Will we have a 2020 NFL Season?

[Deleted member 6794]

Btw...many people tailgate and hang out in the lot the whole entire game and listen on the radio. It's the experience of it all.

The experience (even for tailgating) will be vastly different with only a small amount of fans, if at all, being allowed to watch the game inside the stadium.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Correction. I think the league is allowing each team to decide their own attendance.

However if the owners and the union can come to an agreement I believe there will be games played.

Keep in mind all this will be subject to rules, or lack thereof, put in place by state or local authorities.

 

[mongoosev]

The experience (even for tailgating) will be vastly different with only a small amount of fans, if at all, being allowed to watch the game inside the stadium.

Guess it's no fans allowed on the property.

Keep in mind all this will be subject to rules, or lack thereof, put in place by state or local authorities.

POLITICS aside I was just stating what the league has implemented about the rules during this virus stuff.

 

[HardRightEdge]

POLITICS aside I was just stating what the league has implemented about the rules during this virus stuff.

That's not "POLITICS". It's reality. Saying the rules laid down by government officials is political is in fact a political statement and a form of denial given the circumstance. By the way, when the Governor of Texas, of all people, mandates mask wearing in public in hot spot counties then anything is possible. I'm referring to the Texans and Cowboy stadiums of course, on topic.

Don't worry, be happy, do nothing. That's the ultimate political gesture as everybody should know by now. Few states and municipalities where NFL stadiums reside are taking that tack. On topic, you'll note.

 

[mongoosev]

That's not "POLITICS". It's reality. Saying the rules laid down by government officials is political is in fact a political statement and a form of denial given the circumstance. By the way, when the Governor of Texas, of all people, mandates mask wearing in public in hot spot counties then anything is possible.

Don't worry, be happy, do nothing. That's the ultimate political gesture as everybody should know by now.

Which is POLITICAL. Anyway, man, just mentioning what the league said.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Which is POLITICAL. Anyway, man, just mentioning what the league said.

No, it's a public health issue. Peter Navarro saying there are 60 million doses of hydroxychloriquine in some government warehouse, which has killed as many people as it helpeed, should be put to use is "POLITICAL". Note that I'm not making a political statement. Navarro is.

It should be obvious that what the league or a team might plan can be overridden at any time at the state or local governmental level, as though that needs to be repeated.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Yup and then you have the new thing going on with the under 25's, "COVID-19 Parties". Lets have a party with known infected people and have a contest, first person to test positive wins the pot.

A kid who went to one of these Covid parties told a nurse on his deathbed, "I made a mistake. I thought it was a hoax." I can't imagine where he got that idea.

 

[PackAttack12]

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[bulldogsjc]

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[Pokerbrat2000]

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Gotta say, that is one nasty looking hat.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Let's be honest, the NFL will start a season but it won't finish; not enough people in America are interested in doing what they need to do to control this virus and a game that features frequent contact between sweaty, heavy breathing men isn't going to do well when one of the players gets sick. All it's going to take is one team to have an outbreak and the league will call off the season.

 

[GreenNGold_81]

Let's be honest, the NFL will start a season but it won't finish; not enough people in America are interested in doing what they need to do to control this virus and a game that features frequent contact between sweaty, heavy breathing men isn't going to do well when one of the players gets sick. All it's going to take is one team to have an outbreak and the league will call off the season.

I tend to agree. It's ridiculous that the 'greatest country in the world' is amongst the absolute worst at controlling this virus.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Let's be honest, the NFL will start a season but it won't finish; not enough people in America are interested in doing what they need to do to control this virus and a game that features frequent contact between sweaty, heavy breathing men isn't going to do well when one of the players gets sick. All it's going to take is one team to have an outbreak and the league will call off the season.

The NFL will perform regular testing with the plan being that no players being infected to get on the field. It works pretty well in several soccer leagues in Europe.

In addition it seems the league plans on using a special helmet to prevent the virus to spread among its peers.

 

[GreenNGold_81]

The NFL will perform regular testing with the plan being that no players being infected to get on the field. It works pretty well in several soccer leagues in Europe.

In addition it seems the league plans on using a special helmet to prevent the virus to spread among its peers.

Ya, but several European countries are taking the virus much more seriously than the US.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

The NFL will perform regular testing with the plan being that no players being infected to get on the field. It works pretty well in several soccer leagues in Europe.

