Broncos' LB Alexander Johnson Fires Off Controversial Tweets After Players Cancel OTAs
With OTAs set to kick off across the NFL on April 19, the Denver Broncos' players revealed via statement that they'll skip this voluntary program. Denver's players, under direction of the NFLPA, cited COVID-19 concerns as the reason for their refusal to show up.
This, after the same players (for the most part) showed up every single day to the Broncos' UCHealth Training Facility last fall, going through the team's rigorous COVID-19 safety and security protocols. Few Broncos came down with the virus during the 2020 season, though some coaches did, too.
Players like defensive lineman Shelby Harris, who missed a month of football as a result, contracted the virus away from the Broncos' building but was smart and conscientious enough to inform the team when he realized he'd been exposed to the bug. Less than a week later, he tested positive.
COVID-19 is a very real virus and it is a threat, however, the Broncos made Dove Valley a near-impenetrable fortress against it. The NFL should be lauded for its handling of the pandemic, especially the Broncos, and its focus on player safety last fall.
One Bronco among the collective who won't report to 'voluntary' OTAs next week is doing so with a kind of protest on social media. On Tuesday, starting linebacker Alexander Johnson took to Twitter to express his skepticism of skipping OTAs, while revealing a controversial opinion on the pandemic. He's still going to close ranks around his teammates and skip OTAs.
Johnson went on to say on Twitter: "I’m definitely rocking with my team and support my teammates about not being in person based off all the other factors that help the individual players, just not for excuses around a planned pandemic."
The notion of the pandemic being 'planned' is very tin-foil hat and Johnson has already received some heavy criticism from Mile High Sports for spreading "disinformation" with his platform as a player. However, looking past the controversy to read between the lines of what the big linebacker expressed, it doesn't sound like Johnson fears the virus and questions the motives of what's happening.
Perhaps it was a Freudian slip of sorts, but that's his prerogative as an individual. Many of his teammates obviously feel differently. Though, some wonder at which factor played the bigger role in the Broncos' players skipping OTAs: virus safety or not having to report for a voluntary program during a month where guys can extend vacations.
The NFLPA has long tried to whittle down the NFL's offseason training program and has done so to great effect. OTAs used to be an extension of training camp with contact, tackling, and hitting. Now, after the NFLPA's long-fought negotiations with the owners over the course of multiple collective bargaining agreements, OTAs are little more than organized flag football.
The new OTAs are better for players' long-term health, though perhaps they're not the greatest for overall team cohesion. OTAs still represent immense value to NFL teams, including the players. That's especially true for any exceedingly young team, which the Broncos most definitely are.
It sounds like Johnson would prefer to report on April 19 but based on what he said on Twitter, he's more likely to stay in line with the groupthink as espoused by NFLPA player rep Brandon McManus, who takes his marching orders from the union president JC Tretter.
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