Gid . . . Get it out of your chemically diminished skull that the NFL will have teams forfeit games as long as there are logistically viable alternatives available.
I’m saying that the Chiefs are going to kick the patriots ass so bad without Newton that the patriots might as well forfeit. Not that the league should call a forfeit
could be. just happy no KC/NE fans are being whiney little bitches looking for a forfeit. LOL........well said Matty.
Little late to the party but here’s my two cents: the NFL did right by its players by handling the Titans situation this way. As a Steelers fan at first I was a bit upset at the decision but the more I read about it, it was the best of a bad situation. I understand the extra PS players and IR rules were put in place for this, but how do you put the opposing team in that kind of risk? Instead of 1 game affected, it’d turn into 2 and only get worse from there. As for a forfeit, why when there were so many other options available? I get it sucks moving the bye up to week 4, but it isn’t a death blow to the Steelers, and wasn’t done as a conspiracy against them. If anything it was done to protect them and make sure all games get played. From a player standpoint, would Cam Heyward be happy going up against a team that’s going through a COVID outbreak? He has underlying issues which would put him at more risk than he already is. From a business standpoint, one less game means less revenue, which keeps the cap closer to that worst case salary cap floor which ultimately would do way more harm to the Steelers than switching a bye week. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s not screwing the Steelers, it’s all about playing a full season. If another outbreak occurs, it may not be handled the same way. Depends on when it happens. If it’s later in the season, the plan may be to add an extra week to the regular season or whatever contingency the league comes up with.
It’s not a conspiracy, it’s not screwing the Steelers, it’s all about playing a full season. Great Post Steelersking...................hopefully Gidi read this and it sunk in.
Pro football in a pandemic has become a game of Russian roulette. In the past week, that game hasn’t gone well for the league. But it could have been worse. The Titans outbreak didn’t spread to their Week Three opponent (the Vikings), providing one specific data point that proves the theory/hypothesis that the virus doesn’t spread in an open-air or ventilated-dome setting, where the droplets containing the virus dissipate quickly without lingering and intensifying. Likewise, the positive test results in New England and Kansas City seem to be contained (the incubation period could change that), and the Saints’ Saturday night fire drill ended up being a false alarm. All in all, the league got lucky last week. But instead of looking at what transpired and taking swift, decisive action aimed at avoiding further scenarios premised on luck being a lady tonight, the league seems to be intent on letting it ride. There’s a sense in league circles that, for example, teams won’t be placed into hotels on a full-time basis unless and until another incident happens. But here’s the thing: There’s no unless; there’s only until. There will be an incident. A team-by-team bubble is inevitable. So why not do it now, before something happens that requires a Week 18 or that otherwise scraps a game? Or that results in someone getting really sick, or worse? The league has a well-earned reputation for being reactive not proactive in matters like this. Here, it’s already too late to be proactive. They’ve seen what can happen, but the reaction isn’t, “We must prevent this from happening again.” Instead, the attitude is, “Wow, that was a close call. Now keep going.” Sure, the NFLPA doesn’t want a bubble. Plenty of coaches also don’t want bubbles, but they don’t have a union that can block the league from saying to them, “Tough crap.” To salvage all 256 games and the revenue (including game checks for players and paychecks for coaches) that go along with them, it’s far better to treat recent events as the canary in the coal mine and not as the bullet that grazed the tiny hairs on the outer edge of the league’s ear. NBC
Videos of Raiders players not wearing masks while in attendance at an indoor fundraiser for tight end Darren Waller‘s foundation surfaced last week and touched off an investigation in Henderson, Nevada into whether the event violated state guidelines. It also caught the eye of the NFL and the NFL has responded by disciplining Waller and other members of the team. NFL Media reports that Waller has been fined $30,000 and several teammates have been fined $15,000 after being seen at the event. Quarterback Derek Carr is one of the players in the latter category. Carr said last week that “we had a few moments where we slipped up” while at the event and tried to steer the story back to the work that Waller’s foundation is trying to do for people battling drug and alcohol addiction. Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, who has been fined for not wearing a mask, made a similar argument, but it’s clear that isn’t where the league is focusing its attention. NBC
