NFL Makes it Official; Training Camp is On

In a move foreshadowed by the NFLPA in a conference call with reporters, the NFL is forging ahead with its plans to open training camp

In a move foreshadowed by the NFLPA in a conference call with reporters Friday, the NFL is forging ahead with its plans to open training camp on July 28 despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The league sent a memo to teams on Saturday outlining the plan, which was hammered out when the union and the league ratified the new CBA earlier this year.

Under the outline of the plan, all veterans most report on the July 28 date. Rookies have to be in a week earlier than that on Tuesday, July 21 while quarterbacks and rehabbing veteran players like the recently injured Brandon Brooks need to report on July 23.

As NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith explained on the conference call, the league has the right to set these dates and the union would have to respond by filing a grievance.

The NFLPA asked for a conference call with team doctors and got it on Thursday night with the assessment being that "with a couple of reservations, that it was safe to open training camp."

"And they provided their medical reasons," according to Smith.

On the conference call, both Smith and NFLPA president J.C. Tretter emphasized that health and safety are the main goals for the union and the economics are taking a back seat until those issues are hammered out.

Smith also explained the opening of camp to a plant with the league having the right to say when things are open and when things are closed.

"It's our job to ask questions," Smith explained

And plenty of those questions are being asked by Tretter, the Cleveland Browns center and many other players.

"How safe is it to start back up a football season at this moment with locations in this country where teams are located going through giant spikes in this virus?” Tretter asked rhetorically.

The league is also expected to try to implement an August 1 opt-out date for players who do not feel comfortable with the current environment.

"The idea that this is going to go away with the snap of a finger and you don't have to change, that's not going to fly," Tretter said. "Everything needs to be revamped and refitted to fit coronavirus."

No fans will be permitted at training camps this year and strict protocols are being set up to ensure the safety of the players, coaching staff, and support staff.