Tag: vaccine

Saints among NFL leaders in player vaccination rates

The MMQB’s Albert Breer reports the New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins were the first NFL teams to vaccinate a majority of their players.

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There will be competitive advantages for NFL teams that vaccinate a majority of their rosters against COVID-19 this season, and the New Orleans Saints are on the forefront of achieving that. The MMQB’s Albert Breer reported last week that the Saints and Miami Dolphins were the first two teams to cross the 85% threshold for player vaccination, outpacing many of their peers.

And their aggressive approach to the vaccine extends beyond the locker room; Sean Payton said earlier this month that all of New Orleans’ personnel within Tiers 1 and 2 (those who work either directly with or in close proximity to the players, like coaches and equipment staff) had reached 100% vaccination status.

But how does it help the Saints to get out in front of this? It puts them on track for a relatively normal training camp: players can work out in the weight room, study tape together in the film room, and share tables in the cafeteria. For all intents and purposes, it’s back to business as usual for them. While other teams around the league will still be working under the NFL’s COVID-19 restrictions and managing unvaccinated players, the Saints will be clicking right along and bypassing those hurdles.

And as far as qualify of life privileges go, they won’t be tested daily, won’t have to wear masks around the practice facility, and won’t have to practice physical distancing from their teammates. They can accept sponsorships and spend time with vaccinated friends and family away from the team. There are plenty of incentives beyond the competitive advantage.

It’s great to see the Saints aggressively pursuing those vaccination goals after their negligence last season brought multiple fines down on Payton and the organization, to say nothing of Alvin Kamara’s late-season absence and the loss of a future draft pick. New Orleans is back on track following those missteps, and it’s a good sign for what’s ahead of them in 2021.

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Colts encourage but won’t mandate vaccinations

Indy won’t mandate getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Indianapolis Colts are reportedly among the teams with the lowest player vaccination rates in the league and while the team encourages getting it, general manager Chris Ballard won’t make it a mandate.

The league has all but mandated getting the vaccine for COVID-19 when they released the protocols for vaccinated and unvaccinated players for the 2021 season. There is a stark difference between the two, giving players the incentive to get vaccinated.

But Ballard told Fox59 on Wednesday that the team won’t mandate getting the vaccine.

“There’s no doubt (the topic of vaccinations) can be a little sticky, but we give our players the choice,” Ballard said via Dave Griffiths of Fox59. “We’re not gonna mandate that everybody get vaccinated.”

The Colts had their share of run-ins with COVID-19 during the 2020 season. There were times when some key players missed crucial games because they either contracted the virus or were deemed a close contact to someone that did.

Remember the brutal Week 12 blowout loss against the Tennessee Titans without All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner? One would think the Colts players would want to avoid that scenario at all costs.

But the decision to not get it is within the players’ rights, and many of them have been asking for more information so that they can do what they feel is the right move.

Even so, Ballard said the team will take it in stride and deal with whatever consequences that may come about if an unvaccinated player contracts the virus during the season.

“It’s a personal choice for everybody in our community, everybody in our country, and everybody on our team,” said Ballard. “We’re encouraging it, but saying that, we’ll deal with whatever we have to deal with. We saw that we can handle what we had to deal with last year, and whatever the numbers are this year, we’ll deal with it again.”

This will certainly be something to keep an eye on if the Colts remain among the teams with low vaccination rates and if key players miss time because of their decision to not get the vaccine, it could have an impact on the outcome of games during the 2021 season.

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The NFL’s COVID rules will cause major inconveniences for unvaccinated players

It’ll be a rough season for the unvaccinated.

Last year, the NFL managed to pull off an entire season amid a global pandemic without a widely available and effective vaccine. And while there were some rough moments, the league made it through the Super Bowl thanks to strict COVID protocols.

Fast forward to this coming season, and there are widely available and effective vaccines in the United States. But despite the NFL’s push to have its employees vaccinated, the player vaccination rate is lagging behind the rest of Tier 1 staff.

But with the newly announced COVID protocols, unvaccinated NFL players will be forced to decide between a super inconvenient season or a back-to-normal life. The league isn’t requiring players to get vaccinated, but it is making it clear to those who choose to remain unvaccinated that this season will feel a lot like 2020 for them.

