Coronavirus Safety Protocol - please read and discuss

[TheLondonLion]

Golladay and Hock on the COVID IR list. Great start!

[foxhopper]

Clearly masks are a fire hazard!..Donald J Trump POTUS

[edindetroit]

Who is your guess for the first Lion? Stafford? He's got plenty of money, at risk wife and youngins.

Report: John Atkins has elected to opt out of the 2020 season

https://lionswire.usatoday.com/2020/...KKzqJxS4vUfmAQ

[foxhopper]

I suppose a back up that can opt out because of a possible high risk might not be taking much of a pay cut And I doubt it is too hard to qualify for the higher amount of.350k. Wouldn't most lineman qualify as obese anyway?

Still be a lot of money to give up for most of us, but 350k I could probably eke by on.

[Trickalicious]

Agreed on the touchless thermometers. I was randomly selected for the anal thermometer upon entrance to a night club. Might have had something to do with my leather zippered mask.

[Futureshock]

[Futureshock]

So why wouldn't a UDFA not opt out at 150k. It may actually be a raise.

[Futureshock]

Oh ok, NOW...



Baseball now requiring COVID-19 compliance officers with teams

Posted by Darin Gantt on July 30, 2020, 6:31 AM EDT

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Now that Florida Cow is out of the barn, Major League Baseball has decided to have someone watch the door.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, MLB officials have now mandated that teams make a number of changes to keep players safe from further outbreaks like the one that infected nearly half the Miami Marlins roster.

Those steps include encouraging players not to leave hotels except to go to games, mandating use of surgical masks instead of cloth masks during travel, and requiring every team to have a compliance officer on the road with them to make sure players and staff are following the rules.

Having someone to oversee such policies seems like a great idea. It would have been just as good an idea, you know, before the season started.

Of course, planning ahead and having someone to implement those policies is no guarantee of success. Vikings head athletic trainer and infection control officer Eric Sugarman tested positive for COVID-19.

The Marlins’ season has been suspended through at least this week, after the outbreak that began during their first weekend series.

[Futureshock]

NFL still discussing contingency plans if outbreaks happen

Posted by Darin Gantt on July 30, 2020, 6:12 AM EDT

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Major League Baseball chose to suspend the Miami Marlins season for at least a week after a COVID-19 outbreak included 14 players.

The NFL is still discussing what it would take to make a similar step, as teams report to training camps this week and players go through the first round of many tests.

According to Jarrett Bell of USA Today, the league is still working through contingency plans for what could trigger a suspension of play for a team or the league as a whole.

Factors which could cause a postponement include an entire position group being hit by a COVID-19 outbreak, or 10 or more games being impacted in a given week, which could cause a rescheduling. If six or more teams were unable to play for multiple weeks, suspending the season has been discussed.

That’s a high bar, considering baseball is largely marching forward with its fingers crossed after one team was hit.

Commissioner Roger Goodell has clearly adjusted his language when talking about the season, referring to a “complete season” rather than a full one, acknowledging the possibility that games might have to be missed.

If that happens, the league might have to rely on winning percentage to determine playoff seedings, if teams don’t play the same amount of games.

These discussions are ongoing, and teams have been told a final decision on such policies will come by the first week of the regular season. But watching baseball forced to adjust on the fly a week into its return makes it clear the NFL needs to have a plan in place, and be ready to adjust as the season goes on.

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That's good, but, prevention should be the top priority.

[Futureshock]

Rutgers outbreak may trace to on-campus party

Posted by Mike Florio on July 30, 2020, 6:09 AM EDT

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As the NFL monitors the struggles that non-bubble sports are facing as the virus continues to spread, one specific outbreak underscores the wisdom of the agreement by the NFL and the NFL Players Association to restrict activities away from work. The recent decision to shut down the Rutgers football program reportedly resulted from players attending an on-campus party.

According to NJ.com, via ESPN.com, several athletes attended an on-campus party preceding the rash of 15 positive COVID-19 tests among the football team.

