Reader Mailbag: The "What If?" Edition
From Bruce F.
Being realistic, at this time, it is hard to see any professional sports sustaining a season before being shut down due to the virus. Just one player spreading COVID in a locker room, or say the close contact of football will probably be the justification for a quarantine of an entire team. What happens then? Say the Giants as a team is shut down for 14 days. Do they forfeit the season? Do the players still get paid?
All very valid questions Bruce, and I don’t have the answers as the information from the league has been coming out in drips and drabs. From what I understand, the key is going to be the widespread availability of rapid response testing. I don’t believe that is widely available yet, but I’m sure that’s in the works.
As I write this, I haven’t yet reviewed the preseason protocols, but my guess is that teams are hoping that by testing these guys before they even set foot in the building each day, they can catch any potential COVID cases and get the individual(s) isolated before they risk infecting others.
What I’m not clear about—and if there are any infectious disease control specialists out there reading this, please feel free to chime in—is would an asymptomatic carrier produce enough chemicals to trigger a positive test?
If a player is negative today, goes straight home after work, and then tomorrow reports and tests positive, is that a possibility? And again, what happens if the soonest the test results can be generated is next day?
Now, as far as what happens, I think the league has a magic number in mind as to how many games it needs to get in for the year to qualify as a season.
I will need to see what the CBA says regarding acts of God, and I’d have to see what a standard contract says to better answer this question, so I will see what I can dig up regarding a standard contract template (the CBA is online so I can get that).
The bottom line is there are still a lot of unanswered questions. But as I see it, having rapid result testing is going to be critical as to how this other stuff falls into place.
That’s an easy one to answer, at least I think it is. If the season doesn’t happen, all contracts toll, meaning they freeze. So if a player has two years left and the 2020 season is canceled, if they resume playing in 2021, the player will still have two years left.
Will the NFLPA lobby for a clause that would argue that the players were ready to show up, and it’s not their fault that the season was canceled? That I don’t know. All I know is we’re into some deep unchartered waters here.
Thanks for the question Gary. Coaches like to say once you get to the NFL, it doesn’t matter where or when you were drafted; what matters is whether you progress every day. So that’s what I think we need to focus on when it comes not just to Daniel Jones but all the players on the roster.
Realistically I’d be surprised if there are any crowds allowed in. I know it’s up to the governors of each state, but if the number of positive cases continues to rise, I can’t see large crowds being allowed to gather.
I think it all boils down to the availability of testing, Tony. If there is rapid response testing t where they can tell if a guy has COVID before he enters the stadium, then yes, I think they can get a season in.
I cannot say the same for crowds in the stands--in that instance, I would think there would have to be either medication to treat this virus or vaccination.