The rules, which were agreed to by the NFL and NFLPA, outlined that unvaccinated players would still be required to get tested everyday. They would have to wear masks in the facility, face travel restrictions and generally remain isolated from teammates and staff.

Vaccinated players, though, would face almost no restrictions on their daily life and would no longer be subject to daily testing or mask wearing.

In a sport where you’re competing against multiple players for spots on a depth chart, these kinds of limitations could have on-field consequences for unvaccinated players as so much about the day-to-day NFL life would be impacted — from access to staff to ability to build chemistry with teammates.

Players who violate the rules will also face some harsh punishments, including up to a $50,000 fine on a first offense. Unvaccinated players also won’t be allowed to eat at restaurants, go to nightclubs or participate in marketing events.

We should see in the coming weeks if these new rules make an impact on the players. It could very well be enough to sway a large portion of the league.

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Washington coach Ron Rivera brings in vaccine expert to speak to players

As it gets closer to training camp, the NFL is working hard to ensure as many players, staffers and coaches are vaccinated before the 2021

As it gets closer to training camp, the NFL is working hard to ensure as many players, staffers and coaches are vaccinated before the 2021 season. Most NFL teams have already announced they expect full stadiums in the fall.

Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera was proactive this week, bringing in Harvard immunologist Kizzmekia S. Corbett to speak to players concerned about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

“We’re trying to gather as much information, allow the players to get as much information so they can make a choice, a decision,” Rivera said, per Ethan Cadeaux of NBC Sports Washington. “We actually had one of the vaccine experts speak to one of our players last night. Our players were engaged. They asked a lot of good questions. I think the big thing is we’ve got to facilitate the opportunity for these guys to understand.”

One of Rivera’s players, third-year defensive end Montez Sweat, said he would not be getting the vaccine at this time — and that is strictly his decision.

Rivera talked more about why he felt it was important for players to be vaccinated.

“We’re trying to stress the fact that if we can get to herd immunity, we’ll really be able to get out there and enjoy things,” Rivera said. “So hopefully that happens.”

Training camp opens on July 27, and Rivera said that all team personnel who work directly with the players vaccinated. He said close to 50% of the players had received the vaccine.

Pete Carroll hoping for fully-vaccinated roster ahead of Seahawks camp

Coach Pete Carroll is hoping for a fully-vaccinated roster ahead of the start of Seattle Seahawks training camp at the end of July.

The National Football League will not be mandating players to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before the start of the season but coach Pete Carroll is hoping the Seahawks will have a fully-vaccinated roster heading into training camp later this summer.

“Ideally, we’d like everybody to be vaccinated before we report to camp just to make it as safe as possible for everyone,” Carroll said during his press conference following last Thursday’s OTA. “I’ve had some that some conversation with guys, we brought in Vin Gupta, he came in and talked to our guys about it and gave a real big pitch, and we’ve had some opportunities for the families also to get vaccinated, just to keep the message alive and keep it moving.

“So we’ve got a ways to go here, but our goal is to get everybody vaccinated before we start it up.”

Training camp doesn’t kick off until the last week of July, so Carroll has the rest of OTAs and June’s mandatory minicamp to keep spreading his message.

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Saints expect full attendance, ‘everyone rockin’ and rollin’ and cheering’ in 2021

Saints president Dennis Lauscha expects full attendance at the Superdome during 2021 season, though proof of vaccination won’t be required.

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Attendance at NFL games amid the COVID-19 pandemic took a pitfall in 2020, leading to financial issues the league is still coming to grips with. But with vaccines now widely available and restrictions being lifted daily, the New Orleans Saints are planning to host a full house during the 2021 season.

Saints team president Dennis Lauscha said as much during a recent interview with NewOrleansSaints.com, saying: “I 100 percent expect full attendance, and everyone rockin’ and rollin’ and cheering our team on to victory. Absolutely.”

While the Saints will not require proof of fans being vaccinated to attend (something explored by other teams like the Buffalo Bills), they’ll continue to emphasize the importance of reaching herd immunity within their community. Lauscha added: “As much as we can do to encourage vaccinations, we’ll continue to do it. It’s one of our No. 1 priorities.”

Some pro sports teams, such as the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Knights, have begun hosting pop-up vaccination sites before games. Maybe that’s something the Saints could look into. In the meantime, it appears the Superdome (possibly sponsored by Caesar’s Entertainment) will be filling every seat when the Saints kick off this fall.

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PGA Tour ‘strongly encourages’ players, caddies to get COVID-19 vaccine

In a memo obtained by Golfweek on Monday, the PGA Tour “strongly” encouraged players and caddies to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The PGA Tour is doubling down on its support of the COVID-19 vaccines.

A week after the Tour sent an email to its players indicating that those who are fully vaccinated will not have to take a COVID-19 test before entering an event, they followed up with a memo on Monday morning that strongly encouraged players and caddies to get the vaccine “as soon as eligible.”

From the memo, obtained by Golfweek: “While we encourage everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible, the Tour endeavors to make vaccine as accessible as possible once supply becomes available for private allocation.”

Included in the memo were “vaccine considerations” to prove the safety of the shots, as well as new protocols for fully vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals.

The considerations explained how the vaccines went through clinical trials for safety and noted that 700 million people worldwide have been vaccinated with “very few significant side effects reported.”

“There are common misconceptions and concerns about infertility, altering DNA, microchipping, becoming infected with COVID as a result of the COVID 19 vaccine,” the memo read. “These misconceptions and concerns are false.”

While the Tour won’t mandate its players get the vaccine, those without the shots will have a more difficult time preparing for tournament play.

The Tour’s onsite testing operations will discontinue at the end of June. Come July, “any individual seeking to participate in a Tour-affiliated event will be required to show proof of a negative PCR test at their own expense within 72 hours of arrival onsite.”

Proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test within 72 hours of arriving for a tournament will be mandatory for players, caddies and anyone else in the tournament bubble.

Whether an individual has the vaccine or not, the use of face coverings and social distancing is still required in accordance with the PGA Tour’s Health and Safety Program.

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Russell Wilson, Ciara to host COVID vaccine awareness special Sunday night

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara will host a COVID vaccine awareness special Sunday night on NBC.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson often says his catchphrase of “no time to sleep” and when he does, he often means it. The NFL may be several months away from kicking off, but the 2020 Walter Payton Man of the Year winner’s charity knows no offseason.

Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara will be hosting a COVID-19 vaccine television special on Sunday, April 18 called “Roll Up Your Sleeves.” The purpose will be to raise awareness for the vaccine, encourage Americans to get theirs when they can and to help combat misinformation regarding the vaccine.

The Wilson’s won’t be alone. They will be joined by a star-studded cast of hosts and guest speakers, such as President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, Shaquille O’Neal, and even an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci conducted by actor Matthew McConaughey, among others.

Russell Wilson clearly feels called to do his part to help people through the COVID-19 pandemic, and his work during the height of it was what helped him win the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. Wilson donated $1 million of his own wealth to Feeding America to help with food insecurity across the nation.

The “Roll Up Your Sleeves” special will air Monday night at 7:00 p.m. PT/ET on NBC.

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Seahawks sending 4 local health care heroes to Super Bowl LV

The Seattle Seahawks have named the four local health care heroes they will be sending to Super Bowl LV as thanks for their COVID-19 efforts.

The Seattle Seahawks have announced they will be sending four local health care heroes to Super Bowl LV this weekend in Tampa as a show of gratitude for everything they have done to help Washingtonians throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

All four are employees of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, which is the Seahawks’ official health care partner:
  1. Jocelyn Jacoby – Nutrition Assistant, Virginia Mason Medical Center
  2. Cheryl Caraan, RN – Critical Care Nurse, Virginia Mason Medical Center
  3. Bo Thach, RN – Registered Nurse, St. Joseph Medical Center
  4. Lauren Pier, RN – Critical Care Charge Nurse, St. Anthony Hospital

In Tampa, the four heroes will join health care workers invited by other NFL clubs from across the country.

“As the NFL season culminates in Tampa Bay, we are thanking our health care heroes who have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Peter O’Reilly, NFL Executive Vice President of Club Business and League Events, said via the press release. “We are honored to salute those who have demonstrated dedication, commitment and courage and deserve our deepest gratitude and admiration.”

In keeping with safety precautions, all health care workers attending Super Bowl LV will have received a COVID-19 vaccination before departing and all CDC and local guidelines will be enforced throughout the festivities.

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