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From NFL Now on @nflnetwork on the league’s updated policies on COVID-19 affecting the scheduling of games. pic.twitter.com/StfP4HsMLW
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 22, 2021
Worth noting: The NFL and NFLPA also agreed in 2020 that players on both teams wouldn’t be paid for any canceled games. (All 256 were played.) But the bold type in today's memo that the NFL doesn't anticipate adding a Week 19 to make up games makes clear what's at stake in 2021.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 22, 2021
Never thought I would say this, But being put in a position to hurt my team because I don’t want to partake in the vaccine is making me question my future in the @Nfl
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) July 22, 2021
It works both ways, though. If a player doesn’t get the vaccine and he contracts the virus, he can hurt his family, friends and teammates if he spreads it to them and God forbid, if he gives it to someone who could wind up in an ICU and possibly die from it.
Maybe it would be wise for DeAndre Hopkins and other players who feel the way he does to opt out for this season. Everyone has the right to choose whether to take the vaccination or not. But, being in a work setting surrounded in close proximity by co-workers is a far greater danger zone for the unvaccinated.
It works the other way too, if players opt out, because of how that can hurt their teams’ chances to have a successful season.
Taking the vaccination is a choice and for some, like DeAndre Hopkins, obviously a very difficult one.