Of course, news of young, healthy men testing positive for a virus that in most cases will result in the development of no symptoms will prompt many to cry out, “What’s the big deal?” The big deal, as explained by New Jersey health commissioner Judith Persichilli, is this: “Every single one of those cases has the potential to infect other people. Their grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, loved ones, and if any one of them have underlying conditions . . . the result could be fatal.”

The result has been fatal, more than 150,000 times in the United States since the pandemic began. But there are still people in positions of power and influence who downplay the situation, who refuse to take or to encourage simple steps to limit the spread of the virus, and who embrace junk science and quack medical advice to justify their behavior.

As all of this relates to pro football, the Twilight Zone takes that somehow have landed in the mainstream don’t matter. NFL players and coaches continuously will be tested, and if they test positive, they’ll be kept from practicing and playing — regardless of whether they are asymptomatic. If enough players are kept from practicing and playing, the season won’t be viable.

Some will insist that uttering those words amounts to rooting against football season from happening. Which isn’t surprising, since most of those people are the same ones who downplay the situation, who refuse to take or to encourage simple steps to limit the spread of the virus, and who embrace junk science and quack medical advice to justify their behavior.

[Futureshock]

Marquise Goodwin says fans are calling him stupid for opting out

Posted by Michael David Smith on July 29, 2020, 5:36 PM EDT

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Eagles wide receiver Marquise Goodwin announced yesterday that he has decided not to play this season because of concerns about COVID-19. Today, Goodwin said fans’ reactions have not all been supportive.

Goodwin noted that America has lost 150,000 people to COVID-19, and he said his response to the pandemic is to take it seriously — even if many others aren’t.

“I’ve gotten so many messages . . . from ‘concerned’ fans telling me how stupid I am and that this COVID-19 isn’t that serious,” Goodwin wrote on Twitter. “I bet my bank account that there are 150k dead people that would argue different.”

After deciding to opt out of the 2020 season, Goodwin posted an emotional message on YouTube explaining his reasoning for opting out of the season. Goodwin noted that he and his wife have lost three pregnancies and he has taken football so seriously that he once left his wife at the hospital after she delivered their child prematurely so he could play in a game.

Goodwin and his wife now have a young child, and he worried that he could catch COVID-19 on the field and spread it to his family. No one can accuse Goodwin of not making sacrifices for his team, but he felt that playing this season is simply too great a risk. There’s nothing stupid about that.

[Futureshock]

Washington puts Logan Thomas on COVID-19 list

Posted by Charean Williams on July 29, 2020, 5:33 PM EDT

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Washington has placed tight end Logan Thomas on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the team announced Wednesday.

The new reserve list category was created for a player who either tests positive for COVID-19 or who is quarantined after being in close contact with an infected person. If a player falls into either of these categories, their club is required immediately to place the player on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

Clubs are not allowed to disclose whether a player is in quarantine or is positive for COVID-19.

Thomas signed with Washington as a free agent this offseason.

He entered the league as a quarterback, with the Cardinals drafting him in the fourth round in 2014. Thomas bounced around the league until moving to tight end.

In the past three seasons — two in Buffalo and one in Detroit — Thomas has made 35 catches for 317 yards and two touchdowns.

[Futureshock]

Brian Flores warns Dolphins, in hopes they don’t become the Marlins

Posted by Darin Gantt on July 29, 2020, 12:02 PM EDT

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Dolphins coach Brian Flores doesn’t have to look far for an example of how wrong things can go.

And he’s hoping that the example of the Miami Marlins — whose season has been suspended because of a COVID-19 outbreak — will convince his team to be responsible at work and at home.

“For a player individually, they are going to have a responsibility to themselves, to this team — to make some sacrifices in the building and outside of the building,” Flores said, via Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post. “If we don’t make the right decisions — if we’re in bars and in crowded restaurants and in concerts, the likelihood of us bringing the virus into the building is very high. If we don’t do those things and we distance and we quarantine in our homes or hotels or whatever, then the likelihood goes down significantly. That’s pretty simple.”

