The 2020 NFL Season: To Be or Not To Be – Paul Pulley

The 2020 NFL Season: To Be or Not To Be – Paul Pulley – The start of the 2020 NFL season is approaching quickly, just 5 weeks away as I’m beginning to write this. Numerous changes have been made to the protocol the teams and players have to abide by. There are changes made to some of the rules pertaining to the roster, most notably is the addition of 4 more players to each teams practice squad. This year the practice squad increased from 10, the number used for the past several years, to 12, and now in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, each team can now have 16 practice squad players. Of the 16, 4 can be “unpoachable”, so other teams will not be able to steal them, although I’m not too sure any teams will be all that willing to poach a player from another teams PS this season. This would allow the Chiefs to keep a 3rd quarterback if they want, or a couple extra offensive linemen. Placing QB Chad Henne or Matt Moore on the PS would conceivably free up a fair amount of cap space and still keep a 3rd QB available for the entire season. One extra advantage to the 4 protected players is they can be changed weekly. Each team has until a certain time Tuesday afternoon to provide their list of four. The time will probably be 4:00 PM Eastern, as this is when almost all NFL timelines become due.

A Bubbleless Pastime

I’ve read a few things recently about trying to place the NFL in a “bubble” for the 2020 season, but I’ll be honest, I don’t believe the infrastructure is available to make this a reality, not at this late date. I do believe that each team and NFL city should provide three mini bubbles. Two of the bubbles that are of sufficient size to house an entire team, including players, coaches and all support staff for three days. Everyone is being tested daily, so as long as each person tests remains negative, they would be allowed to enter the “bubble”. Each team would be in a bubble for two days prior to game day and for game day itself. Each host city will have a bubble set up for the visiting team to remain in during their visit when not at the host stadium. A third smaller bubble can be created for referees and any media types with field access. As an aside, it seems extremely strange to be talking and planning a way to promote segregation.

Fans in the Stands

Will it be possible to put fans in the stands this season? I believe the answer is yes, conditionally. First and foremost is making sure that bringing fans in to view a game doesn’t pose an unacceptable risk to the players, coaches or anyone else associated with the teams. Keeping fans out of the first several rows of seats and away from player entrances should help alleviate this.

The best alternative for getting fans in the stadium is if a safe and effective vaccine can be developed. I’m not going to hold my breath on this happening for the 2020 season, hopefully we’ll have one before next spring. The next best alternative is a reasonably accurate quick response coronavirus test. There are several of these that are being tested now that give results in 15 minutes, give or take, and should be able to be mass produced in the next 10 to 12 weeks. By the 1st of November, we could have a way to test potential fans with a fairly quick method between the parking lot and the entrance to the stadiums. All fans testing negative would be allowed entrance and any positive test will be denied. This will end up making some people mad, if there are false positives, but too bad, so sad. People will just have to live with it this year. I believe that all of the vendors should remain closed for this season, unless of course a reliable vaccine becomes available. Security will need to be present, of course, as there will always be idiots attending games.

Fans could be allowed to bring two water bottles each into the stadium. If a person can’t go 4 hours without eating something, they probably shouldn’t be at a game this year anyway, or they could keep any food products in their vehicle and visit that at halftime. Of course the use of masks should be prioritized.

Personally, if I, or anyone, have a right to stand in the streets, among a throng of hundreds or thousands of people protesting anything (not that I have ever done that), then I should have the same right to attend a dang football game, as long as I’m not unduly jeopardizing the safety of any person associated with the NFL. Any fan wishing to attend a game, myself included, should be willing to accept any risks involved with attendance before entering. If they or not, then simply stay home.

Into the Future

Unfortunately, SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) is with us to stay. This will be just one more thing our bodies will have to fend off for the remainder of our lives. Hopefully everyone reading this will be up to the task. I read something earlier today (Saturday) that as many as half of us may already have in our immune system what we need to fend off Covid-19, or at least make an infection tolerable, which could explain all the asymptomatic positive tested people. Let’s hope this is at least somewhat true.

If this virus would have shown up seven years ago, after a 2-14 season, I don’t believe I would have been this concerned about whether NFL football will be played this season, but head coach Andy Reid has spoiled me, badly. I WANT FOOTBALL and I want it this year. No, I’m not throwing a tantrum, but yes, I’m being selfish. 

Paul Pulley — ArrowheadOne

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