New NFL-NFLPA Covid protocols

[Hapless Bills Fan]

 

Props to @YoloinOhio who put this up in the McDermott presser thread

 

 

They should still be testing fully vaccinated individuals at some interval - perhaps that's still under negotiation.

 

I was gonna put it in the OTA thread then I decided better to give it its own thread in case things get out of hand.

 

Try to limit the discussion to NFL, NFLPA, football etc.

 

 

[wjag]

So for all the secrecy of who was vaccinated and who was not, all you will need to see his footage of those wearing masks at the facility.  It amuses me how a player can look at the restrictions for not getting a vaccine and saying, "I'm good with that."

[Rochesterfan]

Nice - NFL/NFLPA dangling a bunch of carrots.

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, wjag said:

So for all the secrecy of who was vaccinated and who was not, all you will need to see his footage of those wearing masks at the facility.  It amuses me how a player can look at the restrictions for not getting a vaccine and saying, "I'm good with that."

 

It's basically asking them to live over last season, as far as I can tell.

 

If there weren't a tenable alternative, it wouldn't mean very much for the NFL/NFLPA to say "vaccination isn't mandatory", would it? 

But not everyone shares your view that it's reasonable.  If you go to the twitter thread there are a bunch of comments to the effect that it's "bull####" or "forcing players to get vaccinated"

 

I would doubt that press would have access to the facility, or only very limited access - just like last year.  But if the Bills are serious about privacy on vaccination status, they would simply tell everyone to mask up when being videoed.

 

There's a lot of stuff in there I can see as potentially divisive to a team

 

[wjag]

2 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

It's basically asking them to live over last season, as far as I can tell.

 

If there weren't a tenable alternative, it wouldn't mean very much for the NFL/NFLPA to say "vaccination isn't mandatory", would it? 

But not everyone shares your view that it's reasonable.  If you go to the twitter thread there are a bunch of comments to the effect that it's "bull####" or "forcing players to get vaccinated"

 

I would doubt that press would have access to the facility, or only very limited access - just like last year.  But if the Bills are serious about privacy on vaccination status, they would simply tell everyone to mask up when being videoed.

 

There's a lot of stuff in there I can see as potentially divisive to a team

 

 

So I didn't say anything about forcing a player to get a vaccine.  And I doubt a player who isn't required to wear a mask is going to wear one.  It seems to me the NFL is on full speed ahead to return to normal.  Full stadiums, less restrictions on vaccinated players, live draft, etc...  So I fully expect reporters will be out of their cars and back in the building by training camps.  Again, I just don't see how you can look at that list of restrictions and come to the conclusion that I would rather wear a mask in the weight room, go through mandatory testing every work day, be segregated in the lunchroom, get tossed off of planes for trips if you are in close contact with a positive person, etc, etc..  And yet some will..  Crazy to me.

[TheFunPolice]

Nobody forces anyone to get up and go to work everyday.. it's a choice we all make, just like this.

 

The NFL/NFLPA are apparently going to make it extremely enticing to get the shot, and extremely inconvenient to not get it.  But it's still a choice. 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by TheFunPolice

[Gugny]

I think the NFL and NFLPA have gone about this the right way and I applaud their collaboration and the practical outcome.  

[Hapless Bills Fan]

49 minutes ago, wjag said:

 

So I didn't say anything about forcing a player to get a vaccine. 

 

I didn't say that you did. 

You said:

Quote

It amuses me how a player can look at the restrictions for not getting a vaccine and saying, "I'm good with that."

 

I said that if you go to the twitter responses to the OP tweet, you would see that not everyone agrees with you that it's amusing.  I could have misunderstood you and you may have meant that those were unreasonable restrictions (in fact from below it looks as though I did)

 

49 minutes ago, wjag said:

And I doubt a player who isn't required to wear a mask is going to wear one.

 

Why not, especially if it's for a limited "Dog and Pony Show" while the media is in the building or while a PR video is being shot?  "We're trying to keep vax status confidential, masks are a tell, take one for the team and mask up during press hour"

 

49 minutes ago, wjag said:

  It seems to me the NFL is on full speed ahead to return to normal.  Full stadiums, less restrictions on vaccinated players, live draft, etc...  So I fully expect reporters will be out of their cars and back in the building by training camps. 

 

I don't see this at all.  The full stadiums are a matter of revenue.  The less restrictions on vaxxed players are trying to induce players to vax.  But the clubs hate unfettered press access to the locker rooms and buildings.  If they're not allowing actual employees access to players/facilities without being vaccinated, I don't see why they'd let press in  - sure, they could require vaccination as part of the credentialing process, but there's no real way of assuring it's valid, and it's just more exposure to the team.

 

I see a distinction between the NFL doing things that are to its benefit, and things that are kind of a PITA to them anyway.

 

49 minutes ago, wjag said:

 

 

Again, I just don't see how you can look at that list of restrictions and come to the conclusion that I would rather wear a mask in the weight room, go through mandatory testing every work day, be segregated in the lunchroom, get tossed off of planes for trips if you are in close contact with a positive person, etc, etc..  And yet some will..  Crazy to me.

 

Yeah, I misunderstood your point.  I actually expect there will probably be a kerfluffle over this.

[Captain Caveman]

33 minutes ago, Gugny said:

I think the NFL and NFLPA have gone about this the right way and I applaud their collaboration and the practical outcome.  

 

There's a first time for everything, right?  It almost gives one hope for humanity's future.  (JK I'm not that naive.)

 

 

[HOUSE]

Taking the steam room away is inhuman

[Augie]

1 hour ago, Gugny said:

I think the NFL and NFLPA have gone about this the right way and I applaud their collaboration and the practical outcome.  

 

Bill Belichick already has a way around this, just out of habit. 

[MJS]

2 hours ago, wjag said:

 

So I didn't say anything about forcing a player to get a vaccine.  And I doubt a player who isn't required to wear a mask is going to wear one.  It seems to me the NFL is on full speed ahead to return to normal.  Full stadiums, less restrictions on vaccinated players, live draft, etc...  So I fully expect reporters will be out of their cars and back in the building by training camps.  Again, I just don't see how you can look at that list of restrictions and come to the conclusion that I would rather wear a mask in the weight room, go through mandatory testing every work day, be segregated in the lunchroom, get tossed off of planes for trips if you are in close contact with a positive person, etc, etc..  And yet some will..  Crazy to me.

It's also crazy that players do things to put their millions of dollars and fame at risk, yet sometimes they do. But, I'm sure most of them will come to, or already have come to, the same conclusion as you, that getting the vaccine will remove a lot of hassle from their profession.

[hmsmystic]

1 hour ago, Gugny said:

I think the NFL and NFLPA have gone about this the right way and I applaud their collaboration and the practical outcome.  

Totally agree.  Working with a Union is extremely complicated and it's hard to find middle ground.  This seems reasonable- I mean essentially you are free not to get the vaccine, but there are negative consequences you must deal with.

I think the NFL overall has been masterful throughout this crises and managed a full season last year

[Augie]

3 hours ago, Rochesterfan said:

Nice - NFL/NFLPA dangling a bunch of carrots.

 

 

 

A lot of carrots, or a daily stick up the nose!

[billsfanmiamioh]

23 minutes ago, ProcessTruster said:

Amazes me that some players are not getting vaccinated.   Totally leaves other teammates, family members etc at risk.  

 

 

What if the teammates, family members, etc. are vaccinated? 

[BobbyC81]

30 minutes ago, ProcessTruster said:

Amazes me that some players are not getting vaccinated.   Totally leaves other teammates, family members etc at risk.  Sorry, to me its  irresponsible in a large group organization like a full/close contact sport team. 

 

No other way to look at it.  Sure unvaccinated players, go ahead and walk around like a loaded gun all season.  Nice.  Not respecting your teammates or their families or the team.    200 million vaccinated without side effect incident worth noting that I'm aware of... ]

 

come on teammates, follow the science/do the math.   The stuff is safe.  Go get it.  Seriously.   

 

 

Remember when Bruce Smith refused to get a flu shot, got the flu and missed a playoff game.  Not quite as impactful but still selfish and irresponsible.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, HOUSE said:

Taking the steam room away is inhuman

 

Oh, the INhumanity! 

 

They did this last year.  and Lee Smith talked about building a sauna in his garage so some of the players could use it instead of the facility....Law of Unintended Consequences

[Punching Bag]

5 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Oh, the INhumanity! 

 

They did this last year.  and Lee Smith talked about building a sauna in his garage so some of the players could use it instead of the facility....Law of Unintended Consequences

 

Sounds like what Titans players did getting around rules.  

 

Comp pick for Bucs?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, Limeaid said:

Sounds like what Titans players did getting around rules. 

 

How so?  Titans had their entire facility closed during an active outbreak.

 

1 hour ago, Limeaid said:

Comp pick for Bucs?

 

LOL

[JGMcD2]

7 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Props to @YoloinOhio who put this up in the McDermott presser thread

 

 

They should still be testing fully vaccinated individuals at some interval - perhaps that's still under negotiation.

 

I was gonna put it in the OTA thread then I decided better to give it its own thread in case things get out of hand.

 

Try to limit the discussion to NFL, NFLPA, football etc.

 

 

Looks exactly like our new protocol that got released today. 
 

Leagues must be copying and pasting from each other. 

[Augie]

3 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

Sounds like what Titans players did getting around rules.  

 

Comp pick for Bucs?

 

Somehow, the Patriots* get a 5th rounder. It’s buried in the rulebook somewhere.....  🤷‍♂️

 

All part of the plan. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

59 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

Looks exactly like our new protocol that got released today. 
 

