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The NFL season is totally fucked.
Yeah, I said it. But, c’mon, you’ve already thought it; multiple times. In fact, you’ve even planned on the NFL season not being played because the ongoing pandemic is getting way worse with each passing day, not any better. So, while the league often preached time being on its side months ago, we’re already into July and training camps are set to start later this month — and we still have no idea what the 2020 season could possibly look like.
Since we all know the league will inevitably mess this up and ruin our fall and winter by not having pro football, I’m giving you some possible dumbass decisions that could lead to that very possibility — which pains me to even write, because a year without the NFL is like a year without good sex (not that I would know or anything).
NFL Owners Hold Player Salaries In Escrow
Every single NFL owner is a billionaire, so the fact that the league is even considering deferring player salaries by putting 35 percent of them in escrow is laughable. But that’s what was recently reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The NFLPA informed its board of representatives today that the NFL proposed 35% of player salaries be held in escrow to help manage costs during the 2020 season, per sources.
It's one option on the table if revenue is impacted leaguewide by COVID-19.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 7, 2020
Once news hit that this could be a possibility, plenty of NFL players reacted in kind, shutting down the idea by mocking it on Twitter. Just take a look at some of the commentary from athletes about the suggestion.
https://twitter.com/Cantguardmike/status/1280664233135550464?s=20
Here’s 2/3 of your salary to do the same dangerous job in even more dangerous conditions. Not to mention restrictions on our personal life that won’t apply to the owners. Sounds about right…… https://t.co/f84KyblLsR
— Vince Biegel (@VinceBiegel) July 8, 2020
Billionaires love to make people think they are always hurting. https://t.co/RxSN5dlHhj
— Teej. (@TJLang70) July 7, 2020
But, you know, because billionaires need as much cash as humanly possible, they’ll play victim and take advantage of the players, their employees, fans and, well, anyone who stands in the way of making money. If this actually happens, we can all pretty much kiss the NFL season goodbye.
Or The League Just Tell Players To Give Back Salaries
Rather than just hold 35 percent of player salaries in escrow during the 2020 season, could the team owners actually just ask players to give back some of their base salary? Given the fact that all companies are cutting costs in every way possible, absolutely, and it’s definitely something that could ruin any chance of the league playing games.
Per Pro Football Talk:
According to a report published by NFL Media, unnamed people within the league are hoping to trim players’ base salaries this season to account for lost ticket revenue, rather than wait until next season.
Players aren’t going to agree to this, and, if the league and team owners think any athlete would, then these billionaires are even more ignorant than we ever thought.
The League Is Dumb Enough To Think The NFL Season Can Be Played With Fans
We’ve already heard Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross talk about how his franchise is planning on playing the NFL season as normal — which includes fans in the stadium at full capacity. Even more recently, we’ve heard the Baltimore Ravens say they’ll allow about 14,000 fans in the stands for each home game, a decrease in about 80 percent of capacity in their stadium. But if the league still thinks fans in attendance is possible, the season’s fucked.
“I think there definitely will be a football season this year,” Ross said Tuesday. “Real question is, will there be fans in the stadium? Right now — today — we’re planning to have fans in the stadium.”
“We all miss our sports. The NFL, I think, will be ready to go. I know we’re all looking forward to it. I know I am.”
Look, I’m an optimist, so I want to think there’s a way to get fans to NFL games this year. Without a vaccine, though, it’s not happening (well, it shouldn’t happen). There are just too many logistics to it that make it risky AF.
You’ve got the fans. You’ve got the parking lot attendants. You’ve got security. You’ve got concessions. You’ve got cleaning crew. There are so many moving parts to pulling off a single NFL game that, before you know it, there are nearly 25,000 people in one place at a time. That’s a potential disaster, and could be a breeding ground to transmit the virus around.
The League Demands All Players Wear Safety Masks
Remember when those futuristic looking, space-like football helmets hit the Internet a couple weeks ago? Contrary to popular belief, those aren’t things that astronauts will be wearing, but, instead, a suggestion to help keep players safe should there be an NFL season.
But here’s the problem: Not every player wants to wear a facemask that looks like he’s going into outer space and doesn’t allow much ventilation. Just ask J.J. Watt, who said he’d even threaten to sit out should the league demand players wear a face shield.
Per Pro Football Talk:
“My second year in the league I thought it’d be cool, I put a visor on my helmet,” Watt said during a Wednesday visit to #PFTPM. “I was like, ‘It looks so cool, I wanna put a visor on.’ I had it on for about three periods of practice and I said, ‘Take this sucker off I’m gonna die out here.’ . . . So now you’re gonna put something around my mouth? You can keep that. If that comes into play, I don’t think you’re gonna see me on the field.”
Look, if the league should deem that the NFL season is safe enough to play based off research, it should be played as close to normal as possible. There will inevitably be changes, but messing with equipment that could impact player performance isn’t the way to go.
Nothing. Literally, The NFL Is Dumb Enough To Change Nothing
The NFL is known to be a “billionaire boys club,” where super rich owners work with mega-rich millionaires in the league office to play a sport. Players have long-been taken advantage of during all this, with guys putting their lives on the line every single time they walk onto the field. Sure, athletes get paid — just ask Patrick Mahomes — but one hit could end their playing career and life forever.
That’s why the league needs to adapt (and fast), if there’s any hope of an NFL season this year.
As NFLPA President J.C. Tretter recently wrote, he’s not optimistic about any major changes happening, and is concerned the league does what it always has: Ignore player safety in the quest to make money.
Like many other industries, football’s resistance to change is based on the belief that the best way to run things is the way we’ve always run things. That pervasive thought process will stop this season in its tracks. Since March, we have had hours of return to work meetings, reviewed research and developed detailed protocols — all of which will be wasted if the NFL refuses to think and act differently when it comes to getting through a full season. Players don’t just want to return to work; we want to stay at work.
… the NFL is unwilling to prioritize player safety and believes that the virus will bend to football.
That’s coming from the biggest voice in the players’ union, and it’s a challenge for these old, wealthy billionaire NFL owners to stop thinking that the status quo is enough for the league to safely resume play in a few months.
Look, nobody wants to see the NFL season cancelled — owners included, because they’re on the hook to lose billions of dollars if that happens. Unfortunately, the league doesn’t have a great reputation when it comes to adapting, and, unless the NFL starts coming up with unique ways to safely play this season, we may be doomed for the inevitable: That, come early September, the NFL won’t be kicking off its 101st season.