Players sitting out 2020

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Bronco Billy
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Players sitting out 2020

Postby Bronco Billy » Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:09 am

Just read this about Todd Gurley, and I’ll admit that it really raised my hackles:
TODD GURLEY
RB, ATLANTA FALCONS

Todd Gurley said he's open to sitting out the season if the NFL doesn't come up with a proper COVID-19 safety plan.
“It’s really not structured right,” Gurley said about the NFL’s current restart plan. “There’s not a proper plan in place that I’m comfortable with. I don’t have a wife. I don’t have any kids. You have to look at guys on the other side who have [a] pregnant wife, kids and a wife that they go home to every single day. I just feel like we just need to come up with something a lot better than what they’re giving us. Everything they gave us is pretty last minute. We should have been able to have answers weeks ago, if not months ago. You have to be prepared to not play or be prepared to have a half a season. If they don’t do things right, we won’t have a full season. It’s just how things have been going so far this year. Hopefully everything goes well, but I don’t see [it]. It just doesn’t sit well right now.” The league and NFLPA are working on a plan as we speak, but this is something that should've been done weeks ago, as Gurley said, with training camps scheduled to open this coming week. Gurley is one of the first players we've seen actually talk about the possibility of sitting out.
Now, I will freely concede that any player can sit out if they want and not one of them is beholden to play in the NFL ever if they choose not. And I’m okay if they do - that just provides opportunity for someone else.

However, we have got some significant issues going on in the country right now and could probably use a morale booster like the NFL playing this season for all of us. For a guy like Gurley is who has the gift to be able to play in the NFL to just shrug it off so lightly just really pisses me off.

We have a ton of people right now who don’t have a choice on whether they will go to work or not - they can’t because they lost their job and can’t find another one. You know, Todd, that we have people who defend this country and make literally 1/100th of what you make in a year doing it and get deployed overseas to sometimes God forsaken parts of the world for extended times away from their families as part of their jobs. And they take a lot greater chances with their lives than a young healthy guy like you does from any risk of COVID.

There is no reason why a NFL player with a family member at risk couldn’t play the season out of a remote location, still be able to take care of their family financially and stay in close contact through phone and telecommunications while they do so, and then return after the season, given the extraordinary circumstances that all of us are under. You have been given a huge privilege to be able to do what you do and be compensated like you are, and it really doesn’t strike me well that you come off acting like such a victim when you are free to choose whatever course you do this season and most probably still be completely whole financially. A whole lot of other people are in much more dire circumstances than you are and don’t have the choices you do moving forward this year.

You want to sit? Then sit. But stop bitching about expecting even more additional help from the league given where you already are and take on some of the responsibility for your own well being and that of your family.

Okay, rant over.

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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby UnsafeAtAnySpd » Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:30 am

You can make your argument without invoking "muh troops!" Using service members to take jabs at others is played out.

That said, the players get relatively little of what the league itself gets. And to expect that appropriate safety precautions are taken isn't ridiculous at all regardless of that disparity.

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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby Ray Finkle » Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:41 am

C’mon OP. If dude doesn’t feel comfortable going to work because he feels it is unsafe and he is blessed enough to have the means to make that decision, then dude can make that decision. This goes for NFL player/worker, restaurant worker, manufacturing worker, health care worker...literally everyone.

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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby Bronco Billy » Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:51 am

Ray Finkle wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:41 am C’mon OP. If dude doesn’t feel comfortable going to work because he feels it is unsafe and he is blessed enough to have the means to make that decision, then dude can make that decision. This goes for NFL player/worker, restaurant worker, manufacturing worker, health care worker...literally everyone.

I believe that I stated as much more than once.

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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby Bronco Billy » Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:53 am

UnsafeAtAnySpd wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:30 am You can make your argument without invoking "muh troops!" Using service members to take jabs at others is played out.

That said, the players get relatively little of what the league itself gets. And to expect that appropriate safety precautions are taken isn't ridiculous at all regardless of that disparity.
yeah, workers do tend to get a lot less of the compensation than business owners of well established businesses. Odd, isn’t it? That doesn’t preclude in this case that the workers are extremely well compensated and have means of their own.

