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The NFL battled through the COVID-19 pandemic last year with mostly empty stadiums and without players who were given the choice to opt out.
This year is a different story. Society has opened back up. There will be full attendance permitted at NFL games this season in New Jersey. Where do the New York Giants stand on vaccinations? Very simple. They are leaving it up to individual players on whether or not to get vaccinated.
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Giants head coach Joe Judge reiterated that policy to reporters at OTAs on Friday.
“When it comes to anything dealing with medical protocols, vaccinations, I’m not a medical professional. I let our training staff and doctors talk to the team in regards to that. I let them deal with those issues right there. Everyone has a choice to make. So that’s their decision. I’m not getting involved in that,” Judge said.
Judge has been vaccinated, which was a requirement for anyone attending a draft room in person in late April. Things have changed since then. COVID-19 cases have subsided to the levels where businesses have resumed normal operations. Judge said that his being vaccinated was in no way “a statement thing.”
“The answer is, yes, I did get vaccinated. I want to make something clear: That’s not any kind of statement, all right, one way or the other. That’s pure and simple,” Judge said. “We were asked to get vaccinated by the league to be able to be part of the draft rooms, to be part of coming in our building and working. That’s something that, for myself, I thought was important to do. So that’s where I go on that point.”
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