Robinson: This is a business decision. “The NFL’s COVID reality: Unvaccinated players are a liability”
… and some will not make the final cut
The NFL’s insistence that everyone be vaccinated is not a political decision. It is predicated on restoring its business model so that it can make money.
That is the ultimate effort of all business owners. If they cannot make money, they will not be successful.
And that is the basic rule of the NFL hierarchy and coaches who simply want to return to the field and be safe.
Yes, be safe. Football is a team sport, and those who refuse to take a Covid vaccination are threatening to ruin their team’s performance.
In short, if a team has to cancel a game this year, it will forfeit that potential win.
Running out of excuses
AS Yahoo’s Charles Robinson writes, the FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine changed the dynamic, even if some who have gotten the vaccine can also be hit with the virus again,
For months, the NFL’s vaccine stragglers have clung to the nebulous need for more. More data, more research, more approval.
Now they’ll need more excuses.
That’s what Monday’s biotech news brought, by way of the FDA’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine. It’s a development that is sure to be followed in the coming months by other approvals in the space, just as it’s sure to be blown off by some NFL players who refuse to get vaccinated. But this time around, players won’t be able to lean on the lack of an FDA approval, leaving some to continue grasping at their own nebulous concoction for why they refuse an added layer of protection from COVID-19.
The overwhelming amount of favorable science and billions of worldwide vaccinations haven’t been enough, so it’s likely the FDA’s approval won’t make a difference either. They’ll continue to want to do their own research, as if they’re spending time between practices in lab coats and hovering over electron microscopes. Unlike the game where they make their living, the goalposts for their reasoning will move to whatever destination takes them furthest from a vaccination needle.
And come next month, when rosters are reduced to 53 players, some will surely be cut for it, largely because the liability of being a COVID risk outweighs on-field productivity. Now that FDA approval is in hand, that’s how teams should treat it. If navigating COVID is part of a franchise’s operational manual, it should be considered part of the playbook, too.
Run, block, tackle, throw, vaccinate.
Charles Robinson, “The NFL’s Covid reality: Unvaccinated
players are a liability,” Yahoo Sports, August 23, 2021
“Liability” means danger
A person who is a liability to a business is one who does not do his or her job or who puts others in danger. So, if an employee does not measure up to the company’s rules, then he becomes expendable.
That is the case for many of the NFL players, though the stars are on another plane. Still, companies who do not like those who are a liability will ask them to leave.
For NFL players, that means being “cut” and conceivably ending their careers,
If a player's performance in one of the required areas is poor — or completely nonexistent — then he is a liability who can open a competitive advantage for another team. And unless a player has a valid reason for failing in one of those areas (or some ability that overrides that failure) he is subject to being cut — just like so many other NFL evaluations that place an emphasis on not becoming a weak link.
Don’t think the risk isn’t real, either. The New England Patriots and Cam Newton showcased that on Monday, when a sketchy scenario unfolded that violated NFL-NFLPA testing protocols, sidelining Newton for three valuable practices that will now slide the first-team offense over to rookie Mac Jones. The word "sketchy" applies in this scenario because the Patriots and Newton both violated a COVID-testing protocol that has been hammered into every team’s head when it comes to unvaccinated players.
That protocol is simple and well known throughout the league: Unvaccinated players can’t leave town and effectively conduct their own independent COVID tests while they are away.
Charles Robinson, Yahoo Sports, August 23, 2021
Cam Newton is not that valuable
The Patriots have gotten away with a lot from Spygate to Deflategate. However, Covid changes things.
What Newton did was wrong, and he is now relegated to the practice squad,
For their part, the Patriots appear to be taking part of the rap for this failure, stating that Newton traveled to a team-approved appointment. That's remarkable because it suggests that New England didn’t know one of the loudest and most basic rules of unvaccinated players — that they can’t leave town and do their own independent tests.
Never mind that this seems unbelievable for any NFL franchise, let alone the Patriots. Even Newton should have known it because unvaccinated players have been given flashing red guardrails when it comes to testing and travel. Both of those realities and who is at fault are just a side dish to what all of this really spells out — that Newton not being vaccinated created the entire scenario for this to happen in the first place. Just as every other unvaccinated player creates this possibility.
Charles Robinson, Yahoo Sports, August 23, 2021
The Patriots have gotten away with many things, but with Newton, they have to remember that he is not that good — even if he is their starter.
Cam Newton is no Tom Brady
If players are not available, then they are expendable. It is that simple, and Cam Newton should remember that he has never won a Super Bowl. He is not really one of the top QBs in the league right now.
Now, since he is unvaccinated, the Patriots are carrying a liability,
Keep this in mind: If this were the regular season and Newton had done this on the typical off day for players — which is Tuesday — it means that his five-day on-boarding process would have lasted through Sunday. And if there was a game that Sunday, he would have missed it. That's an important point to consider for a former league MVP who is likely mounting his last stand to prove he’s still a viable starting quarterback.
That is the competitive disadvantage of carrying an unvaccinated player, spelled out in the simplest of terms. Either he or the team — or both if you believe that’s what happened here — can somehow stumble over a rule that everyone should know. It's a rule that wouldn’t have been in place for Newton if he had been vaccinated.
But Newton clearly is not, which has put himself and the Patriots into a scenario where they look inept for not knowing one of the most basic protocols for unvaccinated players.
Charles Robinson, Yahoo Sports, August 23, 2021
Conclusion
What all of this says is that teams must now make business decisions based on the reality of whether or not they are vaccinated. If they choose to avoid being vaccinated, they will hurt the chances of that business achieving success.
That is the bottom line with the NFL and its teams. They are trying to avoid making political statements, but they will not avoid taking actions against players who are a liability.
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