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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby I-ROK » Sat Jul 25, 2020 8:32 am

Interesting post BB. I will try to keep this focused on dynasty discussion, but ultimately this is bound to be moved. I think evolving this into a thread where people update with any players who intend to sit out would be useful.

Now for my off topic comments

I agree that these guys have nothing to complain about. There are people that are in worse situations financially and are put at a bigger risk than NFL players in their every day jobs. To Gurleys defense, this seems like he was asked about his plans and gave his honest opinion. If he was seeking out the media or making unprompted statements on twitter then we could say he’s bitching and doesn’t have a leg to stand on for it.

I couldn’t care less. I’ve found this lack of sports to be refreshing and a realization that I really don’t need them. I won’t be watching the NFL this year, and won’t miss it.

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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby killer_of_giants » Sat Jul 25, 2020 8:57 am

Bronco Billy wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:09 amThere is no reason why a NFL player with a family member at risk couldn’t play the season out of a remote location, still be able to take care of their family financially and stay in close contact through phone and telecommunications while they do so, and then return after the season, given the extraordinary circumstances that all of us are under.
too right! if you make a lot of money, entertaining a bunch of strangers has to be a lot more important than your own bloody family!

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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby Orenthal Shames » Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:00 am

:crazy: at the troops comment. If you don't want to endure the things required of military life, don't sign up.

The compensation is irrelevant to the discussion. Elite athletes are paid exponentially more due to having a highly unique, profitable skillset. The same goes for all those with upper end salaries across the board. The vast majority of the poplulation is eligible to enlist. It's basic economics.

As for dynasty, players opting out could be disastrous for the 2020 season. In any proper dynasty league, you just can't replace a high level talent if they opt out. In our league, we are waiting for the list come August 1st before collecting dues to see how we will move forward in 2020.
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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby Ray Finkle » Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:26 am

Bronco Billy wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:51 am
Ray Finkle wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:41 am C’mon OP. If dude doesn’t feel comfortable going to work because he feels it is unsafe and he is blessed enough to have the means to make that decision, then dude can make that decision. This goes for NFL player/worker, restaurant worker, manufacturing worker, health care worker...literally everyone.

I believe that I stated as much more than once.
You did in fact state it twice. The first time it was followed by the word “However”. The second time it was followed by the word “But”.

In my opinion those statement don’t need qualification. If he doesn’t feel safe playing and has the means to make that decision, then he shouldn’t play. He’s not some pawn or gladiator. I’m not aware if he was “bitching” or not so I have no opinion on that.

Like a previous poster mentioned, even if this thread does get moved it would be nice if we do keep an active thread here that tallies those who decide to opt out.

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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby abloom » Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:42 am

Bronco Billy wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:09 am For a guy like Gurley is who has the gift to be able to play in the NFL to just shrug it off so lightly just really pisses me off.

We have a ton of people right now who don’t have a choice on whether they will go to work or not - they can’t because they lost their job and can’t find another one. You know, Todd, that we have people who defend this country and make literally 1/100th of what you make in a year doing it and get deployed overseas to sometimes God forsaken parts of the world for extended times away from their families as part of their jobs. And they take a lot greater chances with their lives than a young healthy guy like you does from any risk of COVID.
Are you saying that people should not be able to exercise their freedoms if it impacts your life? By sitting out he is doing the most patriotic thing, making a choice. Just like the choice people made to volunteer to serve in the armed forces.

Infact I think far too often people are not realizing how critical it is to social distanced and isolate. Let's be clear athletes with no underlying conditions are unlikely to die from covid19, but the more that don't isolate the more likely that they provide a safe pool for covid19 to infect and then pass on to those who are at risk of death. Same goes for young people. Isolating saves American (and all people) lives.

