SUN VALLEY, IDAHO – JULY 08: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 08, 2021 in Sun Valley, Idaho. After a year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world’s most wealthy and powerful businesspeople from the media, finance, and technology worlds will converge at the Sun Valley Resort for the exclusive week-long conference. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The NFL just dropped quite the update, as they made it clear that if a game can’t be rescheduled this season, the team with a COVID outbreak will forfeit that contest.
Leave it to Roger Goodell and the NFL to drop quite the bomb on Thursday with training camps around the corner across the country. With there still be plenty of debate in terms of players getting the COVID-19 vaccine, the NFL just sent quite the statement for guys on the edge.
That’s because the league has announced that if any of the games in the new 18-week schedule can’t be reschedule due to a COVID outbreak, the team that had that outbreak will be forced to forfeit and take a loss. That obviously will have monster postseason implications.
Teams with a COVID outbreak this upcoming season could end up forfeiting games
Goodell and Co. really are taking things seriously here. How do we think Cole Beasley and the Buffalo Bills are feeling about this? Beasley has previously said he’s not going to get vaccinated, while star quarterback Josh Allen said he’s going to keep things private.
They’re not alone, though, as several players have said they won’t get the shots/won’t reveal their status because of personal reasons. Well, imagine you’re an NFL team fighting for your playoff lives, but then you forfeit a game due to an outbreak? Goodness.
Obviously, this will be something to monitor throughout the whole year. Could the NFL’s decision end up pushing guys over the top to get the vaccine? Who knows. What we do know, however, is that the league isn’t going to stand by and let unvaccinated players/teams have a negative impact on the season. There will be consequences for that moving forward.