NFL Gives Teams Protocols For First Phase Of Reopening Facilities
BOSTON (CBS) -- The NFL wants desperately to play a full season in the fall, with stadiums full of fans. Whether that goal is actually achievable amid the coronavirus pandemic remains in question, but the league is setting up to take its first step toward beginning the 2020 season in earnest.
The NFL instructed teams on protocols they all must establish by May 15, in an effort to get teams prepared to reopen their facilities.
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero obtained the memo sent by Roger Goodell to team owners. The most important protocol stated that teams must get approval from state and local officials to reopen their facilities. Additionally, teams must create an infections response team, while also having all people inside facilities wearing face coverings.
The reopening of facilities would not open the doors to all players, though. Only players who were receiving treatment on injuries prior to the shutdown in March would be allowed to resume that treatment within the facilities.
The reopening would merely be the first phase of the opening of the league's step toward holding the 2020 season, but it nevertheless represents an important stage in that effort.
Goodell also instructed owners and executives to hold off on issuing any hypothetical commentary on when or how the NFL season will play out.
"The past few months have been the most uncertain times that any of us has experienced," Goodell wrote. "It is impossible to project what the next few months will bring. Uninformed commentary that speculates on how indifivudal clubs or the league will address a range of hypothetical contingencies serves no constructive purpose and instead confuses our fans and business partners, complicates the operations of other clubs, and distracts from the careful planning that is needed right now."
When the facilities do reopen, it would initially apply to 50 percent of non-player employees, with a maximum of 75 employees returning to work on any single day. The second phase would involve a return of more employees, as well as players.
