What Are The Odds The NFL Happens With Positive-Tested Players?

• NFL season is right around the corner and the league is trying their best to come up with the perfect strategy to play a healthy, COVID-19 free season.
• There are currently multiple NFL players infected with the Coronavirus which makes trying to come up with a plan for a safe playing environment that much harder.

DALLAS – Is it possible for the NFL to get through an entire season without suspending games or being extremely affected by the coronavirus pandemic?

As far as the 2020 season schedule goes, everything is set to go on as planned without delay.

While there may not be any spectators allowed at the games, the more pressing question is will COVID-19 play a major role with the NFL and their season the way its affected the seasons of all other major league sports that have had to cancel events this year?

COVID-19 And The NFL

If people in the medical field are to be believed, there will be a second cycle of the Coronavirus “the second wave” that will occur this Fall.

At the moment, that is not even a factor in the equation of what may occur for the NFL season.

Right now, it’s all about dealing with the current outbreak of the virus and ensuring that it will not be an issue for players or NFL team schedules.

COVID-19 made the NFL Draft virtual this year and spring training was a virtual experience as well.

When players were allowed to come together for practices, it was made to be done in groups of 15 or less to follow social distancing guidelines and prevent further spreading of the illness.

Still, several players from the football teams in Texas have tested positive for the Coronavirus.

According to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport, RB Ezekiel Elliot of the Dallas Cowboys is one of the players that have the Coronavirus. His agent reports that Elliot feels good, Rapaport tweeted.

#Cowboys star RB Ezekiel Elliott is one of the players who has tested positive for the Coronavirus, his agent Rocky Arceneaux confirmed to me. Arceneaux said Elliott is feeling good.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 15, 2020

With numerous players from the Houston Texans and the Dallas Cowboys suffering from COVID-19, how will the NFL be able to get their players healthy and carry on that clean bill of health by game time and for the duration of the year?

The Plan To Keep The NFL COVID-Free

The league has come up with a strategy for the most positive experience, the right kind of positive not the Coronavirus kind of positive.

First, they plan to test players from every organization three times a week.

The NFL Players Association’s (NFLPA) medical director Thom Mayer believes that the league will be able to secure accurate saliva testing kits prior to players’ going back to their training facilities in July.

There is a 90% chance that the NFL will have the testing kits by then says Mayer.

Other guidelines that are set to be followed are the rearranging of locker-rooms allowing for six feet of distance between players and staff at all times when not on the field.

Anything that can be done virtually at this time will be done with the use of those platforms.

Practices and workouts will continue on a 15-person maximum basis until proper testing kits are acquired. Should any player or member of the staff test positive, they will automatically be quarantined for 15 days and retested after that period.

So, Can The NFL Have A Virus-Free Season?

In theory, the NFL’s strategy to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus could work to keep the virus from hindering the season.

However, there is no telling how it will all work out once it’s implemented. With as many players as there are now that are testing positive at the moment, more rules and regulations may need to be made if COVID-19 continues to be as prevalent as it has been.

Otherwise, players will continue social distancing individually as they have been doing, and that’s proven to be ineffective as they’ve been testing positive.

If that same freedom to trust the athlete to make the right choices to keep from getting sick, the NFL season may very well be affected and infected by the Coronavirus Pandemic.

And with that, not only will athletes be hit with the virus, the league will take bigger financial hits and so will sportsbooks.

It’s a ripple effect that could even make its way to Super Bowl 55 if the NFL doesn’t get a proper handle on the pandemic.