NFL COVID Outbreak & Dan Snyder Drama

In its second full season of play under COVID protocols, the NFL finds itself in the midst of the biggest outbreak since the pandemic began.

Monday of this week saw 37 players placed on the COVID/reserve list, an all-time single-day high. That ignominious record was broken Tuesday as 40 more players landed on the list.

The Cleveland Browns have been the hardest hit (eight players), including wide receiver Jarvis Landry, tight end Austin Hooper and All-Pro guard Wyatt Teller. The Rams won Monday night, then closed their practice facility Tuesday after several players tested positive, including wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

In all, 25 of the 32 teams have players currently on the COVID/reserve list, either because they tested positive for the virus or have been deemed in close contact of someone else who tested positive.

As of now, the NFL is planning to play games as scheduled. Unlike last season, the league won’t move or postpone games, meaning teams have to compete without players who are still in the COVID protocols.

The Browns face the Las Vegas Raiders on a Saturday special game. The game opened with the Browns as 6½-point favorites, only to have the game taken off the NFL odds board when the news broke. Now, the Raiders are favored by 1½ in a monumental point swing.

What’s Next for the NFL?

There is no good time for an outbreak, but as the regular season moves into its final few weeks, this is the worst possible time for large numbers of players to miss games. Having COVID protocols and missing players perhaps deciding the outcome of post-season games is a nightmare scenario for the league.

In response to the outbreaks with the Browns and Rams, both teams have entered enhanced protocols. The league itself is considering making that mandatory for all teams, this after Monday’s announcement that all vaccinated personnel are required to get a booster by Dec. 27. They won’t be subjected to the more relaxed vaccination protocols without that booster.

One possibility being talked about is for the league to stop testing altogether. That argument revolves around the vaccine being widely available and since many of the players who land in the COVID/reserve list show no symptoms, why not let them play? Playing through other viruses is common, so why not COVID?

However, there are many who would balk at that idea. That resistance, coupled with the PR hit the NFL would absorb in becoming the first sports league to stop testing makes for an unpalatable scenario.

Dan Snyder Reportedly Tried to Undermine NFL Investigation

Dan Snyder is arguably considered one of the worst, if not the worst. owner in football. So it comes as very little surprise to that as he was being investigated by the NFL for a culture of sexual harassment inside his Washington Football Team, he did what he could to undermine that probe.

According to reports in the Washington Post, Snyder first tried to bribe the women who were speaking out against him, dating back to 2009. He then tried to sue the investigator hired by the league in an effort to prevent her from speaking to his accuser.

Snyder is also said to have hired private investigators to tail his former employees, keeping tabs on them and preventing them from speaking to the media. Any former employee who did speak to the press was immediately hit with a lawsuit.

He also used lawsuits to get investigators to turn over phone and email evidence to him so that he in turn could learn who was speaking out against him. Snyder also attempted to identify the sources the Washington Post used in its own investigation, having his private investigators show up at their homes and call their friends.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has so far declined to release the league’s final report on the investigation, though Congress is still trying to get it. Shortly after the Washington Post released its Tuesday report on Snyder’s alleged wrongdoings, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform released this statement:

“The NFL must immediately turn over all evidence of Snyder’s interference and the other documents we requested over a month ago.”

The statement cites the Washington Post’s latest report and references the allegation that Snyder actively tried to obstruct the NFL’s internal investigation.