THE NFL SHOULD ENSURE THAT VACCINATED TEAMS HAVE A HUGE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

BY ADAM GREENE

For whatever reason, Cole Beasley of the Buffalo Bills had the loudest voice, but Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon and Washington Football Team defensive end Montez Sweat chimed in as well. It turns out, the NFL and NFLPA’s agreement on the 2021 COVID-19 protocols weren’t universally beloved by some of the players.

And, you know what? Who cares?

The rules are simple; vaccinated players get to have normal lives and a normal NFL experience. Non vaccinated players remain on all the rules, requirements and restrictions used last season. Yes, it sucks. It sucked for all of us, NFL players or not, but we got through it. We made it to the finish line. Now everyone doesn’t want to cross it.

And that’s their choice. I gladly got the vaccine and have enjoyed my life returning to normal, dining out, hanging with friends and going on terrible, boring Hinge dates. Those that choose not to be vaccinated can enjoy what they can expect too; hospitalizations, social ostracization from families with small children and people who can’t take the vaccine due to allergic reactions, continually catching COVID-19 and, finally, intimate contact with a ventilator. At least as NFL players, you’d think they won’t have to open GoFundMe’s to pay for the hospital costs.

Beasley, in defending his stance against taking a vaccine that’s been proven to be effective against COVID-19, saved thousands of lives and proven safe by the hundreds of millions of people who’ve already taken it, said he wouldn’t take meds for a “leg that isn’t broken.” That he would “take his chances.”

Never mind, of course, the NFL makes rules to keep players safer all the time. Everything from making certain kinds of hits illegal, to the wearing of shoulder pads, facemasks and helmets. At one time, none of those things were required and I’m sure whatever Cole Beasleys, Montez Sweats or Joe Mixons who played at the time were up in arms, complaining about the new safety rules through toothless mouths when not coughing up blood or tenderly touching visible dents in their foreheads that led directly into their concussed brains.

There are two schools of thought for people who worry about the vaccine. The first is that the speed of its development is a concern for people thinking of taking it. That other vaccines took longer and some have yet to be developed. And, if you’re someone who gets their news from a talking ham faced idiot on cable news, Facebook or email forwards, you probably have just never had it explained to you. I won’t pretend I have the expertise to do it, but the short of it is that we, as a civilization, have been working on coronavirus vaccines since 2003 when SARS hit Asia. There’s more to it than that, but the point is, the answer is out there. You can even listen to an actual expert who isn’t a ham faced moron explain it to you better than I ever could.

The second school is, of course, psychopathy. Where people want to pretend they’ve snuck computer chips into the vaccine, that it connects to 5G, that it’s going to sterilize us, turn us all into communists/atheists or, as we learned just a couple of weeks ago, give us all magneto powers.

For whatever reason, my vaccine did none of that. I assume it’s because there’s no need for me to get microchipped since I’m on a computer and carry around a smartphone all day filled with them. As for 5G, it never hooked up and my magneto powers never manifested as well. I suspect that’s because I bathe regularly and aren’t a smelly, stupid sticky, dirt covered idiot slapping keys to my greasy, scum-covered throat.

With the possibility NFL life returning to normal, teams have been evangelizing vaccinations, bringing in experts to explain to players exactly why they should get their shots not just for their own safety, but that of their fellow players and fans. With states fully open and capacity NFL stadiums this fall and winter, the teams that are safe from COVID-19 will have an obvious competitive advantage. The NFL needs to lean into it completely by announcing one simple change from last season…

There will be no games rescheduled. If a team can not fill a playable roster on its scheduled gameday, they forfeit the game. There will be no attempts by squads like the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens to blow up the league this season. If your team isn’t doing what champions should do, getting vaccinated, then you could literally lose a game. It will cost the players money and teams possible playoff position.

With actual gamechecks on the line, there’s a chance that reticent players could make the correct call and get their shot. Considering that the Ravens and Titans probably wouldn’t have made the playoffs last season if the NFL hadn’t pushed around their games due to their COVID carelessness, coaches and front office personnel will have the incentive to push and cajole those unvaccinated players even more.

As of June 15, 16 NFL teams boast at least 51 players vaccinated. The Miami Dolphins, who almost made the playoffs last year (and would have if the Ravens had been forced to forfeit a game) are at 85 percent. So are the New Orleans Saints.

The fact is, the more players who get vaccinated, the more likely men like Sweat, Beasley and Mixon can avoid it. The league might relax its protocols if teams can get to 85 percent of their players vaccinated, basically using the herd immunity of their conscientious players to enable their conspiracy addled, sticky key-necked doofuses to participate in regular activities.

But for that to happen, teams have to ramp it up. While 16 teams are at over 50 percent and three are reportedly over 70 percent, franchises like the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Chargers are reportedly lagging behind. Some of those teams that aren’t the Jags have real playoff hopes. If they’d like to keep them, it’s time to get stuck.

The NFL season begins on Thursday, Sep. 9 and the Week 1 Schedule is already up and taking bets at BetOnline.AG.

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