The 2020 NFL season, like all American life, has been dramatically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The league has implemented widespread testing, masking and estating protocols. The games have been postponed several times for later dates, the groups have been delayed weeks, the calendar has been replaced several times, we have noticed a team game without a quarterback, and I am writing this post as we are in a position to watch a Wednesday afternoon football match between the Steelers and the Ravens.
However, one thing the NFL has not done is to institute a bubble like those used in the NBA, NHL, NWSL and several other sports leagues. There is no unbiased site, no quarantine of entire groups of players, staff and other staff members. .
And according to Commissioner Roger Goodell, that probably won’t happen in the playoffs either.
“We are confident that our protocols are working,” Goodell said in a call to the convention on Wednesday. “I don’t see us making a bubble in the sense that a lot of outlets are targeting it. We can take a look at other tactics to lessen the threat that it would restrict exposure to others. “
As for what the league would do if, as happened twice this season (first with the Titans and now with the Ravens), there was an epidemic of COVID-19 playoffs, Goodell did not have the main points ready.
“We discussed how we would continue in the playoffs” if there were several positive tests, he said. “We’ll be ready for this, a number of opportunities to face it. “
It’s unclear exactly what that means or how accurately the league plans to finish the playoffs without canceling games. The NFL has tried to avoid cancelling normal season games at all costs, going to all the extremes described above: postponement, mid-season schedule changes, and this week delaying a game for about a year. ‘a full week. But that’s much less imaginable in the playoffs, when each and every circular takes place in a specific week and the next circular can’t start unless and until the previous circular ends.
Such a truth is the explanation for why Major League Baseball, even after not using a bubble in its normal season (and having faced several epidemics that season), went to one for the playoffs, but the NFL does not seem willing to move in that direction. We’ll just have to wait and see if that resolution ends up going to be expensive for them.
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Getty images and U. S. Presswire imagesBut it’s not the first time