NFL requires staff vax and now players push back on OTAs

The NFL said Tuesday that it expects clubs to vaccinate staff members to keep their workplace safe for players and personnel, but the union continued pushing back on players reporting to team facilities at all this spring.

The Giants helped set the league’s example. A source told the Daily News on Tuesday that the Giants have made arrangements through Hackensack Meridian Health Systems to start vaccinating staff who haven’t already been innoculated against COVID-19.

That opportunity will be available to the Giants’ players, as well.

Players from the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, however, both released statements through the NFL Players’ Association declaring they will not report for the start of voluntary OTAs next Monday, citing the persistence of COVID-19 and safety.

Not every Broncos or Seahawks player is boycotting, but it was enough for the union to speak on behalf of those respective rosters as negotiations with the league drag on.

“While many states in this country are still seeing rising COVID-19 numbers, we believe that a virtual offseason is best for everyone’s protection,” the Seahawks players said.

“COVID-19 remains a serious threat to our families and to our communities, and it makes no sense for us as players to put ourselves at risk during this dead period,” the Broncos players said.

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and president JC Tretter also said in a Tuesday memo to players that “a number of players recently tested positive [for COVID-19] at team facilities,” that “NFL players who contracted COVID last season can become infected again,” and that the union recommends not to attend OTAs and is continuing to push for a fully virtual offseason, according to a source.

The NFL’s contention, though, is that there is no safer location than their team facilities, especially after the memo they sent to clubs on

Tuesday.

Giants co-owner John Mara co-authored the memo, as chairman of the management council’s executive committee, saying that the league both expects and requires staff vaccinations to ensure the 2021 season proceeds safely.

Most notably, Tier 1 and 2 employees other than players “should be expected to be vaccinated unless they have a bona fide medical or religious ground for not doing so,” the memo said.

“Any staffer that refuses to be vaccinated without either a religious or medical reason will not be eligible for Tier 1 or 2 status and therefore will not be permitted access to the ‘football only’ restricted area and may not work directly or in close proximity with Players,” the memo added.

Mara, commissioner Roger Goodell and John York, chairman of the health and safety committee, wrote that the NFL’s expectation is that all 32 franchises will “use your stadium or training facility as a vaccination site for club staff, players, and eligible family members.”

“Our primary focus at all times will remain the health and safety of everyone associated with the NFL,” the memo said. “In light of expanded vaccine eligibility, it is appropriate now to take further steps to educate about and promote vaccine availability and acceptance within the NFL.”