Sports
Sports Editor: Jeff Hart – J.R.Hart2@iup.edu
(nissanstadium.com) The Titans have had 19 players test positive for the virus as of October 5.
NFL needs to change COVID-19 protocols to save season AUSTIN SMITH
Staff Writer A.S.Smith7@iup.edu @ThePennIUP
Can they win it all? A team like the Buffalo Bills, who are undefeated, could go all the way this season. Is any team going to make it into the last couple of weeks into the season? Sports keep on rolling by this year with COVID-19 still lingering and making its presence known. The NFL though has already had games postponed, which is a sign and that is not good for the fans. The games that have already been postponed were the Tennessee Titans versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City versus New England, which was played Monday. There is huge potential that more and more games could keep getting the cancel button by Roger Goodell since players were testing positive. I knew that there was a chance that the whole NFL season may not have been able to be played even though other sports like the MLB, NBA and NHL are close to
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having a champion for the season or already have a champion. "At the end of the day, the safest teams and the healthiest team this year is going to be the one that's going to be playing in January and February. We can only control what we can control," Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard said in August. Going back to the Titans is a must because they have 19 positive cases already and it is the most out of any NFL team. Not to mention the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs game was delayed because players from both squads, including Cam Newton, have tested positive for COVID-19. What is the NFL commissioner Goodell doing wrong? Why did the other professional sports organizations have a better finishing season and playoff endings? It might have something to do that all other sports played in specific locations to finish their seasons. Not to mention some NFL teams have already allowed a specific amount of people to be able to attend the games this
season even if it was only a game or two. Teams like the Chiefs, Jaguars, Panthers and Titans have allowed a limited number of fans in attendance. There are more teams on the list, but with very different situations such as it’s allowing family members only. Either way, lets emphasize it’s the traveling that all NFL teams are doing right now. Even with no fans in attendance, traveling can still spell disaster with this pandemic going on. With each NFL team traveling to each game, it is affecting them greatly as we are seeing games slowly getting postponed. At this rate, there might not be a Super Bowl champion. As mentioned earlier, the Tennessee Titans are the hottest team with the most cases. Sure, every team has to travel to get to their game, but are they all wearing their mask and following safe distance protocols as much as they can? Apparently, Tennessee is not following these protocols to their best extent.
October 7, 2020
There was a rule put in place that during the bye week this season, no player is permitted to leave their home city. This is a no brainer, because all it takes is one person to get COVID-19. If any player would break this rule, it would lead to a $50,000 fine and some suspension time. The Titans game against the Steelers has been postponed even later now to the date of Oct. 25, which would be week 7. This will keep happening if Goodell keeps letting fans and travelling occur. He is the commissioner and has to set the tone for the entire league. How does this make the NFL look? I can tell you if the COVID cases keep climbing, which they most likely will the way they are playing this season. This will put more harm on the potential of next season. The NFL should really consider doing the following. Eliminating travel to cities and states with the highest COVID rates. They should in their best effort try to mimic the bubble idea from the NHL and NBA.
Why? The NHL finished with zero positive cases at the end of Tampa Bay winning the Stanley Cup. The NBA is almost close to finishing with zero positive cases already. The NFL is a little different considering the NHL was finishing with less teams playing, so the season was able to finish faster. “They should look at the NBA and what they did,” said Joey Chrisman (junior, communications). “And they should have stricter COVID-19 regulations and enforce them.” The NFL could very well extend their season if they had to in order to defeat these upcoming cases. No fans should be allowed the rest of the season. Like I mentioned, all it takes is one person to start spreading and the Titans have learned the hard way. The NFL has to produce “the bubble effect” or the remaining of the season will be non-existent. What will it take for the NFL to realize that just postponing games is not going to work? Hopefully it won’t be too late when they do.
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