Cole Popovich no longer is on the Patriots’ coaching staff. Multiple reports since have confirmed the reason is related to the COVID-19 vaccine. Popovich was masked up during the spring sessions.
All Tier-1 employees, which includes coaches, are required by the NFL to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to work with players in person during practice. The Vikings said they are in discussion with offensive line coach Rick Dennison over the COVID-19 protocols for training camp after ESPN reported the Vikings had fired Dennison over his refusal to be vaccinated. Popovich, 36, joined the Patriots in 2015 as a coaching assistant. He and Carmen Bricillo shared offensive line coaching duties last season, but Bricillo will handle the job alone this season. I see this as the league's final warning to players to get the vaccine. Unless you an All Pro quality player, the league isn't going to play around with you when it comes to covid vaccines.
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www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/31863308/nfl-warning-teams-covid-19-outbreaks-unvaccinated-players-lead-forfeited-games The NFL has added an additional COVID-19 vaccination incentive for players, threatening forfeits and the loss of game checks if an outbreak among unvaccinated players causes an unresolvable disruption in the regular-season schedule. Commissioner Roger Goodell informed clubs of the new policy Thursday in a memo. The league has encouraged vaccination for players but has not required it, per an agreement with the NFL Players Association. Instead, the league has set up a series of incentives. As of Thursday, Goodell wrote, more than 75% of NFL players were at least partially vaccinated and more than half of the league's teams have player-vaccination rates above 80%. Sixteen NFL teams have hit a vaccination rate of 85% or higher, a source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. Unvaccinated players will be subject to severe protocols during training camp and the regular season, including daily testing, mask-wearing and travel restrictions. Thursday's memo made it clear that unvaccinated players could, in theory, be responsible for the losses of games and paychecks as well. The new policy drills down on a scenario that never occurred in 2020, when the NFL postponed five games and moved 10 others to accommodate outbreaks. A forfeit will be called in 2021 if all of the following circumstances occur: • A game is postponed by requirement of government authorities or medical experts, or at the discretion of the commissioner, because of ongoing health concerns of an outbreak. • The league can't find a suitable date to reschedule within the 18-week framework of the regular season. • The original postponement was caused by an outbreak among unvaccinated players of one team. The NFL was able to reschedule all of the games it postponed in 2020, but it's possible it might not go to the same extremes -- such as playing a game on a Tuesday or Wednesday -- as it did during its first pandemic season. According to the memo: "Whether to reschedule a postponed game will be dependent on health and safety reasons at the recommendation of medical experts as well as considerations of stadium availability, schedule integrity, fan convenience, and other appropriate matters." If the forfeit occurs, players from both teams will lose their game checks. The team that suffered the outbreak would be responsible for any shortfall in the league's revenue-sharing pool and also would be credited with a loss for the purposes of playoff seeding, with the opposing team credited with a win. According to Caesars William Hill, if a game is forfeited, a wager for standard spread, money line and total wager on that game will be voided. "These operating principles are designed to allow us to play a full season in a safe and responsible way," Goodell wrote, "and address possible competitive or financial issues fairly. While there is no question that health conditions have improved from last year, we cannot be complacent or simply assume that we will be able to play without interruption -- either due to Covid outbreaks among our clubs or outbreaks that occur within the larger community. These principles are intended to help inform decisions, recognizing that, as in 2020, we will need to remain flexible and adapt to possibly changing conditions." According to the memo, if an outbreak among vaccinated players causes the postponement of a game, the league "will attempt to minimize the competitive and economic burden on both participating teams." Police in Redmond, Washington, say Richard Sherman resisted arrest and as a result both he and a police officer sustained minor injuries. The police made the statement at a press conference today, saying that Sherman physically resisted officers’ efforts to take him into custody. Police say Sherman’s injury was a minor laceration to his lower leg, apparently a dog bite when a police dog was used. Sherman was arrested for burglary domestic violence and malicious mischief for attempting to break into a home in Redmond, where police say Sherman’s ex-wife’s parents live. Other reports have indicated that the police were incorrect and that Sherman is still married to the woman whose parents live in the home. Sherman did not gain entry into the home but had what was described as a “verbal altercation” with the occupants of the home. Washington State Patrol is also investigating Sherman for crashing his car, leaving the scene and suspicion of driving under the influence. Police drew Sherman’s blood to determine whether he was under the influence, and those results are pending. It's been a long, weird offseason. Over the past year and a half, we've had to deal with quite a bit. With COVID forcing many of us to work from home, or forcing us out of our jobs, we've all had some major adjustments in our lives to make. I know with nhguy, his work schedule has pretty much taken all of his time away from this community, and at least for the last few months, I haven't been posting nearly as much as I could have either. Those of us who have the ability to post articles on the Chatters network have kind of let the community go a little bit. We went from multiple articles a week, to maybe one or two articles a month, and that simply isn't good enough. The last thing I wanted to do when I signed up, was to let this community become an afterthought...yet, that's exactly what I let it become in my own priorities. For that, I apologize. I know it's the offseason, and things really slow down, but still, this has been a particularly slow one...
There is a light at the end of the tunnel though. In 8 days, on July 21st, the Steelers and Cowboys will both be getting started with training camp, as they get ready for the annual HOF game. