The NFL is ready to drop the hammer on teams if unvaccinated players cause games to be canceled.
According to Tom Pelissero, the league informed teams Thursday that there will be serious consequences for any team that has an outbreak among unvaccinated players. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
If a game is canceled, the team with the outbreak among unvaccinated players will have to forfeit, take a loss for playoff seeding and could be held financially responsible.
Yes, teams might have to write a check for any game that ends up getting canceled! Furthermore, nobody will get paid if games have to be canceled.
The NFL just informed clubs that if a game cannot be rescheduled during the 18-week season in 2021 due to a COVID outbreak among unvaccinated players, the team with the outbreak will FORFEIT and be credited with a loss for playoff seeding, per sources.
Massive implications.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 22, 2021
Here’s more from today’s memo, which also says the team responsible for a canceled game because of an outbreak among unvaccinated players/staff will be responsible for financial losses and subject to potential discipline from the commissioner. Wow. pic.twitter.com/Q86a2WcG1K
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 22, 2021
Do we think the NFL is playing games or not when it comes to getting players vaccinated? The answer to that is a crystal clear no.
Holding teams financially responsible for games being canceled is about as bad a punishment as I can possibly imagine. That’s probably worse than losing a draft pick.
Think about how much money every single NFL game makes in ticket sales, food, merchandise, parking and TV money. Now, imagine the owner writing a check to cover all of that because of an outbreak.
Other key competitive aspect of today’s memo:
Vaccinated individuals who test positive and are asymptomatic can return to duty after two negative tests 24 hours apart.
Unvaccinated individuals still subject to mandatory 10-day isolation period.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 22, 2021
The NFL can’t force players to get vaccinated, but it’s clear they’re going out of their way to make life a living hell for anyone who is unvaccinated.
They’re really putting the screws to teams in order to get players vaccinated.
This is the NFL’s strongest step yet to incentivize vaccinations. In essence, vaccination status dictates action:
“If a club cannot play due to a Covid spike in vaccinated individuals, we will attempt to minimize the competitive and economic burden on both participating teams.”
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 22, 2021
Buckle up because I think we’re in for a wild situation if a game ends up getting canceled and people have to write checks. It’s going to get very ugly.