Unchecked: How Lucky Has the NFL Been?

The NFL has been the only major sports league to proceed with its calendar as scheduled. But will that string of luck ultimately run out when it comes time for training camps and games to begin?

While every other sports league has had to shut down and the global COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL, thus far, at any rate, has been relatively lucky in terms of sticking to its schedule.

The league was able to launch free agency on time just as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases started to explode worldwide.

And then with many of the league's general managers reportedly expressing doubt about holding last month's draft as scheduled, the NFL pulled that event off, albeit in a significantly scaled-down setting, to give sports fans a three-day distribution.

And in the latest stroke of luck, the NFL not only unveiled its 2020 season schedule Thursday night, but it's also insisting that it has every intention of playing all 16 games, even though it's unknown what the next several weeks and months will bring.

In retrospect, though, the NFL's sticking with the planned events on their schedule didn't put the public at risk. Free agency was, as it's always been, conducted virtually.

As for the draft, the centerpiece of a week-long celebration held by the host city (Las Vegas), the public events that typically draw crowds, were canceled. The draft event itself was scaled down to a virtual went in which the league instead staged a telethon to raise money to help those on the frontline continue their fight against COVID-19.

But will the league's luck in terms of holding its regularly scheduled events as scheduled continue? The league is closely monitoring the new findings and recommendations of health officials regarding the safety of holding events in which crowds of people are the norm.

But that's still four months away, and while anything is possible, absent the availability of widespread testing and some air-tight planning that would ensure that essential personnel who tested negative for the virus remain COVID-19 free, appear to be the NFL's biggest obstacle to overcome.