CDC throws the NFL a lifeline as playoffs approach
Dec. 31—COVID-19 no longer is the elephant in the room.
It's become the chainsaw-wielding horror movie villain chasing the NFL through darkened hallways as the league desperately buys time to find an escape.
The Centers for Disease Control offered a lifeline in the form of new guidance Monday, and the NFL eagerly accepted. By Tuesday evening, the league reached an agreement with the union on new coronavirus protocols that match the CDC's updated rules.
Mandatory quarantines will be reduced from 10 days to five for unvaccinated players, provided they are asymptomatic. That's a huge deal for a league that placed a single-day record 106 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list Monday and followed up with 39 more Tuesday.
The total number of players placed on the list already has surpassed the 2020 season and could more than double it before the regular season ends. Rescheduling games at this point is a logistical nightmare, and the league clearly has no appetite to enforce the forfeit rules it implemented before the start of the season.
In that regard, it has company in major college conferences which have sought to rescind their own forfeit rules as the Omicron variant sends infections soaring across the country.
The move is clearly aimed at reaching the finish line on this 17-game regular season and creating the best possible chance to hold the playoffs uninterrupted as well. But the league is not throwing caution to the wind in quite the way many are suggesting.
The new protocols include required indoor masking, regardless of vaccination status. Team meetings must now take place outdoors or in large indoor spaces, and communal team meals again are banned as they were in 2020.
There's science behind the decision as well. NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills told reporters on a conference call Tuesday "almost all" of the league's recent infections are from the Omicron variant, according to genomic sequencing.
Data also shows symptoms have not been as severe, and the disease has been clearing the system more quickly. The NFL also agrees with the CDC's findings that transmission of Omicron is less likely after the five-day period.
Like anything else in these divisive days, the response has been polarizing.
The new rules go into effect immediately, and players already in the protocols are subject to the shorter quarantine. That means many of the 145 players placed on the COVID list in the week's first two days — including Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz, perhaps the most high-profile case — could return for this week's games.
There are no guarantees, of course. The new regulations include five criteria that must be met for a successful return.
In addition to the five-day quarantine, a player must be fever-free for at least 24 hours, have resolved or improved other symptoms, the team's primary medical officer in consultation with the league and Infection Control for Sports has determined the conditions have been met and any local regulations or requirements have been satisfied.
It's a policy that should get more players back on the field sooner, but that won't sit well with everybody.
The New Orleans Saints, for instance, were without 22 players for Monday night's loss against the Miami Dolphins in a game with postseason implications for both teams. It's hard to imagine they'll look kindly upon teams who are able to get many of their own players back this week.
It's not fair, but what truly has been since March 2020?
We learn more about the new variant every day, and medical information and guidelines are in constant flux. The only thing we can really hope for is that solid science is being followed and honest efforts are being made to play games as safely as possible.
The NFL is racing the virus to the finish line, and this feels like it's best hope.
After all, when you're being chased by a chainsaw-wielding psychopath, it's best not to argue too much about the shape of the exit hatch.