Your rant comes off as inconsiderate and self centered to me tbh. Of course you are entitled to your opinions and to express those opinions but you just come off poorly imo.
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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby ericanadian » Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:48 am

This is a fair bit different than I expected this thread to go based on the title. I think the idea that sports are worth doing because the escape they provide is a questionable premise to begin with. The NFL’s plan to play across the country with teams of fifty, coaches, refs, camera crews, support staff, etc is adding a fair bit of risk to any city with an NFL team and not just the players. I vastly prefer the routes taken by the NHL & NBA and there really isn’t any reason the NFL can’t run things out of a couple hub cities. It seems very likely that there will be no fans at the games, so there should be minimal concern about homefield advantage and you could employ people full time and require them to isolate much more than you can with guys coming in once a week for peanuts.

Anyways, shout out to Laurent Duvernay-Tardif for his decision to sit out given the reasons he’s doing so. Unfortunate for CEH, Williams and maybe even Mahomes, but I’m a Raiders fan, so..
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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby Bronco Billy » Sat Jul 25, 2020 2:23 pm

abloom wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:42 am
Bronco Billy wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:09 am For a guy like Gurley is who has the gift to be able to play in the NFL to just shrug it off so lightly just really pisses me off.

We have a ton of people right now who don’t have a choice on whether they will go to work or not - they can’t because they lost their job and can’t find another one. You know, Todd, that we have people who defend this country and make literally 1/100th of what you make in a year doing it and get deployed overseas to sometimes God forsaken parts of the world for extended times away from their families as part of their jobs. And they take a lot greater chances with their lives than a young healthy guy like you does from any risk of COVID.
Are you saying that people should not be able to exercise their freedoms if it impacts your life? By sitting out he is doing the most patriotic thing, making a choice. Just like the choice people made to volunteer to serve in the armed forces.

Infact I think far too often people are not realizing how critical it is to social distanced and isolate. Let's be clear athletes with no underlying conditions are unlikely to die from covid19, but the more that don't isolate the more likely that they provide a safe pool for covid19 to infect and then pass on to those who are at risk of death. Same goes for young people. Isolating saves American (and all people) lives.

Your rant comes off as inconsiderate and self centered to me tbh. Of course you are entitled to your opinions and to express those opinions but you just come off poorly imo.
Oh for Pete’s sake. Then let’s eliminate all risk to people. Eliminate guns. Eliminate cars. Eliminate tobacco. Eliminate alcohol. How many annual deaths can be attributed to those? Eliminate any possible risk - after all, it may save one life. Let’s just all live in bubbles. Then we’ll all be safe.

For NFL players, given their athletic condition and their age group, the flu poses as great or greater threat to their health than COVID. So let’s cancel the NFL during flu season, right? Oh, wait...

Our activities that we can enjoin without any boundaries, bias or prejudices are important to our society. It allows us to transcend all those boundaries - race, religion, social and economic standing, and act as one. The owner of a $50M company can sit next to the guy who works at a fast food restaurant and they can enjoy each others’ company and share the bonding experience of a common cause in which they can immerse themselves. They can spend 3-5 hours together and set aside any and all other differences and be complete equals as they engage in their fandom. Tomorrow, one may go to board meetings and swing $500k deals while the other flips burgers, but for that 3-5 hours, they are legitimate peers. That’s not unimportant to us as a society. Especially a capitalist society that thrives on competition.

Everyone has a choice not to participate, but in a free society that choice should be ours, and not dictated to us by others.

The league can choose to move forward - with or without fans in the stands - and they have elected to move forward and provide the entertainment that is the NFL.

Gurley, as every other player in the league, has a choice - he can choose to play or not to play, and he has the ability and wherewithall to create the conditions where he can play - with virtually no risk to himself - while ensuring that his family remains safe and secure, both healthwise and financially. If Gurley chooses not to play because he thinks the risk is too high to himself or his family, the NFL will go on without him and he can find another vocation for himself to occupy his time and provide for his family. And I’ll support whatever choice he makes, because it is his choice.

