Tag: mask

Ravens announce mask policy ahead of Week 1 preseason game vs. Saints

The Baltimore Ravens require fans to wear masks indoors at M&T Bank Stadium, starting with their New Orleans Saints preseason game:

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The Baltimore Ravens announced Wednesday that fans visiting M&T Bank Stadium must adhere to Baltimore City’s COVID-19 guidelines, beginning with Saturday’s preseason game against the New Orleans Saints. This applies to any Saints fans making the trip, so here is what you need to know:

“All ticketed fans will be required to wear an approved face covering at all times when in an indoor area of M&T Bank Stadium, regardless of vaccination status, unless actively eating or drinking.

The indoor face covering requirement will include, but is not limited to, retail stores, restrooms, the Club Level concourse, elevators, corridors, suites, first aid rooms, Guest Service Locations and the Press Level.

Masks must be worn on the Club Level concourse. However, masks will not be required in the Club Level seating bowl. Mask wearing will be required inside suites but not required on suite balconies.”

While M&T Bank Stadium is an outdoor venue, similar policies are in effect for New Orleans’ own enclosed Caesars Superdome. City communications director Beau Tidwell said on Tuesday that: “The citywide mask mandate is in effect. The Dome is in the city. Anybody at the Dome is going to be expected to be wearing a mask regardless of any other changes that may or may not be made. So the expectation is that everybody is going to be masked up.”

New Orleans will host its first preseason game on Aug. 23 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and barring a change of course fans will be expected to wear masks inside the Superdome. Just as they did last year. The latest wave of COVID-19 infections have prompted sustained public health policies around the country. While indoor capacity has not been restricted within New Orleans, it does appear we aren’t quite “back to normal” as hoped for the Saints’ 2021 season.

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Vic Fangio might switch to Andy Reid-style face shield after getting fined by NFL

Broncos coach Vic Fangio is considering switching to an Andy Reid-style face shield after being fined by the NFL.

Broncos coach Vic Fangio was fined $100,000 by the NFL this week for not properly wearing a mask against the Steelers in Week 2.

Fangio wore a neck gaiter last week and frequently pulled it down and left it down. Before practice Wednesday, Fangio explained what happened.

“Obviously, I’m going to have to do better with that,” Fangio said. “What’s happens during the game is, obviously I’m calling the defenses and I have to pull it down to communicate that so it can be sent in to the players.

“When the officials come over and talk to me, they pull their mask down — I pull mine down to talk to them. And when I have my mask up, after 8-to-10 seconds, it starts fogging my glasses and I have to pull it down. All those times where I pull it down, I just have to do better at getting it back up more than I have been. It’s all been subconsciously happening during the game.”

The Chiefs figured out a way to prevent Andy Reid’s face shield from fogging up, which could make a face shield a good option for Fangio.

“I’m going to consider that,” Fangio said of Reid’s face shield. “I was going to use it the first game of the season but late in the process decided not to.”

Denver will host the Buccaneers at Empower Field at Mile High in Week 3.

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Pete Carroll on $100k fine: ‘Sometimes you’ve got to get coached up’

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll admitted his faults when discussing how he took his mask off during the team’s Week 2 matchup.

The NFL fined Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll $100,000 for violating league protocol by taking off his mask throughout the team’s Week-2 matchup against the New England Patriots.

Carroll expressed disappointment in himself and said he was particularly ashamed because he constantly had a coach in his ear about the situation.

“I had a coach who was reminding me about it throughout the game, Chad Morton was on my ass the whole night. He was reminding me the whole time,” Carroll said via the team’s website Tuesday. “I even changed masks at halftime to find one that worked better. Sometimes you’ve got to get coached up. Sometimes you have to admit that you screwed up and have got to do better.”

However, Carroll stressed that apart from his disregard for mask protocol during the game, the Seahawks players and coaches have taken COVID-19 very seriously, wearing masks whenever they are around each other in practice and in the team facility.

“We wear masks all day at practice, we wear them around the building,” Carroll stated. “I know it’s extremely important to wear masks. Sometimes you’ve just got to be reminded. Sometimes you’ve got to get coached up.”

Carroll will hopefully not repeat this mistake Sunday when the Seahawks square off against the Cowboys at CenturyLink Field.

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Seahawks coach Pete Carroll fined for not wearing mask on Sunday

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was one of three NFL head coaches fined Week 2 for not wearing his mask during the Patriots matchup.

