NFL schedule changes as COVID cases surge
A record number of NFL players tested positive for COVID-19 last week, leading to postponed games.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – Football fans got double the action Monday night and will again Tuesday night.
That's because the NFL rearranged its Week 15 schedule as COVID-19 cases surge among the players, 100 of whom tested positive over three days last week.
For the second year in a row, professional sports teams aren’t just worried about their opponent — they’re worried about whether there are enough players to play the game.
"Just like anywhere else, you have to think about can you operate your business if everybody is sick?" said Brian Labus, infectious disease epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. "The NFL is no different. They have to think about how they’re going to manage this when there is a pandemic going on."
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The NFL saw a record high of COVID-positive players last week, including the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback Baker Mayfield.
The league postponed three of its Week 15 games, allowing time for some of the players to receive a negative test result.
"The problem the NFL is seeing is that they started testing a lot of people, and they were finding positives, and they had to deal with that and cancel games, postpone games, do things like that, which is affecting their ability to play," Labus said.
Since then, the NFL announced it would reduce weekly testing to only non-vaccinated players.
Fully vaccinated, asymptomatic players no longer have to test weekly.
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"All parties should be in the same bowl regardless if you’re vaccinated or unvaccinated," said Liffort Hobley, former NFL player and NFL Alumni Dallas Chapter president. "I think everyone should fall under the same protocol."
If Hobley had played in 2020, he would have played in front of cardboard cut-outs.
And if he were playing this season, he says he would do his part in the fight against COVID.
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"The responsibility falls on all parties including the players, and of course being responsible enough to make the right choices," Hobley said.
The National Hockey League also announced that games played between Canadian and U.S.-based teams would be postponed.
The NBA postponed five of this week’s games as well.
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