COVID-19 and Protests: What to Expect from the 2020 NFL Season

(Source: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

The first week of the 2020 NFL season has concluded, and it looked like no other from years past. The sports world as a whole has experienced a year different than any before it, between the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the worldwide protests against systemic racism and police brutality. Sports have not only had to adjust their entire way of operating; they have also had to play an important role in calling attention to issues that are being ignored by far too many people. 

The NFL is unique from other sports leagues in both regards. The COVID-19 pandemic is an obstacle that every other sports league has had to navigate around in order to resume games. And while most have been able to do so without many issues, except for the multiple cases on MLB teams, the NFL will face many challenges that other sports leagues have not had to deal with. 

The first of these challenges is the issue of travel. The NBA and NHL set up “bubbles” for games to take place in so players would not have to travel around the country. MLB has not used a bubble but limited travel by having teams play exclusively against division opponents and intraleague opponents in the same geographical area; for example, teams in the NL East division only played against teams in the NL East and AL East. The NFL has not made any such alterations, teams will be flying all over the country to play opponents throughout the season. Not only does this increase the risk of catching and spreading COVID-19, but, according to the Mayo Clinic, air travel makes for an easy way for the virus to spread since it consists of a large number of people in a confined, unfiltered space for a prolonged period of time. 

Dak Prescott (front) and Ezekiell Elliot pre-game for the Dalls Cowboys opener. (Source/Dallas Cowboys Twitter)

There’s also the issue that football is a much more contact heavy sport compared to others. It’s required for players to be right in each other’s faces at the line of scrimmage, something that will be taking place during practices as well as during games. There’s also the general spike in cases during the fall that have been predicted since the pandemic first began; an issue aided by the fact that schools, colleges and universities have reopened, and many have seen a spike in cases. Additionally, some teams are allowing a limited number of fans to attend games, such as the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas Chiefs and Miami Dolphins, to name a few. While this is not as great of a danger as air travel and close contact is for players, it’s an experiment that every other league has decided is not worth testing and certainly poses a risk. 

However, even if the NFL is able to safely navigate COVID-19 there is still a chance we see games get postponed or cancelled for an entirely different reason. We saw players go on strike in the NHL, MLB, WNBA, MLS and most notably the NBA in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha police. The possibility of a strike happening in the NFL is certainly on the table, according to Bleacher Report Saquon Barkley and Sterling Shepard of the New York Giants said shortly after the initial wave of strikes that they would not rule out skipping a game in protest. A strike by NFL players would be immensely powerful, not just because of the sport’s popularity but also due to the fact that the NFL has already been at the forefront of one of the most notable protests against police brutality.

Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem has led to taking a knee to be a gesture synonymous with the Black Lives Matter movement. We have seen other players in other sports take a knee during the national anthem, and we have seen protestors do the same. But despite being a talented quarterback who is more than deserving of a chance to take snaps for an NFL team, Kaepernick has not seen the field since January 1, 2017. It’s glaringly obvious the NFL blackballed him for his gesture, and they have since scrambled to try to make amends, failing to do so outside of half-hearted, performative gestures. Kaepernick’s former teammate Eric Reid also participated in the protest in 2016 and has been outspoken about the NFL’s lack of action in addressing police brutality. By no coincidence, Reid is currently a free agent despite career highs in sacks and tackles last season. 

While commissioner Roger Goodell has since encouraged other teams to sign Kaepernick, that is yet another half-hearted, performative gesture to try and sweep their mistreatment of him under the rug. Kaepernick and Reid both signing with a team and playing this season would be a step in the right direction, but there is clearly a lot of hostility from players when it comes to the league failing to take a strong stance against police brutality. Throw in all of the health risks posed by playing a football season during a global pandemic, no less by a league that has demonstrated it does not care about the safety of its players by evidence of its denial of long-term issues that stem from concussions, and we may see events transpire during this NFL season that we have never seen before. 

Report: Michael Rosen