The coronavirus outbreak may end up impacting the National Football League after all. There’s a growing concern amongst many NFL coaches and general managers that the 2020-21 regular season may not be able to start on time due to the COVID-19 virus.
The thought around the league seemed to be that the pandemic would be a non-issue with the time between now and kickoff of the NFL Season. But according to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report, that may not be true after all. Below is a series of tweets from Freeman detailing his findings.
One thing to pass along: I’m increasingly hearing from coaches and front office executives that they believe it will be nearly impossible for the season to start on time. Some believe training camp will start in the fall.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) March 25, 2020
One dynamic in play is that some coaches are having blunt conversations with team doctors. The doctors are telling them the truth. That the pandemic could last months. There’s been no sugarcoating or lying.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) March 25, 2020
Coaches are quoting me data from the World Health Organization. Again, team doctors are giving them the honest info.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) March 25, 2020
It’s pretty clear that NFL teams won’t be able to have spring workouts and practices. Those workouts typically begin in early April. The NFL has already delayed the start of spring workouts. Eventually, they could be completely wiped out, as team headquarters remain locked down.
A paragraph from the Washington Post:
NFL officials remain guardedly optimistic at this point, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, that they will be able to stage a complete or nearly complete 2020 regular season. But they are increasingly pessimistic about salvaging any of teams’ offseason programs for players, and wary about potential disruptions that would accompany the opening of training camps this summer.
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