The NFL hopes to get the regular season started on September 10, a goal it has had for the past several months. The only way that can happen, per NFL regulations, is for training camps to start no later than July 28 – just barely a week from now. However, despite the impending deadline, the league still has not informed players and teams how it plans on protecting everyone amid the coronavirus pandemic, and concerns about the NFL being able to adhere to its schedule are mounting. In order to let the league know how they feel, a number of players launched a coordinated verbal “attack” on the NFL yesterday on Twitter, hoping to force the league into action.
The tweets, most of which were accompanied by the hashtag “#WeWantToPlay,” were designed to stress upon NFL leaders the necessity of providing guidelines expeditiously or risk a halt to pro football. According to ESPN, the idea started with Bryon Jones of the Miami Dolphins, who suggested during a player call that everyone start tweeting their frustration. Among those who participated were Dree Brees of the New Orleans Saints, Todd Gurley II of the Atlanta Falcons, Myles Garrett and Jarvice Juice Landry of the Cleveland Browns, and others.
The idea was to put pressure on the league’s leaders, as well as to show the general public that any delay or cancelation would be strictly because of the NFL’s inaction. Brees said in his tweet, “We need Football! We need sports! We need hope! The NFL’s unwillingness to follow the recommendations of their own medical experts will prevent that…” Garrett added, “If the NFL doesn’t do their part to keep players healthy there is no football in 2020. It’s that simple.”
The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) president, JC Tretter, explained in one of his tweets after the campaign began, “What you are seeing today is our guys standing up for each other and for the work their union leadership has done to keep everyone as safe as possible. The NFL needs to listen to our union and adopt the experts’ recommendations #wewanttoplay.”
The NFLPA wants daily testing and no preseason games, ideas that the league has been trying to counter. The union has also asked for 21 days of strength and conditioning, ten days of practices without pads and two weeks of “contact acclimation.” In total, that would be 45 days, which would allow the season to start on time, but only if the league agrees to the first two conditions – something it has yet to do. The NFL has tried to offer testing every other day, and this idea has met resistance on the part of the players. In addition, the league has been reluctant to announce procedures to protect the players’ health, despite having received input from doctors it brought in to build the framework.
