Bears outside linebacker Khalil Mack and the NFL’s biggest stars began a social-media blitz around noon Sunday, lobbying for owners for agree to coronavirus protocols with the start of training camp approaching like a blitzing pass rusher.
“NFL, please address health and safety concerns so we can play football this year! #itsonlyright #cantwait,” Mack wrote on Twitter.
The coordinated push by the NFL Players Association tried to recreate baseball’s viral moment six weeks ago, when Major League Baseball Players Association head Tony Clark said to “tell us when and where.” Clark’s statement was reiterated and Retweeted by players across the sport, but it generated momentum that yielded little results. Rather than agree to a deal with baseball’s owners, the union reserved the right to file a grievance and let the commissioner declare the start of the season by fiat. Sunday night, the Cubs and White Sox played the first major sports exhibition in the city since March.
The NFL, meanwhile, was supposed to be the sport with time on its side. The coronavirus lockdown began the month after the Super Bowl and six months before the start of the regular season.
That time has been squandered.
The only one of America’s four major sports leagues to not change its regular-season schedule because of the virus still hasn’t figured out the basics. And its first deadline looms Monday.
Even if the two sides reach a deal before then — and they are motivated to try — one wonders why an agreement had to be so difficult. Infection rates have surged across the country, making the coronavirus more intimidating in many NFL markets than it was months ago. But that shouldn’t have prevented agreement on economic, medical and structural issues.
The union wants its players to be tested daily, while the owners prefer every other day. As of Friday, 65 NFL players had tested positive at some point this offseason for the virus, the union said.
A joint medical committee formed by the league and the union recommended a longer training camp acclimation period to make up for the lack of team-driven offseason workouts, but the two sides don’t agree on how that suggestion would be implemented. The union refused to report to training camp early and instead wants all preseason games canceled to allow for the acclimation. The owners want two preseason games.
Also at issue is details surrounding an opt-out clause for players. The union said Friday that no players have formally said they’ll stay home, but baseball and the NBA restarts have proven that it’s just a matter of time. Complicating matters: unlike Major League Baseball and the NBA, football players don’t have guaranteed contracts.
The collective bargaining agreement dictates that players must report to training camp July 28. Rookies can arrive Tuesday, quarterbacks and injured players Thursday.
The Texans and Super Bowl champion Chiefs can welcome rookies Monday, though, because they are playing in the regular-season opener on a Thursday night. That’s the league’s first deadline, and the impetus for negotiations both in private and, with a #wewanttoplay hashtag, the court of public opinion.
Players will report. If the two sides haven’t agreed to their issues by Monday, the union could attempt to file a grievance for unsafe work conditions.
Sunday featured some saber-rattling, sure. Sam Acho, the former Bears linebacker and current NFLPA vice president, Tweeted the NFL “waited until the last minute and ignored the recommendations of experts.” Still, it’s hard not to sympathize with Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who Tweeted that he was concerned because his wife is pregnant and the league still has “no clear plan on player health and family safety.”
NFLPA president J.C. Tretter, the Browns center, said the league “needs to listen to our union and adopt the experts’ recommendations.”
The two sides are negotiating. The clock is ticking.
And fans are wondering why, despite a four-month head start, it had to come down to the wire.
