Thursday afternoon was the deadline for NFL players to withdraw from the 2020 season, and the final tally of those who did is 66.
For some players, like the New York Giants take on Nate Solder, it was probably an easy decision: Solder’s 5-year-old son Hudson has battled cancer his entire life, first diagnosed times at the age of 3 months, and Solder himself. had an episode of testicular cancer in 2014.
For others, it was more difficult for a myriad of reasons.
All of them are worthy of empathy and have my admiration, as many of them could retire from their NFL careers.
The reality of the NFL is such that this is probably the reason why we haven’t seen more players make the decision to take time off. Coaches and the league are quickly leaving star players and lower level players even faster.
Guy suffers from a late season injury on the pitch, and the clique moves just a respectful distance from the coaching staff and the squirming teammate in pain. He is taken away and the game resumes.
A new team owner arrives and starts not only the longtime head coach, but the franchise-defining quarterback (looking at you, David Tepper).
Some coaches use guys at the bottom of the roster as a buddy, cutting in an attempt to send a message to the rest of the team during a losing streak. Maybe they’ll come back a few weeks later, maybe not.
For the entire Thursday morning rotation that “only” 56 players have tested positive for COVID-19 since teams began reporting to facilities 10 days ago, there is no way to guarantee that this number will not change – dramatically and in a hurry. Without an NBA-style bubble, the notoriously controlling NFL coaches can do whatever is possible to mitigate the viral spread inside the team’s facilities, but once the players leave the building, they must cross paths. fingers and hope everyone on the list is doing the right thing. .
Many will, but let’s be honest: some will not.
And if one or two teams have outbreaks and more players want to retire, things could get risky. Detroit Lions linebacker Jamie Collins told media on Thursday that the players should have had more time make a decision, mentioning that “there are going to be problems on the road”, which would lead to more men.
For those who put the health and safety of themselves and their loved ones above the game, we have seen statements from coaches saying they understand and support the decision. And some of these coaches can really believe it.
Still, there are probably a lot of coaches who are like Washington defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, who hinted in a recent interview that he is not a fan of the seated players.
“I have personal opinions that probably wouldn’t mesh well with my professional occupation right now,” Del Rio told The Athletic. “I think I’ll leave it like this.”
On Twitter, Del Rio said players know the risk of playing the game and said the priority “is not to try to be perfectly safe,” which is a straw man argument. Yes, now most football players understand the risks of playing football – risks such as torn ligaments, broken bones or a concussion.
Catching a potentially fatal virus is not a “risk” from playing football.
What if the league and the teams “aren’t trying to be perfectly safe,” then what do they do? While there are an unknown number of players who have pre-existing health conditions, such as asthma, that would make a case of COVID-19 worse, each team has people in the building, such as coaches and support staff, that fall into the high risk category. because of their age.
But what does it matter, doesn’t it Jack? It’s football! Manly men do manly things like catching the coronavirus for football! There is nothing more macho than developing COVID-linked heart disease like Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez – if Rodriguez was a soccer player he would play through, wouldn’t he Jack?
Please.
That they did it because they are immune compromised themselves, like Solder or San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Shon Coleman, who beat leukemia as a teenager, or because they’re new fathers worried about a parent’s health, like New England Patriots linebacker Donta ‘Hightower, it was their decision.
Hightower and Solder may have a chance to play again. They have shown enough in their respective careers for their teams to bring them back, even after a year of absence. But a guy like Hightower’s New England teammate Najee Toran, who spent last year on the practice squad, may never make it to another NFL team. The idea that football should come before just about everything else persists with many coaches, and that will certainly be at stake here, especially for players who don’t have a clear reason not to play.
Regardless of what Commissioner Roger Goodell says now, we are talking about a league that has ousted players who have spoken out for things like racial injustice, but have taken in those who have returned from incidents of domestic violence.
Whether they realize it or not, many of those 66 players haven’t just retired from the season, they have retired from the NFL.
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