Life is getting closer to normal in the NFL — at least for fully vaccinated players.
The NFL and NFLPA agreed to update its COVID-19 protocols for the 2021 preseason on Wednesday, and they include advantages for those who are fully vaccinated.
Perhaps the biggest benefit is that a vaccinated player exposed to COVID-19 won’t have to quarantine and sit out team activities, a rule that at times put teams at a disadvantage last season, when the vaccines were not yet available. Fully vaccinated players also will have more social freedom, according to a release, such as being able to interact with their friends and family while traveling, sitting with teammates for lunch and being able to lift weights without masks.
Those who opt not to get jabbed won’t be afforded the same leeway, as the NFL continues to encourage players to be vaccinated. In addition to having to quarantine if exposed to the virus, unvaccinated players will face a $14,650 fine for going to bars, concerts, or gatherings.
Unvaccinated players also will be subject to daily testing — whereas those who are vaccinated will be tested every 14 days — and significant travel restrictions, including required isolation and traveling on separate team planes. They also will have reduced access to training facilities and be barred from attending social, media and marketing activities.
Some players, including Panthers quarterback and former Jet Sam Darnold, have said they haven’t received the vaccine, while Washington’s Montez Sweat said he “probably won’t until I get more facts and all that type (of) stuff. I’m not a fan of (the vaccine) at all.”
Their deliberations mirror the ongoing debates across the country, even as evidence shows the vaccines are extremely effective at preventing severe illness and death from COVID-19, and those who have been vaccinated are able to return to pre-pandemic life.
“There’s a ton of different things that go into it,” Darnold said earlier this month. “I’m gonna evaluate that on my own and make the best decision that I feel is the best for myself.”
Teams have attempted to educate players about the vaccines at OTAs this summer, but that can only go so far.
“It’s not my position to tell guys to get vaccinated or not or share that,” Giants safety Logan Ryan said. “It’s definitely — that’s everyone’s individual decision, and last year we played during COVID with a lot of safety measures and we were able to pull that off.
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