The NFL and NFL Players Association have not agreed to a team-by-team bubble to keep the virus out of the 32 facilities. However, the league and the union have reached other agreements. According to a memo sent by Commissioner Roger Goodell to all owners, team presidents, General Managers, coaches, and infection control officers on Monday, a copy of which PFT has obtained, Monday’s conference call involving all owners, coaches, and General Managers includes the revelation that the league and union have revised the COVID-19 protocols in several ways. First, the league and union have agreed to a longer “onboarding” process for free-agent tryouts, which will lengthen the waiting period before a tryout can happen — presumably (and hopefully) long enough to cover the entirety of the incubation period. Second, the league and union have agreed to limit the number of free-agent tryouts per week. Third, the league and union have banned gatherings outside the club facility. Fourth, the league and union have agreed to the implementation of a league-wide video monitoring system to ensure compliance with protocols, particularly those that require players and staff to wear personal protective equipment while in the club facility and while traveling. The memo also explains that Monday’s conference call with all teams included discussion of other apparently optional steps. Teams should consider holding all meetings virtually, wearing masking or shields during all practices and walk-throughs, further decreasing the size of the traveling party, reducing time spent in lunchrooms and locker room, and consulting the proximity tracking device information daily to identify areas where close contact can be avoided. These actual and suggested changes reflect the fact that the protocols demand further tweaking and tightening. Ideally, 32 bubbles will be created. The league is trying to avoid that, obviously. If these changes don’t work, 32 bubbles remain inevitable. NBC
Commissioner Suggests Forfeiture As Potential Punishment For COVID-19 Protocol Breaches The two-page memo sent Monday by the Commissioner to all teams includes a two-paragraph passage that trots out the nuclear option for the league to ensure compliance with all COVID-19 protocols: The forfeiture of games. “There have been breaches to the protocols and individual players, staff, and clubs have been disciplined as a result,” Goodell writes. “We will not only conduct reviews in cases of multiple positive tests at one club, but the league and union will continue to conduct inspections of club facilities to ensure protocol compliance. If it is determined that club personnel or players failed to have followed the protocols, discipline will be issued and will escalate where noncompliance continues. Protocol violations that result in virus spread requiring adjustments to the schedule or otherwise impacting other teams will result in additional financial and competitive discipline, including the adjustment or loss of draft choices or even the forfeit of a game.” The league threatened the potential loss of draft picks last week, in connection with violations of the requirement that all sideline personnel wear (properly) face coverings. This latest warning applies to situations like the one that arose last week in Tennessee, where an outbreak among the Titans compelled a shifting of the team’s Steelers-Titans game to Week Seven, the shifting of the Steelers-Ravens game to Week Eight, the moving of Baltimore’s bye to Week Seven, and the Titans and Steelers taking an unscheduled bye in Week Four. Forfeiting games is a major step, and it’s unclear whether the threat is real or idle. If games go away, the league would owe refunds to the networks for the untelevised games. However, if reckless behavior by teams potentially results in far more than one game being not televised, declaring a forfeit, scrapping a game, and refunding the money paid for the broadcast rights of that game could be money well spent. NBC
Now the league has come out and said that they might just force a forfeit on teams as a deterrent to stop the teams from doing things that could make COVID-19 spread on their teams. This is what I am bitching about. If any games wind up forfeited then I want the titans to forfeit to the Steelers. I want fairness. The titans were at fault for the outbreak on their team.
Unless we find evidence to the contrary, Steelers fans shouldn’t blame the Tennessee Titans for being the first NFL team to become a covid-19 hotspot. The titans were at fault for the outbreak on their team.......Gidi Where did you get that INFO from the Titans were at Fault. They may have gotten the Virus from the Bus Ride in from the Airport in Minneapolis ???
Fuck this. The league is now saying because the titans are still having more players testing positive for the virus again they may make them forfeit to the bills this week. This is the very thing I was talking. Any body think I was wrong now. That would be utter bullshit. Any body that says something different is a retarded jackass
I really think the nfl needs to be sued if they forfeit the Bills and Titans game but make the Steelers play them later. You can’t hand the Bills the freebie and fuck the Steelers.
