The NFL’s treatment of the COVID-19 pandemic has been constantly scrutinized this season. The thrice-delayed bout between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers is the newest crisis.
The Thanksgiving Day game is now delayed for a third time due to a huge outbreak of COVID among Ravens players and staff, including reigning MVP Lamar Jackson. Delayed games are nothing new this season but the disparity in the league’s treatment of marquee teams is absurd. The Denver Broncos were forced to play this weekend’s game despite losing all three quarterbacks on their depth chart to COVID-19 related absences. The league seemingly never entertained postponing the far less important Denver game.
The Broncos became so desperate that they were forced to use an undrafted wide receiver to play under center on Sunday. There were a total of 91 yards and three interceptions for both Denver and New Orleans in what was by all accounts a brutal game to watch. At a point, the on-field product suffers. The same thing happened earlier in the season when the league accommodated the Tennessee Titans with postponement but forced the New England Patriots to play their game against the Kansas City Chiefs despite the COVID-19 related absence of quarterback Cam Newton.
As of Tuesday, there continue to be rumblings around the league that the Baltimore Ravens will boycott the rescheduled Wednesday afternoon game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team has legitimate concerns about their safety and how they are viewed by the league.
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Pittsburgh also has a reason to boycott the contest. If any of the 20 Ravens players on the COVID list are rushed back to suit up, everyone on the field within close contact would be in danger. Football players tend to get within close contact of one another in the course of doing their jobs.
With the NFL pushing forward at full speed during the coronavirus pandemic, the league showed their true colors by sacrificing safety for a product, even one as mediocre as last week’s Denver versus New Orleans contest. While the league punished teams for breaking protocol before, time will tell if the NFL can get every franchise back on track in time for the playoffs.
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