But in today’s society, and most especially that we are being inundated with forces that seek to divide us in an effort to bolster their power, I would submit that something as simple and basic to our society as team sports leagues like the NFL, and college football, and high school football are sorely needed to help bond and heal us. Something as seemingly simple as NFL fandom is something we all need right now - and we need it free of political grandstanding and other tactics that only seek to separate us even in these activities. We are relentlessly inundated with diversive issues in our daily lives. We need this diversion and the associated togetherness.

Can’t we enjoy our commonality and our shared experiences that make us one also? Isn’t our greatest strength that we are all very different, yet we are all one? It can happen with or without Todd Gurley, and it can happen with minimal risk to those participating.

Is that inconsiderate and self-centered to you?

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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby alewilliam789 » Sat Jul 25, 2020 2:44 pm

Bronco Billy wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:09 am Just read this about Todd Gurley, and I’ll admit that it really raised my hackles:
TODD GURLEY
RB, ATLANTA FALCONS

Todd Gurley said he's open to sitting out the season if the NFL doesn't come up with a proper COVID-19 safety plan.
“It’s really not structured right,” Gurley said about the NFL’s current restart plan. “There’s not a proper plan in place that I’m comfortable with. I don’t have a wife. I don’t have any kids. You have to look at guys on the other side who have [a] pregnant wife, kids and a wife that they go home to every single day. I just feel like we just need to come up with something a lot better than what they’re giving us. Everything they gave us is pretty last minute. We should have been able to have answers weeks ago, if not months ago. You have to be prepared to not play or be prepared to have a half a season. If they don’t do things right, we won’t have a full season. It’s just how things have been going so far this year. Hopefully everything goes well, but I don’t see [it]. It just doesn’t sit well right now.” The league and NFLPA are working on a plan as we speak, but this is something that should've been done weeks ago, as Gurley said, with training camps scheduled to open this coming week. Gurley is one of the first players we've seen actually talk about the possibility of sitting out.
Now, I will freely concede that any player can sit out if they want and not one of them is beholden to play in the NFL ever if they choose not. And I’m okay if they do - that just provides opportunity for someone else.

However, we have got some significant issues going on in the country right now and could probably use a morale booster like the NFL playing this season for all of us. For a guy like Gurley is who has the gift to be able to play in the NFL to just shrug it off so lightly just really pisses me off.

We have a ton of people right now who don’t have a choice on whether they will go to work or not - they can’t because they lost their job and can’t find another one. You know, Todd, that we have people who defend this country and make literally 1/100th of what you make in a year doing it and get deployed overseas to sometimes God forsaken parts of the world for extended times away from their families as part of their jobs. And they take a lot greater chances with their lives than a young healthy guy like you does from any risk of COVID.

There is no reason why a NFL player with a family member at risk couldn’t play the season out of a remote location, still be able to take care of their family financially and stay in close contact through phone and telecommunications while they do so, and then return after the season, given the extraordinary circumstances that all of us are under. You have been given a huge privilege to be able to do what you do and be compensated like you are, and it really doesn’t strike me well that you come off acting like such a victim when you are free to choose whatever course you do this season and most probably still be completely whole financially. A whole lot of other people are in much more dire circumstances than you are and don’t have the choices you do moving forward this year.

You want to sit? Then sit. But stop bitching about expecting even more additional help from the league given where you already are and take on some of the responsibility for your own well being and that of your family.

Okay, rant over.

First off, you start off your entire paragraph talking about how somehow these players are entitled to risk getting the virus in order to create a “morale boost” for America. No these men aren’t entitled to put on pads for you in any way quite frankly, especially in the midst of a pandemic that could expose their family and themselves.

Second, you talk about how they are the victim? While they make millions of dollars, if the NFL doesn’t properly instill regulations that keep them from getting sick and asks them to play through it anyway they are a victim! OSHA has had its nuts tore off in the midst of this pandemic by certain political forces I’d rather not start on, but the places we work and the stages these NFL players play on both deserve the same amount of safety regulation and welfare consideration against potentially harmful situations. This is whether they make millions of dollars or not. The NFL was a bunch of imbeciles for not creating some extensive plan for how this was going to take place. All the players have stated they want to play, but there needs to be proper structure in place so that they aren’t risking themselves or the people around them it’s honestly that simple.
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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby ericanadian » Sat Jul 25, 2020 2:47 pm

Bronco Billy wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 2:23 pm
abloom wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:42 am
Bronco Billy wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:09 am For a guy like Gurley is who has the gift to be able to play in the NFL to just shrug it off so lightly just really pisses me off.

