Unsportsmanlike Conduct By Titans Warrants Suspensions, Loss of Draft Picks
The reprehensible approach by the Tennessee Titans organization to COVID-19 protocols warrants a significant punishment that includes the possibility that head coach Mike Vrabel and general manager Jon Robinson never serve in those roles again in the NFL.
The NFL was facing an ethical question ahead of the 2020 NFL Season. Should they play? With a pandemic raging, there were concerns about what it would mean that they were playing as the country was going through this with thousands of people suffering, the risk for infection not only for players, coaches and staff, but for their families.
The NFL put protocols in place with painstaking detail in the hopes of keeping the virus out of their respective facilities. Once it got in, they could do the best they could to isolate players quickly to avoid the spread with contingency pans in place for the schedule, but so much of it was vigilance in preventing it from penetrating the building in the first place.
Some, like Cleveland Browns center J.C. Tretter, moved out of their home out of caution. Tretter was worried that if he was to become infected, he might then put his pregnant wife at risk, so he lived in a hotel for months.
The Tennessee Titans weren't simply lax with protocols. They were brazen in their disregard for them. Not wearing masks in the facility and then when they were sent home due to infections, to then have players go practice in public for all to see, was basically a middle finger to the rest of the league.
And while it's possible the Titans players could have organized something on their own, the fact they didn't follow protocols in the building comes from the top. General Manager Jon Robinson and head coach Mike Vrabel either didn't care or worse, treated the protocols with contempt.
Regardless of the rationale, it puts the entire league in the crosshairs. While the Titans are being criticized harshly, the viability of the league this year is being questioned, including from players.
On Wednesday, Darius Slay of the Philadelphia Eagles was asked about having a season during a pandemic and responded, "We shouldn't have played."
The NFL was always going to have some infections even in the best case scenario. Teams weren't in a bubble and there is contact with the outside world. Family members interacting with the general public, even if players, coaches and staff weren't.
The rest of the league is rightfully outraged. This was the single issue threatening the league this year and the Titans actively disregarded it. Embarrassing the league, its owners and the commissioner is going to draw righteous fury in terms of punishment.
Comparisons to Bountygate with the New Orleans Saints, the Denver Broncos getting caught cheating the salary cap, the New England Patriots with Spygate or any of the other scandals the NFL has faced in recent years don't come close to the level of the Titans infractions.
Their actions put the entire league at risk. They put the health of their own players and staff at risk as well as people in general. And unlike the other scandals, the NFL was putting all of their attention on this issue before it happened. Anyone who was to engage in the type of behavior the Titans have had to know the punishment would be severe as to make sure no other team would think of doing it again.
NFL teams had one job entering this season. Follow the protocols for COVID-19. The Titans knew it. They decided not to, then made a bad situation worse.
Players across the league opted out from this season due to concerns over the virus, either because of the risk to their own health or the health of their family. Imagine deciding to play despite having legitimate concerns only to have the organization ignore them entirely.
If the league connects Robinson or Vrabel to what has happened, suspending them for the rest of the year is obvious. They should count their blessings if they are ever allowed to have a job in their respective roles ever again. Tasked with protecting their staff and players, they failed and instead put their careers, their very lives at risk.
Taking away draft picks is the most effective way to have a meaningful impact in terms of punishment, because it actively impacts their ability to compete, regardless of who works for the team or plays for them. Given the precedent set in previous punishments aimed at organizational failures, a first round pick is in play. It could be more than that, depending on how deep the rabbit hole goes.
There's a PR element to all of this as well. Fans, the general public at large is full of people who have seemingly been doing more to prevent the spread of the virus than the Titans. The league office is going to punish the Titans with some consideration about the level of entitlement on display in this case.
Look no further than the punishment for coaches who haven't consistently worn masks on the sideline during games. It started with a fine but only grows with each infraction, including the possibility of losing draft picks. And part of this is due to how it looks on the broadcast with how often coaches are on camera.
The Titans are not responsible for all of the NFL's issues with COVID-19, but their reckless behavior and disregard for protocols put in place to try to protect the health of their players and the viability of the league deserve significant punishment and raises the question whether people in charge of that organization should ever be in that position again.
