There’s a heavyweight showdown rapidly approaching between the NFL and, well, science.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the NIAID and one of the faces of the American fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, recently cautioned against the baseball season extending (assuming it actually begins) too far into the fall. Unsurprisingly, Fauci also has concerns about the 2020 NFL season and recently said he struggles to find a way for the season to be played at all.
“Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall,” he told CNN medical expert Dr. Sanjay Gupta. “If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen.”
Gupta, in an appearance on CNN’s “New Day” on Thursday morning, expanded on Fauci’s thoughts with some of his own opinions.
Football may not happen this year, Dr. Anthony Fauci tells @drsanjaygupta.
“Unless players are essentially in a bubble – insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day – it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall.” pic.twitter.com/mDcTRMBucU— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) June 18, 2020
The NFL isn’t currently considering any sort of “bubble” plan, which makes sense, as it would be far more difficult to do that for a full season rather than a playoff run like the NBA or NHL.
Gupta also talked about what football might look like if it is able to be played in the midst of a pandemic.
I hope that’s not the case, but if football does come back this fall, it will likely look very different. For example: possible modified face masks embedded in players helmets, single-use hydration containers and physical distancing + masks on the sidelines. (4/4)
— Dr. Sanjay Gupta (@drsanjaygupta) June 18, 2020
That’s a jarring thought, although one to which the “it’s better than nothing” theory likely would be applied. Given recent case spikes in states like Texas (two NFL teams), Florida (three NFL teams) and Arizona (one NFL team), it’s easy to see how there would be some pessimism about a season, especially one that coincides with the beginning of flu season, as acknowledged by the doctors.
The NFL has yet to reveal any sort of plans regarding how it intends to deal with trying to stage a season amid a global pandemic, other than saying it will do frequent testing. It’s certainly possible the start of the season is delayed, but the league has also continued operating as if everything was at least resembling normal, so it will be interesting to see how the league attacks this unprecedented challenge.
The fate of the season — and the billions of dollars that come with it — are at stake.
