Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the NFL, the NFL Players Association wants to make changes to the league’s testing protocols.
Not only that, the league is currently facing a massive outbreak of COVID-19 so bad that the NFLPA is “pushing aggressively” for a postponement to Saturday’s Raiders-Browns game, according to ProFootballTalk. Per the report, some members of the union believe the entire season needs to be put on hold for a week.
The Cleveland Browns are being hit extremely hard as some twenty players are currently in protocol and third-string players are in line to start.
However, the NFL has made no moves to adjust the schedule as of yet.
A tweet from the union addressed ongoing discussions with player leadership and the league about daily testing for everyone regardless of vaccination status:
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The Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Washington Football Team were all entered into the NFL’s enhanced protocols Monday because of coronavirus concerns.
Before the 2021 season kicked off, Browns offensive lineman and NFLPA president JC Tretter penned a letter on the NFLPA’s official website explaining why daily testing for all players would be beneficial.
“A weekly testing cadence doesn’t just increase the likelihood that the games suffer because players are missing from the field; it also increases the likelihood of a game being cancelled altogether. If a game gets cancelled, nobody gets paid—including the owners—for the revenues lost from that game. The players lose out, the fans lose out, and the owners lose out. It’s the worst-case scenario that we should all be actively working to avoid—and the fact that we aren’t continues to be a source of frustration for our union.”
