The countdown to the 2020 NFL season, hopefully, continues on schedule, and the first game will be held on September 10 if everything goes according to plan. For that to happen, the league has put together a special committee to oversee its response to issues that may arise from the COVID-19 pandemic, calling upon the assistance of individuals intimately familiar with football, but who are no longer part of the league. Their goal is to help the NFL throughout the season as it looks to prevent any major coronavirus-caused catastrophes like those seen in MLB.
According to different sources, the NFL’s advisory committee will be working hand-in-hand with commissioner Roger Goodell to address any issue that comes up as the year progresses. The group includes former cornerback Champ Bailey, former receiver Isaac Bruce, former GM Charley Casserly, former head coach Tom Coughlin, former head coach Marvin Lewis, former safety Troy Polamalu, former GM Bill Polian and former GM Rick Smith.
Notably, the committee doesn’t include any health officials, a point that draws a little unwanted attention to the group. While all of the members of the committee have extensive football experience, the coronavirus warrants participation by at least one or two members of the health community, and the absence of these would seem to indicate that the group will often have to seek outside opinions before certain decisions can be made, which might slow down the implementation of any policies or procedures.
The idea behind the committee’s creation is to give the commissioner assistance in making decisions related to scheduling, seeding and more. However, each has a component directly linked to COVID-19 that cannot be ignored. The members selected for inclusion needed to be external to current league or team operations in order to avoid any possible appearance of conflict of interest and propel a sense of fairness across the board in all decisions the committee makes.
As the NFL gets ready for the start of the season, it is clamping down on player and team activities to ensure that everything gets off on the right foot. The league and the NFL Players Association have mutually agreed to implement strict travel rules during the season, and fines for violations can run as much as $50,000. Included in the list of rules is a prohibition from leaving hotels while on the road to visit public restaurants or to pick up takeout food orders.
Explains notable NFL reporter Tom Pelissero, “All meals must be provided to players and coaches or staff when traveling with the team. Self-serve buffet-style dining is allowed, as well as room service and any third-party delivery services with contactless delivery. So Uber Eats is ok, avoiding all unnecessary exposure is the main point here.”
There is also talk about holding the NFL playoffs in bubbles. The idea has not been received very enthusiastically by the top levels of the league, but the concept would most likely mimic that of the NHL, which designated two locations to hold playoff games. The NFL would probably opt for more than two – and has enough time to organize a plan – if it’s determined that the bubble concept is necessary to combat COVID-19.
