBA pulled off the bubble without it bursting. The NFL should follow suit and be pragmatic. Push pause, re-adjust and go forward as best as possible.
All of us have tweaked our lives to cope with the realities of 2020. From masks to outdoor dining to delivery to remote learning – we have adjusted. As we master a new set of best-practices and procedures during this pandemic we will continue to find successes and forge new paths which will lead us to fruitful ends.