There is no perfect answer to the questions of when and how NFL teams should reopen their facilities, but the NFL league office is doing their best to create a system that would make facilities safe to work in again.
As the league finalized the last-minute details around Thursday’s schedule release, they sent a memo to all 32 organizations that detailed specific instructions for the reopening of team facilities, or in the Dallas Cowboys’ case, The Star in Frisco. These instructions included multiple phases, and the various protocols each phase would require. Teams were notified that they have until May 15 to have the first set of these new requirements in place.
Most importantly, it states that if any team is not allowed to open due to the regulations of their state, then no team can resume operations.
The memo states the first stage of the reopening “would involve a limited number of non-player personnel – initially 50 percent of your non-player employees (up to a total 75) on any single day unless state or local government requires a lower number. Clubs would decide which employees could return to the facility and when facilities reopen. No players would be permitted in the facility except to continue a course of therapy and rehabilitation that was underway when facilities were initially closed.”
Commissioner Roger Goodell would go on to mention in the memo the league is working hard alongside the NFL Players Association to create the next phase, a phase that centers around getting the players back in the team’s headquarters.
According to the Associated Press, these step-by-step requirements must be met as teams begin Phase 1 of the reopening:
–Local and state government officials must consent to reopening.
–The team must implement all operational guidelines set by the league to minimize the risk of virus transmission among employees.
–Each club must acquire adequate amounts of needed supplies as prescribed by the league.
–An Infection Response Team with a written plan for newly diagnosed coronavirus cases.
–An Infection Control Officer to oversee all aspects of the implementation of the listed guidelines.
–Each employee who returns to work at the club facility must receive COVID-19 safety and hygiene training prior to using the facility, and agree to report health information to the ICO.
—The response team must consist of a local physician with expertise in common infectious disease principles; the team physician can fill that role. Also on the response team will be the infection control officer, the team’s head athletic trainer; the team physician, if he or she is not serving as the local physician; the human resources director; the team’s chief of security; its mental health clinician or someone with equivalent clinical expertise; and a member of the club’s operations staff such as the facility manager.
Staff and players are encouraged to take their temperature daily, and especially before coming to the team’s facility. All those who do enter will automatically have their temperature read and must answer basic health questions.
Protocol for the phased reopening of NFL club facilities includes daily screening of employees, visitors, contractors, etc., who must answer questions and have temperatures checked upon arrival with a no-touch thermometer. Normal temp should not exceed 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 7, 2020
Dr. Allen Sills has led the charge on the medical side for the NFL, and team physicians are set to hold calls with Dr. Sills in order to ensure proper implementation of these new protocols.
This memo comes just days before the release of the 2020-2021 NFL schedule. The league has plans in place should the schedule require changes if the pandemic is still impacting society in America.
This phase-by-phase plan seemingly provides realistic and safe opportunities for teams to begin to work in their facilities, thus giving the season a chance to potentially start on time, but it all hinges on the protocols of each state the team’s call home.
The full memo was obtained by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and can be viewed below.
On the eve of the schedule release, Commissioner Roger Goodell also sent a memo to clubs discouraging public comment by club officials on hypotheticals surrounding the 2020 season, saying in part: “It is impossible to project what the next few months will bring.” pic.twitter.com/Zoyz2RLU5l
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 6, 2020
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