Thomas Davis Speaks on the NFL's Upcoming Season Amid COVID-19
There has been serious speculation surrounding the NFL’s upcoming 2020-21 season, specifically questioning if the regular season will start on time amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NFL’s offseason is historically hectic, but there has never been one quite as ludicrous as the 2020 offseason, as the NFL has taken precautionary measures to further limit the spread of the coronavirus.
To begin, NFL free agents have been unable to hold private offseason workouts - Cam Newton being directly affected by this - along with players not being able to take and pass physicals - a key step in the process of signing with a new team. Similarly, pro days were canceled for 2020 NFL draft prospects, a detriment to both the players and NFL front offices. Players have been forced to workout from home as it is has been deemed unsafe, for obvious reasons, for NFL players to exercise at public training facilities. Additionally, April’s NFL Draft is a little over three weeks away and it will be held remotely, not in Las Vegas, as every projected first-round draft pick will sit at home rather than in the green room anticipating their selection.
As you can see the offseason has been far from ideal for all parties involved. As the coronavirus continues on this current trajectory, every NFL fan, player, and coach inevitably returns to the question of will the NFL regular-season start on time?
Former Panthers’ linebacker, Thomas Davis, who is now apart of the Washington Redskins, spoke on this issue during his opening conference call to Redskins media on Tuesday.
“I have no clue,” Davis said when asked if he thinks the NFL season will start on time. “We all can speculate and say that the season is going to happen when it's supposed to happen and that we are going to be able to go in and do things that we need to do. But I think the next month, from what I've been seeing, is really critical in seeing what's going to happen moving forward. I know they pushed some of the timelines out another month or so to really let this thing kind of settle down.
"It's important right now for people to really listen and understand that this is not a game. This is something that we all need to pay attention to and we need to stay-at-home. There is nothing more important right now than your own life and the lives of the other people that are around you that can be affected if you’re out partying and if you're out doing unnecessary things that can possibly spread the virus.
“So it's important right now that we continue to do things that are being asked and follow those guidelines so that we can have the season start on time. But as long as people don't do that, then who knows what the timeline is actually going to be.”
Few have any idea when the world will return to normal or when everyone will be able to cheer on their beloved sports teams once again. But as Thomas Davis said, the one thing every person can control is their own actions.