So far, 15 of the 33 Marlins players have tested positive, leading to a week of postponements and a quarantine. There were reports of at least one player leaving the team’s hotel in Miami before the regular season started, and Flores pointed to that detail.

“If you’re not wearing a mask and distancing and taking the precautions, it can spread quickly,” Flores said. “I think that was evident with the Marlins and I think it was just an opportunity for us all to learn and see it actually happen. . . .

“It’s all of us. One person can bring in the virus and it can spread like wildfire. We all understand that. Each one of us has a responsibility. If you enter the facility, you have a responsibility to the other 150-180-200 other people who are in the facility.”

And with players coming in this week for their COVID-19 tests, making sure they know that a negative only extends as far as the door is one of his main tasks.

[Futureshock]

Drew Brees training himself to not lick fingers

Posted by Darin Gantt on July 29, 2020, 11:25 AM EDT

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The COVID-19 pandemic is changing everything about the way sports conduct business.

That goes so far as to include the licking, the spitting, and the snot that comes with human beings.

In a detailed (perhaps overly detailed depending on when you ate) look at the problems with expectorations in sports by Greg Wyshynski of ESPN.com, Saints quarterback Drew Brees underscored how hard it was going to be for quarterbacks to be hygienic.

“The whole point is to help give your hands a little tackiness so you get better grip on the ball,” Brees said. “I’ve actually been thinking about it a lot lately as I’ve started throwing again. Trying to avoid it, but it has been so habitual for so long. You don’t realize how much you touch your face and lick your fingers until COVID hit.”

Brees has traditionally licked his fingers before every snap, a habit that will be hard to break.

Former NFL tackle Ryan Harris said he didn’t need a pandemic to be skeeved out by some of the things that happen on football fields.

“It’s so gross, even when there isn’t COVID,” Harris said. “And just look where he puts his hands the play before, the play after, and the play he’s running when he licks his fingers. Do the math. Honestly, there are a lot of every-day, don’t-give-it-a-second-thought things people are going to have to give a second thought about.”

As teams gather this week for training camps, those kind of things have been given second thoughts by the teams trying to keep spaces as clean as possible, despite the best efforts of a bunch of nasty football players.

[Futureshock]

Hales YEAH!!! They'll figure it out. When it's too late...


Should NFL consider sequestering individual teams for the full season?

Posted by Mike Florio on July 29, 2020, 11:01 AM EDT

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A full, league-wide NFL bubble isn’t practical, given the sheer numbers of players and coaches and other essential personnel involved. But virtual bubbles consisting only of 32 team facilities may not be practical, either.

Players and coaches will leave those bubbles for their homes, regularly. Even if they never leave their homes until returning to work, family members surely will. And if one of them brings the virus home, the player or coach may then bring it to the bubble. Unless and until the NFL secures rapid and reliable point-of-care testing, a 24-hour lag will exist between sample collection and test result. Which means that a player who tested negative yesterday may be positive today, but no one will know until tomorrow.

One way to minimize that risk would be to create an even stronger bubble around each team. What if, then, one or more team sequester all players, coaches, and staff in a hotel for the entire season?

Plenty of players wouldn’t like it. Plenty of players would strongly considering opting out over it. At the end of the day, the league likely would have 32 teams made up of enough players, coaches, etc. who would sign up for the five-month sequestration, if the alternative was to not work at all this season.

This approach would significantly enhance the chances of getting all 256 regular-season and 13 postseason games played. And it would significantly enhance the chances of the players and other employees getting paid their full salaries.

This would be an extreme approach, without question. But if it’s the only way to minimize outbreaks and, in turn, to get the games played, it should at least be considered.

Perhaps it’s a strategy that could be used in specific locations, based on the local status of the pandemic. In some cities that currently are among the world’s biggest hot spots, a team could begin the season in sequestration and then revert to everyone living it home. In others, the need for sequestration may arise during the season. For others, the whole season may consist of living in a hotel.

Regardless, it’s important for the league to at least be exploring options like this, if the goal is — as it should be — to play every game, without postponement or cancellation.