With the first players for each team due to report to their team facilities in the next few days, veterans across the league are speaking up concerning the NFL’s lack of a plan to keep them safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first players who are due to report are rookies and first-year players. They are the players who feel like they have the shakiest footing when it comes to speaking out. But they aren’t going into this alone. They have respected veterans across the NFL speaking up for them.
Veteran star players like JJ Watt, Russell Wilson, Demarcus Lawrence, and countless others are stepping up and making it clear they want to see a cogent plan to keep the players safe, and in turn, helping to ensure the season has a real shot of happening using the hashtag #WeWantToPlay.
No player on the Raiders is more respected than Rodney Hudson. The veteran Pro Bowl center is the best player on the team. He also just graduated with an MBA. He lent his voice to the cause in an Instagram story, with some personal concerns about his family, namely his wife, who he says is immunocompromised.
Rodney Hudson adds his well-respected voice to the #WeWanttoPlay cause. His IG: pic.twitter.com/uKJBFbhnzP
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) July 19, 2020
It was JJ Watt who laid out in specific detail what the issues are that the players have with the NFL at this moment.
Once again in the interest of keeping everyone (players & fans) as informed as possible, here is an updated list of what we as players know and don’t know as the first group gets set to report to training camp tomorrow.#WeWantToPlay pic.twitter.com/xQcjs33zgM
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) July 19, 2020
The highlights:
- The players don’t have the full proper training camp acclimation period.
- The players don’t know what the testing schedule will be.
- Whether there will be a preseason is not settled (currently said to be at two games)
- The players don’t know how COVID-19 positives will be handled.
- There is no agreement on an opt-out clause for those who are at higher risk or whose family is at higher risk (such as Rodney Hudson’s wife).
- The players still can be fined for showing up late even if the Infectious Disease Emergency Response plans approved it.
That’s a lot of questions that need to be answered. Basically all the important questions.
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