In addition it seems the league plans on using a special helmet to prevent the virus to spread among its peers.

Europe has much better control on this virus and there's more contact in an American football game. Like I said, it's only going to take one team having 15 positive players to end the season.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Let's be honest, the NFL will start a season but it won't finish; not enough people in America are interested in doing what they need to do to control this virus and a game that features frequent contact between sweaty, heavy breathing men isn't going to do well when one of the players gets sick. All it's going to take is one team to have an outbreak and the league will call off the season.

I don't see the NFL starting the season unless they have come to a full agreement with the NFLPA on how contracts will be treated if the season starts and has to be stopped/shortened/cancelled.

While I don't think it is 100% clear on what would happen to players salaries if the season didn't start, I think it is pretty clear that if it did start, the contracts are locked in for the 2020 season. After the season is started, a stoppage and/or cancellation may not prevent teams from having to pay fully on contracts. That could be a financial nightmare for every team, especially if the TV contracts are written in such a way that they reduce the total amount paid to the NFL in the event games aren't played.

I have to think these are the details that the owners and the NFLPA are hammering out now, because without an agreed upon plan of how to proceed if "scenario A, B, C, etc happen", there is way too much financially unknown and at risk to just proceed on a hope and a prayer that the full season can be played.

 

[lambeaulambo]

the surprising thing about all of this is the fact that immunologists have not been able to figure this beast out. the nfl will be hit just as hard as all businesses in the world that cannot produce a product. if the smoke doesnt start to clear we could all be jonesing for nfl games for quite some time.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

the surprising thing about all of this is the fact that immunologists have not been able to figure this beast out. the nfl will be hit just as hard as all businesses in the world that cannot produce a product. if the smoke doesnt start to clear we could all be jonesing for nfl games for quite some time.

Difference between the NFL and most other businesses is that NFL teams are just toys for billionaires; while it will suck for fans, it'll be annoying at most for the majority of NFL owners. This is actually a situation where I think the lack of a billionaire owner might REALLY hurt the Packers relative to other teams.

 

[GreenNGold_81]

the surprising thing about all of this is the fact that immunologists have not been able to figure this beast out. the nfl will be hit just as hard as all businesses in the world that cannot produce a product. if the smoke doesnt start to clear we could all be jonesing for nfl games for quite some time.

I work in the health field. How is it surprising that a thing that DIDN'T EXIST last year is not figured out? Medicine at the best of times and with all our technology still works at a snails pace. Vaccine research is underway and things are promising but they've said from the start that at best that's potentially two years away. Using newer science may speed that up but it's not a guarantee. Until then people have to prevent spread and the frontline is you, me and everyone else who can prevent the spread through distancing and hand hygiene and YES mask wearing as much as possible. Doctors and nurses (and respiratory techs) have reduced mortality with what tools are available to them and without proper protective gear in some circumstances. We're getting a better handle on treatment week to week but as one doctor I listen to put it this week this is the first half of the first inning in a 9-inning baseball game.

 

[HardRightEdge]

We're getting a better handle on treatment week to week but as one doctor I listen to put it this week this is the first half of the first inning in a 9-inning baseball game.

I don't know if it is still the top of the first inning but it could be.

Some recent evidence indicates that a person's immunity in contracting the virus may wear off after a couple of months. If that is generally the case and not isolated to a low percentage of individuals the notion that herd immunity as a contagion control goes out the window.

That would leave vaccine development as the sole pathway toward normalcy. Over 100 vaccines are in various stages of development and testing, over 20 in human trials, three are funded by the US government for phase III clinical trails starting from now through September. Even if one of these vaccines proves safe and effective, a big if, by early next year, the bigger hurdle is manufacturing, distribution and innoculation of at leat 70% of the population to get to something approximating herd immunity.

Getting from a vaccine to mass innoculation could prove problematic if the successful developer claims intellectual property rights for profit. It's not like the US government can simply "nationalize" a vaccine and direct it's production even if the administration at the time was so inclined. The current one has been indisposed to invoking the war powers act. Even so, Truman nationalized the steel industry by executive order during the Korean war to avert a strike which the Supreme Court eventually struck down. Whoever develops the winning vaccine needs to "open source" it to manufacturers, then global governments need to buy it and distriubute it. Normalcy in a globalized world implies opening borders which implies 7 - 8 billion vaccination candidates.

