The NFL has rescheduled three games. The NHL has put three teams on ice through the holidays. COVID-19 is back in sports. And it’s as bad as ever.
The NFL’s hand was forced on Friday afternoon as a result of the sheer number of positive cases within the Browns, Rams and Washington organizations. The league moved this week’s Raiders-Browns matchup to Monday at 5 p.m. ET and slotted both Seahawks-Rams and Washington-Eagles for 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
That prompted outcry from the Raiders, with owner Mark Davis telling ESPN that moving the game back is a “competitive disadvantage to the Raiders.” Multiple players took to Twitter to accuse the NFL of bending its own rules.
“I’m sure the NFLPA president [center J.C. Tretter] playing for the Browns didn’t have any effect on these negotiations,” cornerback Casey Hayward tweeted.
In a memo to all 32 teams, commissioner Roger Goodell wrote, “The emergence of the Omicron variant is precisely the kind of change that warrants a flexible response.”
At the same time, the NHL was announcing that the Flames, Avalanche and Panthers would be shut down through the league’s holiday break, with some Canadian teams returning to reduced capacity.
Montreal played its Thursday night game in front of an empty Bell Centre. The Ontario government also curtailed capacity to 50 percent at Raptors, Maple Leafs and Senators games, as well as banning the sale of food or drink at venues. In British Columbia, the Canucks will reportedly be limited to 50 percent capacity as well.
Closer to home, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy brought up the possibility of limiting crowds at a press event on Friday.
“My fear is, we’re going to be getting back to capacity limits at some point,” Murphy told reporters.
It’s been such a disastrous week of COVID-19 in sports that multiple figures in the NFL are advocating for letting players who test positive play if asymptomatic and vaccinated.
Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones both brought up that approach on Friday as a way of avoiding the explosion of players unavailable this week.
“If you’re asymptomatic, you should be allowed to play,” Arians told reporters.
“I think we will get to a point, probably this week, that we’ll only test if symptomatic, that’s if you’ve been vaccinated,” Jones told 105.3 The Fan. “That’s a good thing. Test when you’re symptomatic and that’s it.”
It doesn’t seem like the NFLPA will be on board with such a plan. Though it agreed to let vaccinated asymptomatic players return sooner, the union still wants daily testing, which would not be conducive to the laissez-faire approach Arians and Jones are pushing for.
That such a system is now being advocated for, though, underscores the state of sports right now.
If there’s been a week comparable to March 2020, this is it.
Across the board, COVID-19 has ripped through the three American professional leagues currently playing, college basketball and European soccer. All have postponed games as a result of positive cases this week, and with the Omicron variant on the rise, it’s unclear when things will get better.
The Browns seem as good a place to start as any — they’ve had 20 positive tests including starting quarterback Baker Mayfield and backup Case Keenum. Mayfield tweeted his discontent with the NFL’s COVID protocols on Thursday, writing: “Actually caring about player safety would mean delaying the game with this continuing at the rate it is. … but to say you won’t test vaccinated players if they don’t have symptoms, then to pull this randomly. Doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Prior to their respective postponements, the Browns and Washington were both down to third-string quarterbacks. Whether that will be alleviated by postponing to Monday and Tuesday isn’t yet clear.
In the NBA, the Bulls are the only team to have games postponed thus far, but the Nets were on the border earlier this week. They played against the Raptors with just eight active players, the minimum for a game to be played.
The NBA, as well as other leagues, has returned to more intensive protocols. Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden and Russell Westbrook are among the slew of players to test positive this week. Both local teams have been hit hard, with the Knicks down Immanuel Quickley, Kevin Knox, Quentin Grimes, R.J. Barrett and Obi Toppin. The Nets are missing Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre’ Bembry, Bruce Brown, Jevon Carter, James Johnson and Paul Millsap.
The hardest-hit team in all of sports, though, is the Calgary Flames.
As of Friday morning, the Flames had 19 players and 32 total members of the organization in protocols — with just five players avoiding the virus. Four of their games have been postponed so far, with more looking likely. The Bruins also had their game against Montreal postponed following a raft of positives, including Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, though they did play against the Islanders on Thursday night with just 17 skaters. They weren’t the only NHL team to play with an undermanned roster on Thursday — the Hurricanes beat Detroit with just 16 skaters, with star Sebastian Aho among the players missing.
At the college level, UCLA and Ohio State both had marquee games postponed due to positive tests. The Bruins’ Wednesday night game against Alabama State was canceled less than an hour before tip, with coach Mick Cronin among the positive tests. Saturday’s scheduled game against North Carolina was also called off.
Across the pond, the English Premier League postponed seven games this week and clubs are reportedly pushing for a temporary shutdown.
A March 2020-style shutdown seems unlikely in American sports right now. The NFL finally gave in to postponements, but it seems impossible that the league would shut down. Discussion around the NBA has centered on more intensive protocols. Ditto for the NHL, which reportedly hasn’t discussed shutting down the season (though pulling its players out of the Olympics feels more likely by the day).
What is clear, though, is that the current situation isn’t sustainable. The virus is decimating teams and the thresholds for postponement seem unclear at best. Following five players being entered into protocol on Thursday night, for example, the Colorado Avalanche were reportedly given the option of playing but voted to do so.
After losing to Nashville, 5-2, Colorado was among the teams shut down on Friday.
Though booster shots are widely available, leagues have been slow to get personnel the third shot. In the case of the Islanders, who suffered a COVID outbreak last month and had Mat Barzal go into protocol this week, coach Barry Trotz said Thursday that the entire team had been boosted. Later that afternoon, the organization sent out a statement walking back the claim.
“That statement is not true,” it said. “The organization has offered the booster shot to the entire team and will continue to educate and recommend that everyone consider receiving.”
