If the NFL goes ahead with its 2020 season, they’ll have to take drastic measures to keep players safe. In an interview with Peter King of NBC Sports, Dr. Anthony Fauci gave his thoughts on how the league might approach the coming campaign in the social distancing era. 
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“If you really want to be in a situation where you want to be absolutely certain, you’d test all the players before the game. And you say, Those who are infected: Sorry, you’re sidelined,” Fauci said. “Those who are free: Get in there and play.”
And, for absolute certainty, the NFL would have to test hundreds of athletes daily – possibly multiple times per day. Even with social distancing measures and limited practices, players would likely be in close proximity to each other throughout the week.
“If I test today, and I’m negative, you don’t know if I got exposed tomorrow,” Fauci said. “There’s no guarantee that you’re going to get exposed and be positive the next day. To give you an example, you’re probably reading in the newspapers that there’s an infection in the White House. I was exposed to that person. So I immediately got tested. I am negative. So, I’m negative yesterday. I don’t know if I’m going to be negative Monday. Understand? It’s almost an impossible situation.”
Then, there’s the obvious risk of in-game transmission. The virus isn’t known to transmit via sweat, Fauci said, but breathing means viral shedding, and heavy breathing in close quarters has the potential to be dangerous.
“To be 100 percent sure, you’ve got to test every day,” Fauci said. “But that’s not practical and that’s never going to happen. But you can diminish dramatically by testing everybody Saturday night, Sunday morning, and say OK, only negative players play.”
At the same time, Fauci stressed that he cannot predict the fate of the 2020 NFL season. “The virus will make the decision for us,” the infectious disease expert said, stressing that he is sharing his educated opinion, rather than a surefire forecast. In my uneducated opinion, I believe that the potential safety measures will be balanced with public relations concerns. If testing is not widely available by September, the NFL will have a hard time justifying tens of thousands of tests for athletes and key personnel. And, without rapid and constant testing, football won’t be feasible.
Money keeps Magic Johnson alive. NFL has plenty of it. They will find a way to stay alive.
Just to play devils advocate, what if someone catches it during the game and ends up dying from it? I plan on replying to all the comments below in the same fashion. I’m just trying to create a discussion in a mature fashion which I know can be hard when people are able to hide behind their keyboards.
Athletes NFL-age do not die from this. That’s the simple truth.
Tell that to the young Iranian soccer players that died.
link to en.radiofarda.com
link to english.alarabiya.net
Since when? You don’t know about underlying conditions they may have. Athletes have died of heat stroke in training camp. Generally, they’re in better health than the rest of us, but it is not absolute. If Eric Berry is still playing, he’s a cancer survivor.
Renegades….Either you’ve been in hibernation for the last couple of months or your a moron….you choose!
No need to go even further with any proof of the ridiculousness of that kind of comment!
You’re*
Rocky you clearly have not paid attention to the SCIENTIFIC findings the last few weeks and the data coming out. The death rate is less than the flu for those under 70. I’ll happily provide a link to that – just let me know.
What if someone goes to work at Walmart and catches it and dies? The world keeps turning and Walmart stays open for business.
Yes, but the Walmart employees are making much less and are considered essential to provide items for survival of customers and themselves. The NFL isn’t needed for survival. NFL players who need the money can work at Target or Dominos for example- they’re hiring.
What if someone catches it? Athletes were supposedly catching it while isolated so they might as well play. Only .5% are dying so the likelihood of an athlete succumbing are super slim to none. Also, are athletes any more important than anyone else who works for a living? No. Quarantining and further wrecking the economy isn’t good for the whole. Let those who are worried do as they please while the rest of choose to actually live live, no just exist.
Wow Brad you are as dumb as a pile of dog crap!
I think many smart people are taking into acct the death rate post economic crashes world wide post higher death tolls from covid. Mortality rates during economic crashes are very high. Be it hunger, depression, alcohol or drugs but none the less we are headed towards very high mortality rates regardless. Americans don’t spend like normal soon and world will suffer badly!
Let’s ask a guy whose been wrong about everything he’s said since he started talking in January.
Just to play devils advocate, what if someone catches it during the game and ends up dying from it
So people haven’t died?
People have died, but the nfl isn’t needed for anyone’s survival. Anyone who needs money can go work at a company that’s hiring (I.e. Target and Dominos). There are plenty of players who don’t need the money, so why put everyone at risk? For entertainment?
One could argue that Target and Dominos aren’t needed for survival. It really boils down to risk management. Totally eliminating risks in life is impossible since you could slip while taking a shower and suffer a fatal fall. Even when we find a vaccine there will still be risks. Ignoring risks is reckless but working to minimize risks as much as possible is an acceptable approach. I don’t think the NFL has lowered the risk level enough yet but if they can manage that, then there is no reason not to have a season.
Agree with all this f the previous comments.
Considering the false negative/positive testing is about 30%. Play the games without the crowd.
I think the NFL should use their money to get permitted for group testing, and start the permitting process now (however one might do that, I don’t know, money talks right?). Test each team at once by group test, or within a few groups the day before game day. Players quarantine. If tests are clear, play the game. If a team fails, the game is postponed (cancelled?) until individual players are traced. Infected players sit out until they test neg. Next week, the team can play so long as they pass the next group test the day before game day.
And yes, no crowd.
Just too many obstacles to overcome for an NFL season to be anything but a clustermuck. Are players going to be tested after every series of downs? Well, that works beautifully if you want to drag games out for 8 hours.
think about how many commercials they could squeeze in haha
Watching the Bears inept offense for 10 minutes tests my limits. I’m not interested in 8 hours of that torture.
Death is a part of life.
“I don’t believe in the after life, although I am bringing a change of underwear” – Woody Allen
so would you say you are on board with accelerating the rate of which death occurs it for your amusement?
I’m still confused on why no one has answered this. Why can’t the players who need money go get a job at a place that is hiring like Target or Domino’s and the players who don’t need it stay home?
I did reply to 1 of your 11 times you posted this same comment. Why not let the players decide if it is worth the risk? Nobody is forcing anyone to play football.
Looks like I’m batting below .100 🙂 . If the commissioner says no, then it’s not their choice. My question was more pointed towards the fact that there are jobs out there that require no physical contact with people and that sometimes you have to make a choice for people who can’t make the safe choice for themselves.
Basically every job requires being within 6ft of someone else. Also, people are grocery shopping so this really isn’t any different. Contact is unavoidable.
Only comment you’ve posted worth agreeing with. Grocery stores are still the wild wild west in terms of how much contact people have with one another. The only people who can really work and be 6ft apart are those who work from home.
When are ppl going to send Dr Bill Gates ass kissing Fauci out to pasture
This whole thing has always been about power and control and the almighty greed
Amen!