The National Football League (NFL) is set to commence its new season on Sep 09. The NFL has released a stringent set of new rules and guidelines in light of COVID-19 to inform both NFL teams and players that there will be serious consequences including financial penalties if there is a COVID-19 breakout during the season brought on by unvaccinated players.
Different NFL teams have adopted difference stances with some teams pushing forward with full vaccination while some teams like the Indianapolis Colts struggle to get their players to move forward with the vaccine.
Indianapolis Colts is one of the NFL teams that have not confirmed how many players have been vaccinated vs. how many are not. Unconfirmed reports suggest that just over 53 percent of players are vaccinated which makes them one of the least vaccinated teams in the NFL going into the new season.
Earlier this week, some of the top players for the Colts were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Some of the players on the reserve list included Ryan Kelly, Zach Pascal and Carson Wentz. All three players who were in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID. Even though these three players did not test positive, they will have to wait for 6 days and test negative before being allowed to join the team.
The new NFL protocols make it mandatory for unvaccinated players who come into close contact with a positive case to be placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Vaccinated players who come into close contact with a positive case will not be placed on this list. They will only be put on the list if they test positive.
Here’s more from today’s memo, which also says the team responsible for a canceled game because of an outbreak among unvaccinated players/staff will be responsible for financial losses and subject to potential discipline from the commissioner. Wow. pic.twitter.com/Q86a2WcG1K
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 22, 2021
Colts GM Chris Ballard issued a stern warning to his team ahead of the new season. He said there were consequences for not being vaccinated and said he was highly in favour of everyone getting vaccinated as soon as possible. Ballard said getting the jab will help players not end up in a critical situation and it will help contain the spread of COVID-19.
Ballard also pointed out that he wasn’t going to put pressure on his players to vaccinate as he would respect their individual decision. What the Colts plan to do going forward is to continue to educate players in the importance of the vaccine and hope their vaccination percentage increases.
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