We have a ton of people right now who don’t have a choice on whether they will go to work or not - they can’t because they lost their job and can’t find another one. You know, Todd, that we have people who defend this country and make literally 1/100th of what you make in a year doing it and get deployed overseas to sometimes God forsaken parts of the world for extended times away from their families as part of their jobs. And they take a lot greater chances with their lives than a young healthy guy like you does from any risk of COVID.
Are you saying that people should not be able to exercise their freedoms if it impacts your life? By sitting out he is doing the most patriotic thing, making a choice. Just like the choice people made to volunteer to serve in the armed forces.

Infact I think far too often people are not realizing how critical it is to social distanced and isolate. Let's be clear athletes with no underlying conditions are unlikely to die from covid19, but the more that don't isolate the more likely that they provide a safe pool for covid19 to infect and then pass on to those who are at risk of death. Same goes for young people. Isolating saves American (and all people) lives.

Your rant comes off as inconsiderate and self centered to me tbh. Of course you are entitled to your opinions and to express those opinions but you just come off poorly imo.
Oh for Pete’s sake. Then let’s eliminate all risk to people. Eliminate guns. Eliminate cars. Eliminate tobacco. Eliminate alcohol. How many annual deaths can be attributed to those? Eliminate any possible risk - after all, it may save one life. Let’s just all live in bubbles. Then we’ll all be safe.

For NFL players, given their athletic condition and their age group, the flu poses as great or greater threat to their health than COVID. So let’s cancel the NFL during flu season, right? Oh, wait...

Our activities that we can enjoin without any boundaries, bias or prejudices are important to our society. It allows us to transcend all those boundaries - race, religion, social and economic standing, and act as one. The owner of a $50M company can sit next to the guy who works at a fast food restaurant and they can enjoy each others’ company and share the bonding experience of a common cause in which they can immerse themselves. They can spend 3-5 hours together and set aside any and all other differences and be complete equals as they engage in their fandom. Tomorrow, one may go to board meetings and swing $500k deals while the other flips burgers, but for that 3-5 hours, they are legitimate peers. That’s not unimportant to us as a society. Especially a capitalist society that thrives on competition.

Everyone has a choice not to participate, but in a free society that choice should be ours, and not dictated to us by others.

The league can choose to move forward - with or without fans in the stands - and they have elected to move forward and provide the entertainment that is the NFL.

Gurley, as every other player in the league, has a choice - he can choose to play or not to play, and he has the ability and wherewithall to create the conditions where he can play - with virtually no risk to himself - while ensuring that his family remains safe and secure, both healthwise and financially. If Gurley chooses not to play because he thinks the risk is too high to himself or his family, the NFL will go on without him and he can find another vocation for himself to occupy his time and provide for his family. And I’ll support whatever choice he makes, because it is his choice.

But in today’s society, and most especially that we are being inundated with forces that seek to divide us in an effort to bolster their power, I would submit that something as simple and basic to our society as team sports leagues like the NFL, and college football, and high school football are sorely needed to help bond and heal us. Something as seemingly simple as NFL fandom is something we all need right now - and we need it free of political grandstanding and other tactics that only seek to separate us even in these activities. We are relentlessly inundated with diversive issues in our daily lives. We need this diversion and the associated togetherness.

Can’t we enjoy our commonality and our shared experiences that make us one also? Isn’t our greatest strength that we are all very different, yet we are all one? It can happen with or without Todd Gurley, and it can happen with minimal risk to those participating.