Leagues must be copying and pasting from each other. 

 

LOL I suspect it's more their health advisors are pulling info from the same studies/CDC advice (or maybe they have the same advisors)

 

 

[wppete]

20 hours ago, TheFunPolice said:

Nobody forces anyone to get up and go to work everyday.. it's a choice we all make, just like this.

 

The NFL/NFLPA are apparently going to make it extremely enticing to get the shot, and extremely inconvenient to not get it.  But it's still a choice. 

 

 

Completely agree. I suspect the NFL and  “carrot dangling” will not work on players in the NFL that have already made up

their mind and choice to not take the vaccine… only time will tell. September will be very telling. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

32 minutes ago, wppete said:

Completely agree. I suspect the NFL and  “carrot dangling” will not work on players in the NFL that have already made up

their mind and choice to not take the vaccine… only time will tell. September will be very telling. 

 

I'm sure you're right.  My guess is a lot of players don't feel that strongly and the "carrot" will influence them - by dangling the "carrot" of similar protocol choices, Cornell got 14,999 students to roll up their sleeves in 7 weeks, for example.

 

But, there will most certainly be players who feel very strongly and nothing will change them, and I think they should have that right.  Then they have a set of protocols to follow. 

 

The question is how many will fall into each group, and will there be any fall out (such as key players who wind up having to quarantine and miss games). 🤷‍♂️ 

 

Just as a for-instance, if we're playing KC and publically-known-to-be-vaccinated Mahomes and (hypothetically) not vaccinated Allen are both exposed to a positive tested individual.   KC gets their QB and we play with a backup (assuming at least one is vaccinated or not exposed).  Big disavantage: Bills.

[wppete]

27 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I'm sure you're right.  My guess is a lot of players don't feel that strongly and the "carrot" will influence them - by dangling the "carrot" of similar protocol choices, Cornell got 14,999 students to roll up their sleeves in 7 weeks, for example.

 

But, there will most certainly be players who feel very strongly and nothing will change them, and I think they should have that right.  Then they have a set of protocols to follow. 

 

The question is how many will fall into each group, and will there be any fall out (such as key players who wind up having to quarantine and miss games). 🤷‍♂️ 

 

Just as a for-instance, if we're playing KC and publically-known-to-be-vaccinated Mahomes and (hypothetically) not vaccinated Allen are both exposed to a positive tested individual.   KC gets their QB and we play with a backup (assuming at least one is vaccinated or not exposed).  Big disavantage: Bills.

Well tine will tell. Very curious to see how the Bills choose to handle this… Also we should learn if this report from Rico and the Buffalo Fanatics is true very soon. He does have a close relationship with players that are on his show often, he is a credible and reliable reporter.  Should be interesting, as of right now only the team knows. 
 

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by wppete

[jlgarsh]

3 hours ago, wppete said:

Well tine will tell. Very curious to see how the Bills choose to handle this… Also we should learn if this report from Rico and the Buffalo Fanatics is true very soon. He does have a close relationship with players that are on his show often, he is a credible and reliable reporter.  Should be interesting, as of right now only the team knows. 
 

 

I hope it’s not true, but I wouldn’t be shocked.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Welp, Then. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No word on which 4 teams or which coaches this affects that I've seen.

 

(And please - let's not bring up the constitution and Mah Freedoms!  Familiarize yourself with the contents of this report from the Congressional Research Service  and this ruling from EEOC before you speak.  Then go over to PPP to show your chops at opining on employment, Amendment 10, supreme court precedent such as Jacobson v. Massachusetts etc.)

 

 

[Draconator]

On 5/27/2021 at 5:59 PM, ColeB said:

Remember when Bruce Smith refused to get a flu shot, got the flu and missed a playoff game.  Not quite as impactful but still selfish and irresponsible.

 

And that was a playoff game against Pittsburgh. We lost.

[CSBill]

On 5/28/2021 at 12:23 PM, wppete said:

 

 

 

Maybe I'm very naive, but I find this hard to be true when 62% of the adult population has had at least one shot. Then again, they are in the demographic of the lowest percentage. But just based on my anecdotal observations, I just can't believe it's this low. Again, maybe I'm naive?

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by CSBill

[wppete]

15 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

Welp, Then. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No word on which 4 teams or which coaches this affects that I've seen.

 

(And please - let's not bring up the constitution and Mah Freedoms!  Familiarize yourself with the contents of this report from the Congressional Research Service  and this ruling from EEOC before you speak.  Then go over to PPP to show your chops at opining on employment, Amendment 10, supreme court precedent such as Jacobson v. Massachusetts etc.)

