NFLPA chief Tretter says return faces obstacles
Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter is cautiously optimistic the NFL season – at least some version of it – will take place in 2020. He’s just not certain when it will start.
The newly elected president of the NFL Players Association, Tretter said Tuesday that the COVID-19 virus outbreak has hatched so many unknowns and created such a fluid situation it’s impossible to predict when football will be back – or what it will look like.
“This is a contact disease, and we play a contact sport,” Tretter said during a Zoom video conference.
Voted in by his peers just days before the global pandemic brought the sports world to a standstill in March, Tretter said he’s solely focused on the health of the league’s players, who have remained in virtual contact during an offseason none of them could have imagined.
Tretter is encouraged that some teams have reopened their facilities, but he acknowledged there’s a “long list of hurdles” to be cleared before players can get back together to prepare for a season that remains uncertain and strangely distant.
The 29-year-old Tretter, a former Green Bay Packer who graduated from Cornell with a degree in industrial labor relations, has been deeply involved in discussions ranging from scheduling to players with pre-existing medical conditions and other safety considerations.
Owners seek diversity: Changes designed to enhance opportunities for minorities to get executive, head coaching and coordinator positions were passed by NFL owners.
They include addendums to the Rooney Rule, which has fallen short in its goal of increasing diversity in the league.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, a conference call among the 32 teams owners replaced the planned spring meeting in Marina del Rey, California. The league’s annual meeting in March in Florida was canceled.
On the same day that teams were allowed a limited reopening of their training facilities – most clubs did not do so, many because of governmental restrictions in their area – the owners eliminated one perceived barrier for minorities.
All clubs will now be required to interview at least two minority candidates from outside the organization for head coach vacancies; at least one minority candidate for any of the three coordinator vacancies; and at least one external minority candidate for senior football operations or general manager positions.
The Rooney Rule has been expanded to apply to a wide range of executive positions. Teams must now include minorities and/or female applicants in the interviewing processes for senior level front-office positions. Those include club president and senior executives in communications, finance, human resources, legal, football operations, sales, marketing, sponsorship, information technology and security jobs. The league office will also adhere to these requirements.
Brady, new teammates work out: Tom Brady isn’t letting the coronavirus pandemic – or NFL rules against players working out at team facilities – keep him from preparing for a new season with his new Tampa Bay team.
Thde quarterback gathered some of his new Buccaneers teammates on a high school field early Tuesday for a throwing session. Brady wore a Buccaneers helmet and an orange jersey over his shoulder pads. The informal, players-only workout at Berkeley Preparatory School lasted two hours, according to The Tampa Bay Times.
Because of the pandemic which has forced social distancing and sheltering at home as the new rules, any gathering of players is notable – especially one involving Brady, a six-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots. Brady, 42, signed a two-year, $50 million contract with the Bucs in March.
Teams cannot organize such workouts, and the Buccaneers did not publicize Tuesday’s session.