Even then, the crackpot conspriacy theorists, anti-vaxers and "my American freedoms" nut jobs need to be persuaded to take the shot. It's bad enough that with something like the measles vaccine which has been studied over and over again over long periods of time and demonstratrated to be safe you get some school districts where innoculation rates have dropped into the 80ish% range with measles outbreaks even in educated suburbs where people should know better. How high will the resistance be to an innoculation with a new, fast-tracked vaccine?

Speaking for myself, someone who understands the broad risks and global impacts and who practices the safety measures (mask/distancing/hand washing) for personal and societal benefits, I will not be clamoring to get to the head of the innoculation line being constitutionally indisposed toward being somebody's subject of a beta test that has been pushed into production which this vaccine will inevitably be. Phase III placebo-controlled clinical trials are not foolproof. So you have to wonder how many others besides the fringe anti-science contingent (which has gotten pretty big in recent years) will step out of the innoculation line. Then again, I am psychologically predisposed toward taking social distancing in stride, with lower household spending a compensating factor. I might think differently if I were in the work force surrounded by bosses or co-workers not taking this seriously.

In the mean time, the virus could mutate and become resistant to the vaccine. We see that with the flu where vaccines have to be constantly "updated" and this sure ain't the flu. That would be very, very bad.

As for more effective treatment protocols in place it doesn't do much good if the treatments cannot be produced fast enough (Remdesivir, for example). Pence made a show of shipping 5,000 treatment cycles of that drug out of a federal stockpile to Florida which covers about 12 hours of new cases. Perhaps more importantly, if the hospital beds are all full, in particular the ICU beds, as is the case in a growing number of southern and western locales, death rates will rise.

What is not talked about is the collateral damage when ICU beds are full, people with other acute conditions or severe traumas who undergo delayed treatment or are not treated at all under a triage protocol.

If all goes swimmingly, we could be past the first inning. That would entail broad embrace of basic precaustions, which some governors are resisting, a broad and fast implementation of an effective vaccination regime, and no noteable mutations. I wouldn't count on it in what so far as been, to bring this back to football, a "rumbling, stumbling, fumbling" respose, to borrow a phrase from Chris Berman.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Ya, but several European countries are taking the virus much more seriously than the US.

While that's true for most countries in Europe the UK isn't in a good situation as well but their top two soccer leagues have been played without any issues for weeks.

Like I said, it's only going to take one team having 15 positive players to end the season.

Daily testing should prevent the virus from spreading in a locker room.

 

[jon]

Daily testing should prevent the virus from spreading in a locker room.

Yeah. This.

Why couldn't a team bring in everybody, isolate all for 14 days, and then get to work with no outsiders allowed in while all manner of sanitary measures are followed? One positive test and everybody goes back into an isolation / distancing protocol until it clears.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Daily testing should prevent the virus from spreading in a locker room.

Yeah. This.

Why couldn't a team bring in everybody, isolate all for 14 days, and then get to work with no outsiders allowed in while all manner of sanitary measures are followed? One positive test and everybody goes back into an isolation / distancing protocol until it clears.

Unlike what the NBA seems to be planning, I doubt NFL players will be "living in a bubble" for the entire season. They still have to venture into public areas to travel, visit family, etc. Not to mention all of the contact with non-players who won't be testing daily. Basically, they will be in exposed situations. While testing sounds great, a test doesn't cure you, nor does it tell you just how many of your teammates you infected between the time period of when you became contagious to when your test result came back positive.

I think we are already seeing the fears and questions a lot of the players are starting to have and ask. Seemingly the NFL is still working on a plan, but hasn't really fully divulged it yet. This leads me to believe that they have not come up with a fully functional plan and/or one that they believe would be an acceptable plan to all those involved.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Daily testing should prevent the virus from spreading in a locker room.

It will help, but daily testing is not, by itself, preventative. The inability to social distance in football is going to be problematic.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Yeah. This.

Why couldn't a team bring in everybody, isolate all for 14 days, and then get to work with no outsiders allowed in while all manner of sanitary measures are followed? One positive test and everybody goes back into an isolation / distancing protocol until it clears.

Isolating 75-80 players is not easy or cheap. I'm all for it but I SERIOUSLY doubt the majority of NFL owners care enough about player safety to pay that kind of expense.