League Owners, Players Associations Not Making Athletes Get Vaccinated Looking Foolish in Hindsight
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States and Canada in the spring of 2020, major athletic organizations including the NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL soon cancelled the rest of their seasons. When they decided to resume games, the leagues enforced new COVID protocols that included limited or even no fan attendance, mask requirements and testing of players, coaches and staff on a regular basis.
In spite of these measures, outbreaks and near outbreaks still happened. The New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres suffered a serious COVID infection wave in the winter of 2021 after playing each other back-to-back and had to postpone future games. A barber who worked with the Kansas City Chiefs almost derailed Super Bowl LV, when he tested positive for the virus. 20 people, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes, were in line for a trim when the barber found out his test results and had to cancel his remaining appointments.
When COVID-19 vaccines became widely available in the spring and summer of 2021, leagues and player’s associations collectively made the decision not to require athletes to get vaccinated. The NFL sent out a memo in July telling teams that if an outbreak occurred and the subsequent game couldn’t be rescheduled, the team causing the outbreak would forfeit the game and no athletes on either team would get paid for that event. MLB decided that if 85% of a team got vaccinated, they could eliminate social distancing. At the start of the 2021-22 season, the NBA required all staff and coaches to get a vaccine, but exempted players. The National Hockey League also deferred the choice to players, although U.S. based unvaxxed athletes would forfeit pay since they couldn’t cross the border to play in Canada.
These measures have failed to stop new outbreaks. Just a few days ago, the NFL had more than 120 players on COVID lists. The league has been forced to reschedule a number of games. After a rise in COVID cases, NBA owners are afraid the virus will sideline stars for Christmas Day matchups. The NHL, thanks to a new COVID surge, recently paused its season until after Christmas.
The tragedy is, this whole situation could have been avoided, if owners and players associations had mandated athletes to get vaccinated. The leagues are still reluctant to force players to get a vaccine that protects them against a deadly virus. Players unions, which should look out for their members’ health and safety, instead act as if the decision to get the shot or not is a personal choice that doesn’t affect anyone else.
The NFL, especially, by letting Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers flout COVID rules and eventually giving him a light tap on the wrist, give the impression that this pandemic isn’t that big of a deal, and stars like Rodgers will suffer few consequences for disregarding them. Fining a megabucks quarterback $14,650 doesn’t send a strong enough message.
-Jeff Dahlberg
Twitter: @JeffDahlberg3