 

 

Thank you very much. I and many others on here who have talked about it find it very interesting how you can’t  Move on. Give it up. You are the main guy on this forum that can’t give up this topic but yet the one who curates the conversation. The irony. Let’s stick to football 🏈. 
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_edit

 

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by wppete

[Hapless Bills Fan]

21 minutes ago, wppete said:

Thank you very much. I and many others on here who have talked about it find it very I interesting how you can’t  Move on. Give it up. You are the main guy on this forum that can’t give up this topic but yet the one you curates the conversation. The irony. Let’s stick to football 🏈. 
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_edit

I get it, you don’t find this to be football.  And yet, it impacts football directly if coaches and trainers are being told by the NFL get vaccinated or spend the season coaching from your office (unless you’re in progress or have an exemption)

If you don’t want to discuss it personally, the thread is clearly labeled as to the content, so why are you here? Irony back atcha.

 

Seems like it must not be about what you personally want to discuss, but about you personally deciding  what is or isn’t football relevant to communicate or discuss, even when it’s NFL policy with a direct impact on teams operations!!!!!!

 

(PS speak for yourself, k?  The “others support me in email” thing grew ear hairs back in the day of AOL and modems)

[YoloinOhio]

 

[Frat-Train]

The question in my mind, are there strong enough convictions with some of these players that we may see some antivaxers (no insult meant at all) threaten to retire?  Crazy to think, but so was imagining what our world would resemble beyond 2019.  
 

just a thought though...

Edited June 16, 2021 by Frat-Train

[Hapless Bills Fan]

16 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

 

 

[billsfan89]

On 5/28/2021 at 8:28 AM, wppete said:

Completely agree. I suspect the NFL and  “carrot dangling” will not work on players in the NFL that have already made up

their mind and choice to not take the vaccine… only time will tell. September will be very telling. 

 

Some people's laziness is going to win out over their hesitancy over the vaccine. I imagine that as we head into September that some players will get sick of these restrictions and just take the vaccine to avoid the daily testing and mask mandates amongst other restrictions. Some people are just head strong against the vaccine (mostly for dubious reasons in my opinion) and will hold out but I imagine that some will cave into the inconvenience. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

8 minutes ago, Frat-Train said:

The question in my mind, are there strong enough convictions with some of these players that we may see some antivaxers (no insult meant at all) threaten to retire?  Crazy to think, but so was imagining what our world would resemble beyond 2019.  
 

just a thought though...

 

Why would they "retire" and face giving back millions of dollars of amortized signing bonus not to mention potential future earnings? 

Basically, the protocols unvaccinated players follow are just what they dealt with last year, and few players opted out, can't think of any who retired.  So if someone has strong convictions, they can just shrug and say "OK, I lived this way last year".

 

I'll be honest though, I don't see how the different rules can help but become a distraction if the clubs actually enforce the different rules.

 

 

[716er]

32 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

Awesome - get the shot or live like it’s 2020 

[billsfan89]

5 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Why would they "retire" and face giving back millions of dollars of amortized signing bonus not to mention potential future earnings? 

Basically, the protocols unvaccinated players follow are just what they dealt with last year, and few players opted out, can't think of any who retired.  So if someone has strong convictions, they can just shrug and say "OK, I lived this way last year".

 

I'll be honest though, I don't see how the different rules can help but become a distraction if the clubs actually enforce the different rules.

 

 

 

The difference is that the 30-40% of players that are unvaccinated are going to see the other 60-70% of players who are vaccinated enjoying having a mostly normal season. That might get a good chunk of the 30-40% of players who are hesitant against the vaccine to just cave into the inconvenience. Yes some people are just going to hold out no matter what but I suspect that the vaccination rate among players is going to end up in the 80% range by October. 

[LABILLBACKER]

On 5/27/2021 at 12:21 PM, Gugny said:

I think the NFL and NFLPA have gone about this the right way and I applaud their collaboration and the practical outcome.  

 

On 5/27/2021 at 12:56 PM, Captain Caveman said:

 

There's a first time for everything, right?  It almost gives one hope for humanity's future.  (JK I'm not that naive.)

 

 

It's sad you have to incentivize common sense. 

[Rochesterfan]

10 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

 

The difference is that the 30-40% of players that are unvaccinated are going to see the other 60-70% of players who are vaccinated enjoying having a mostly normal season. That might get a good chunk of the 30-40% of players who are hesitant against the vaccine to just cave into the inconvenience. Yes some people are just going to hold out no matter what but I suspect that the vaccination rate among players is going to end up in the 80% range by October. 

 

Which is the exact reason they are making the rules the way they are.

 

Harsh rules “to protect you” if you are not vaccinated and lax rules if you are.  We are not mandating that you must get vaccinated, but your life will return to normal sooner if you do.

 

Everything will be fine until the first Tennessee style outbreak on a team with fewer vaccinated folks and a lack of available PS players to call up.  Once it costs a team a game or two - then stuff gets real.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Rochesterfan