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll will be writing out a hefty check to the league this week after he was fined $100,000 for not wearing his mask Sunday night during the team’s Week-2 matchup against the New England Patriots.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted the news Monday night.

“NFL fined three head coaches – – Denver’s Vic Fangio, Seattle’s Pete Carroll and SF’s Kyle Shanahan – $100,000 each for not wearing masks Sunday, and each of their teams another $250,000, sources told ESPN,” wrote Schefter. “So that’s $1.05 million dollars in fines for not wearing masks.”

The league had sent a memo out last Monday reminding coaches, staff and teams that masks must be worn at all times in the bench areas and on the sidelines on gamedays.

The NFL has had strict protocols in place all summer in the hopes of preventing the spread of the coronavirus. The Seahawks have yet to have a positive test for COVID-19.

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Broncos announce limited capacity, mask requirement for 2020 games

The Broncos announced Wednesday that fans will have to wear masks at Empower Field at Mile High this season.

The Denver Broncos announced in a memo to season ticket holders on Wednesday that capacity will be limited at Empower Field at Mile High this season. Fans who do not want to attend games because of the COVID-19 pandemic will be given refunds or credit toward their 2021 tickets.

Season ticket holders have until Aug. 14 — the day before the originally scheduled start of preseason — to opt-out of attending games this season. Fans who do attend games will be required to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines.

The team has “also taken other proactive measures to increase the cleanliness of our stadium, adding cashless concession options, touchless bathroom fixtures, sanitation stations and the latest air purification technology,” according to part of the memo.

The memo makes it clear this season will be a unique one. The memo also makes it clear the team is still planning for a fall season. The end of the letter says, “We look forward to a successful — and safe — 2020 season.”

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Broncos personnel (besides players and coaches) will wear masks on sideline this season

Broncos personnel (besides players and coaches) will wear masks on the sideline during games this season.

As the NFL continues to plan a season during the COVID-19 pandemic, the league has revealed several protocols put in place in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

After games, players won’t be allowed to interact with opponents closer than six feet away — and jersey swaps won’t be allowed. While on the sideline during games, Broncos personnel (besides players and coaches) will have to wear masks, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Denver hasn’t announced yet if fans will have to wear masks to attend games but the Steelers have made a decision. If fans are allowed to attend games this year, fans in Pittsburgh will have to wear masks at Heinz Field, the Steelers announced.

The Ravens have announced that no more than 14,000 fans a week will attend games at their stadium this season. The Broncos have not yet announced any capacity limits for Empower Field at Mile High.

If games are played in Denver without fans, season ticket holders will receive refunds or credits for future games at the Broncos’ stadium.

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Quandre Diggs: COVID-19 spread made worse by ‘cockiness’ of America

Seattle Seahawks free safety Quandre Diggs told Sports Illustrated that COVID-19 has been exacerbated by the “cockiness” of America.

The United States continues to see COVID-19 cases rise throughout various states, with some having it worse than others.

Seattle Seahawks free safety Quandre Diggs told Sports Illustrated that his home state of Texas has been hit particularly hard primarily because governor Greg Abbott reopened businesses too soon and resisted mask requirements.

Diggs stated that the nationwide spread of COVID-19 has been exacerbated by many Americans refusing to wear a mask and their beliefs that doing so is a restriction on their freedom.

“It’s cockiness,” Diggs said. “It’s the absolute cockiness of America, of Americans, to think, ‘I don’t need a mask.’ I don’t understand it, there’s nobody taking away your freedom, you’re still able to go walk a street, you’re still able to go into the store – just put a freaking mask on, it’s not that serious.”

“If you were sick in the first place, wouldn’t you want to keep a mask on so you don’t get anybody else sick?” Diggs continued. “If you have the flu or you had a fever or you had something else, you would want to wear it or you wouldn’t be out in public, you know what I mean?”

Diggs also voiced his concerns with social injustice and racial inequality that this lack of care among Americans is prevalent in as well.

“My thing is, it’s about protecting others, and as a nation, we’re so self-[concerned]. We’re so cocky, and we’re so worried about ourselves and not worried about others and that’s kind of what got us in this predicament that we’re in now, with corona, with social justice, with the police brutality. We have one race worried about themselves instead of everybody just caring about each other. We do our own thing, and that’s kind of what got us into this predicament now.”

With COVID-19 still rampant in America, the chances for a 2020 NFL season are looking increasingly precarious.

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