The coronavirus outbreak has made a significant impact on the sports world. March Madness and college basketball tournaments will be played without fans. The NBA has halted its season after a player for the Utah Jazz tested positive for COVID-19. Now things are beginning to impact the NFL as well.
The NFL has the luxury of not being in-season and having to make decisions related to games. Annual league meetings and the NFL draft are on the horizon, and decision-makers have begun discussing their options for those events. There have also been some changes that teams have made related to their pro day travel arrangements.
On Wednesday, NFL reporter Tom Pelissero learned that multiple NFL teams had altered their pre-draft travel plans, taking coaching staff off the road for pro days. Yahoo Sports’ Terez Paylor reports that the Kansas City Chiefs have now joined those NFL teams by taking their coaching staff out of the pro day circuit. According to Paylor, they’re remaining extremely cautious and deferring to the NFL and medical experts on how to proceed.
While the Chiefs’ coaching staff is completely grounded, it doesn’t appear to extend to the Chiefs’ scouting staff. Herbie Teope of the Kansas City Star confirmed Paylor’s initial report, and added to it, claiming that Chiefs scouts will now drive to their pro day destinations instead of flying. The hope is that this will put them at less risk of contamination.
Keep in mind that we’ve confirmed that Chiefs scouts have been in attendance at eight pro days, so far. Many other pro days are scheduled to happen between now and the 2020 NFL draft.
Kansas City will do the best they can to ensure their staff is not exposed to the coronavirus. Obviously, this is all a very fluid situation for the NFL and other sports leagues. Expect further changes to the pre-draft process for the NFL in the future.
