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Can you feel the excitement? Broncos training camp starts starts this week!
NFL clubs just received this email with reporting dates.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 18, 2020
Training camp is on. pic.twitter.com/lya1JtxW4o
...unless it doesn’t.
What is traditionally a time of fanfare and optimism (Mark Sanchez is the future, y’all!), was brought into swift perspective Sunday with a coordinated Twitter effort by some of the league’s biggest names to share their frustration with the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols.
Once again in the interest of keeping everyone (players & fans) as informed as possible, here is an updated list of what we as players know and don’t know as the first group gets set to report to training camp tomorrow.#WeWantToPlay pic.twitter.com/xQcjs33zgM
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) July 19, 2020
Sports fans watched as College Basketball, the NBA, MLB, and others suspended or canceled their 2020 season last March. There was an assumption that because football season was so far away that NFL was in the best position of all sports to devise a plan to protect players and still play ball.
It’s becoming rapidly apparent that either that just wasn’t true or that the NFL squandered the gift of all that time to plan.
With rookies reporting on Tuesday, there is a major divide between the players, coaches, and the league with regard to safely practicing and playing 2020.
According to a source, all 32 NFL teams' Infectious Disease Emergency Response (IDER) plans now have been approved by Allen Sills, the league's chief medical officer, and joint experts. The NFLPA has received them, has approved some of them and is reviewing the rest.
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) July 19, 2020
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith says he has heard from coaches who have told him the NFL’s return-to-play protocols will not work.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) July 17, 2020
Well, this is just great.
The NFL and players had four months to work through these issues and here we are on the eve of rookies reporting and it looks like it might just all unravel right before our very eyes. Players are not happy.
Sense a trend.... pic.twitter.com/KJQqo7nKSI
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 19, 2020
Getting ready to report this week hoping the @NFL will come to agreement with the safe and right protocols so we can feel protected playing the sport we love #WeWantToPlay
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) July 19, 2020
I am concerned.
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) July 19, 2020
My wife is pregnant.@NFL Training camp is about to start..
And there’s still No Clear Plan on Player Health & Family Safety.
We want to play football but we also want to protect our loved ones. #WeWantToPlay
...and yes, even some Denver Broncos expressed concerns.
#WeWantToPlay The NFL continues to ignore the safety recommendations from their own experts. The health and safety of the players is paramount IF we want an NFL season. The NFL needs to provide a safe work environment for us to do that. #WeWantToPlay
— Brandon McManus (@thekidmcmanus) July 19, 2020
have a newborn at home & no safety protocols are in place we all have families we care about and need these safety questions answered #WeWantToPlay
— Ja'Wuan James (@JawuanJames70) July 19, 2020
As fans, how can we not find this incredibly irritating? I can’t hit this point enough, but with four months to plan and come to an player safety agreement, how is it even remotely possible that just days before the first players are to report the league is all but silent and the players are on the verge of a full-blown mutiny?
This article will be updated throughout the day as news develops.
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While it wasn't planned, Gronkowski couldn't pass up on the chance to reunite with Brady
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