NFL provides planner for reopening
The NFL and the players’ union sent a planner to the 32 teams Monday outlining procedures for the full reopening of their practice facilities, which were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a lengthy four-part memo to the clubs written by Commissioner Roger Goodell and approved by the NFL Players Association, the league described protocols focusing on screening, testing, and infection prevention and treatment for COVID-19, including response for new infections. Also included were instructions on proper facility access, cleaning and disinfecting; physical distancing; hygiene, health education and medical services; food preparation; supplies; and team travel.
No timetable has been set for the return of most players to team complexes – only players rehabilitating injuries have been allowed to enter the buildings. But this is the next major step toward allowing all players back in club facilities.
Goodell ordered all facilities closed in late March, and the league has taken small steps toward reopening them. Last week, coaching staffs were approved to return, but only if local governmental rules allowed it.
Goodell noted that the protocols for a full return were developed in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Duke’s Infection Control Network and other universities.
Training camps are scheduled to begin in late July, with the first preseason game, Dallas vs. Pittsburgh in the Hall of Fame game, on Aug. 6. The NFL still plans to kick off the regular season in Kansas City on Sept. 10.
A tiered approached will be used within team facilities and must be presented to the league for approval at least seven days before the reporting date for training camp. Players, most coaches, trainers, physicians and the head equipment manager – anyone who must have direct access to players – will be in Tier 1, with a maximum of 60 in addition to the players. They will have access to such restricted areas as fields and sidelines, locker rooms, training rooms, medical exam areas, meeting rooms and weight rooms.
The second tier will consist of ownership representatives; facility staff; additional coaches and equipment personnel; the general manager and football operations employees; club communications staff; security personnel; and “certain NFL and NFLPA staff as needed.” They will have limited access to restricted areas.
All of those people must undergo daily screening and testing before entering the complex.
In the third tier will be personnel who perform essential facility, stadium or event services but do not require close contact with Tier 1 individuals.
Everyone inside the facility must wear surgical masks that have to be replaced daily, or cloth masks that must be washed daily. Players are exempted only when such masks would interfere with performance.
Brees’ wife apologizes: New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has apologized for comments he made in an interview regarding his opposition to Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling during the national anthem. Now his wife has apologized as well, saying “we are the problem.”
Brittany Brees shared those words in an Instagram post along with a Bible verse and two quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr., including one that said “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Her husband was asked last Wednesday in an interview with Yahoo to revisit the protests of former NFL quarterback Kaepernick, who silently took a knee during the anthem before games to raise awareness of police brutality and racial injustice.
“I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States,” Drew Brees said during the interview, adding that the national anthem reminds him of his grandfathers, who served in the armed forces during World War II.
After the comments aired, the quarterback was criticized on social media by high-profile athletes.