Is that inconsiderate and self-centered to you?
No, but its a bit naive. The NFL has been used as much as anything to divide the people of America the last couple years. The kneeling thing was blown way out of proportion and you had the President himself weighing in on the topic in a very political way.
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Re: Players sitting out 2020

Postby StripesOfKC » Sat Jul 25, 2020 2:49 pm

alewilliam789 wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 2:44 pm
Bronco Billy wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:09 am Just read this about Todd Gurley, and I’ll admit that it really raised my hackles:
TODD GURLEY
RB, ATLANTA FALCONS

Todd Gurley said he's open to sitting out the season if the NFL doesn't come up with a proper COVID-19 safety plan.
“It’s really not structured right,” Gurley said about the NFL’s current restart plan. “There’s not a proper plan in place that I’m comfortable with. I don’t have a wife. I don’t have any kids. You have to look at guys on the other side who have [a] pregnant wife, kids and a wife that they go home to every single day. I just feel like we just need to come up with something a lot better than what they’re giving us. Everything they gave us is pretty last minute. We should have been able to have answers weeks ago, if not months ago. You have to be prepared to not play or be prepared to have a half a season. If they don’t do things right, we won’t have a full season. It’s just how things have been going so far this year. Hopefully everything goes well, but I don’t see [it]. It just doesn’t sit well right now.” The league and NFLPA are working on a plan as we speak, but this is something that should've been done weeks ago, as Gurley said, with training camps scheduled to open this coming week. Gurley is one of the first players we've seen actually talk about the possibility of sitting out.
Now, I will freely concede that any player can sit out if they want and not one of them is beholden to play in the NFL ever if they choose not. And I’m okay if they do - that just provides opportunity for someone else.

However, we have got some significant issues going on in the country right now and could probably use a morale booster like the NFL playing this season for all of us. For a guy like Gurley is who has the gift to be able to play in the NFL to just shrug it off so lightly just really pisses me off.

We have a ton of people right now who don’t have a choice on whether they will go to work or not - they can’t because they lost their job and can’t find another one. You know, Todd, that we have people who defend this country and make literally 1/100th of what you make in a year doing it and get deployed overseas to sometimes God forsaken parts of the world for extended times away from their families as part of their jobs. And they take a lot greater chances with their lives than a young healthy guy like you does from any risk of COVID.

There is no reason why a NFL player with a family member at risk couldn’t play the season out of a remote location, still be able to take care of their family financially and stay in close contact through phone and telecommunications while they do so, and then return after the season, given the extraordinary circumstances that all of us are under. You have been given a huge privilege to be able to do what you do and be compensated like you are, and it really doesn’t strike me well that you come off acting like such a victim when you are free to choose whatever course you do this season and most probably still be completely whole financially. A whole lot of other people are in much more dire circumstances than you are and don’t have the choices you do moving forward this year.

You want to sit? Then sit. But stop bitching about expecting even more additional help from the league given where you already are and take on some of the responsibility for your own well being and that of your family.

Okay, rant over.

First off, you start off your entire paragraph talking about how somehow these players are entitled to risk getting the virus in order to create a “morale boost” for America. No these men aren’t entitled to put on pads for you in any way quite frankly, especially in the midst of a pandemic that could expose their family and themselves.

Second, you talk about how they are the victim? While they make millions of dollars, if the NFL doesn’t properly instill regulations that keep them from getting sick and asks them to play through it anyway they are a victim! OSHA has had its nuts tore off in the midst of this pandemic by certain political forces I’d rather not start on, but the places we work and the stages these NFL players play on both deserve the same amount of safety regulation and welfare consideration against potentially harmful situations. This is whether they make millions of dollars or not. The NFL was a bunch of imbeciles for not creating some extensive plan for how this was going to take place. All the players have stated they want to play, but there needs to be proper structure in place so that they aren’t risking themselves or the people around them it’s honestly that simple.
Yet the players rejected face shields

Not saying the NFL handled this well but players lost a ton of credibility on the "safety" charge after rejecting that

Either way they will get daily testing, masks at games if there are fans, and I think the season will happen (not a guarantee but I'd lean that way)


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