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With the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs rookies set to report to team facilities today, there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to the NFL’s 2020 season. “Will there even be a season?” is the first question. With the COVID-19 pandemic raging seemingly unchecked throughout large parts of the United States, it’s easy to understand how no one would have answers, especially since it’s been 102 years since the last time anything like this happened in America (two years before the NFL was founded, for those keeping score at home).
The NFL released a “guidebook” of sorts Friday and then reportedly offered up the notion of only playing one preseason game in 2020 this morning.
Yesterday, Houston Texans star J.J. Watt took to Twitter to contribute to the conversation yesterday.
Once again in the interest of keeping everyone (players & fans) as informed as possible, here is an updated list of what we as players know and don’t know as the first group gets set to report to training camp tomorrow.#WeWantToPlay pic.twitter.com/xQcjs33zgM
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) July 19, 2020
Here are those blocks of text he posted:
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As of July 10th, 72 NFL players had reportedly tested positive for the virus, which is a small percentage of the roughly 2,800 players involved in the NFL. However, with current predictions at one in eight Americans infected, it’s a very valid concern that any indoor facility with a bunch of heavy-breathing, snot-spitting big men is bound to turn into a breeding ground for infection. The players are wise to be extremely cautious.
The Oakland Raiders seem poised to join teams already saying they won’t have fans at preseason games, but that’s just one facet of keeping the players and team personnel safe. Then there’s things like this to consider as well:
With daily testing and 24-hour turnaround of up to 5,800 samples per day, the NFL will definitely be consuming resources that could be devoted to the general public https://t.co/fFYXkOWwOq
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) July 20, 2020
The only certainty right now is the uncertainty of these unprecedented times. What would you do if you were in charge of the NFL? What recommendations would you offer? Let us know and stay tuned for more as this story develops.