Sure, I've seen a lot of it over the years and can watch a game with reasonably good understanding of what's going on. I haven't been in years, but my husband and I used to like to take in an occasional college game, of the low-key local variety - like Harvard vs. Holy Cross. (Normal sized athletes who are, in fact, more student that athlete.) Come February, I'll tune into the Super Bowl. But mostly I'm not a big fan of football. I'm especially not a big fan of pro football. And I'm super-especially not a big fan of the National Football League, the organization that runs the pro shebang.
In a major escalation of pressure on NFL teams to vaccinate as many players as possible before the start of this fall's season, the NFL says that teams will forfeit and be slapped with a loss if a game is cancelled because of a COVID-19 outbreak among their unvaccinated players — and neither team's players will be paid. (Source: NPR)
Predictably, some players are squawking up a storm. Pro football players are young and fit, and the majority (although certainly not all) of those who've been hospitalized and/or died have been not so young and/or not so fit. So it's easy to think of yourself as invulnerable. And maybe, at that stage in life, not to worry about those who are more vulnerable other there. When you're young, you don't spend a lot of time thinking about your mortality - or that or anyone else.
Plus there's a definite streak of conservatism threaded throughout the NFL: players (most notably white ones), coaches, owners. So there's a bunch of political hell-no going on there. (While the majority of players have had at least one shot, about one-quarter haven't yet rolled up their sleeves.)
Anyway, despite the grumbling and nega-tweeting, so far - and, admittedly, it's only been a couple of days - the NFL is holding firm.
Even though it's not quite as dire as it sounds - the League will make best-efforts attempts to reschedule games that are canceled due to covid (admittedly they doesn't have a lot of wiggle room in a crammed scheduled during which teams get only one bye-week when no game is played) - that's a lot of pressure being put on players to get jabbed. Not only do they risk their team's playoff chances, but the pocketbooks of players - both teammates and the players on the other side, who'll all be understandably pissed if they lose a paycheck.
Another aspect of the NFL policy is that "any burdens, competitive or financial, caused by the postponement or cancellation of a game onto the team whose outbreak caused it." Teams with unvaxxed players who come down with covid will also be subject to fines.
Good! I mean 'yay!'
We're seeing now the impact of refusal to get vaccination. The delta variant has taken off, and, while nearly all of those dying of covid these days are unvaccinated, the longer it takes to get everyone who can be vaccinated vaccinated (i.e., achieve herd immunity), the more likely that even worse variants will crop up. And there's the fear that the vaccines won't do as good a job at managing those variants as they're doing with delta.
Even in a place like Massachusetts, which is one of the most vaccinated states, the breakouts of breakthrough covid (both, so far, on the Cape) are worrisome. And I'm not the only one who's ticked off that people who hadn't been vaccinated came streaming into Provincetown and other communities, going out maskless and partying away as free riders on those who have been responsible and gotten vaccinated. F 'em.
Anyway, I'm guessing that, by fall, we're all going to be going back to masking in indoor spaces. I'm not there yet, but the other day at the grocery store, I saw number of folks back to mask wearing. Just a few weeks ago, you could do your grocery shopping without seeing a soul in a mask.
I'm glad that the NFL is stepping up.
Personally, I don't give a hoot whether there's an NFL season this year. I would feel a little bad for fans who so look forward to it, but for me: meh.
But if the NFL puts a stake in the ground, it matters. They're big, powerful, and super-visible. Other businesses may follow their lead, which can only be a good thing.
If some players want to quit, have at it. (A coach for the Vikings has already been let go for digging his heels in on getting vaccinated. Enjoy your unemployment, pal!) And it would certainly be good for the vaccine-reluctant fan base to see more of football's superstars to make some noise about their being vaxxed. Two star quarterbacks - Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahones - have done so. Thanks, guys.
Maybe Tom Brady can follow suit. I mean, I didn't need an invite from TB12 to get my shot(s), but it might be helpful for the vaccine-reluctant who look up to sports heroes if their hero promoted vaccinations.
Our Tom - make that Their Tom - is something of an oddball when it comes to health, not eating tomatoes, nightshades, white food; and following his own somewhat eccentric fitness regimen. Obviously, it works for him, but it's not known where he stands on getting vaccinated. But despite his reputation as something of a Trumpist - that MAGA hat in his 2015 locker - his wife did say that neither of them would be voting for Trump in 2020. And when Tom and his team (the Tampa Bay Bucs) appeared at the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl win, Tom through some shade at Trump - much to the delight of Joe Biden.
So, come on, Tom: you and the other NFL "bigs" could probably influence plenty of vaccine-reluctant fans and colleagues.
Meanwhile, I'm just happy that the NFL is getting serious about covid.
I could say "it's about time." Instead, I'll go with YAY!
No comments:
Post a Comment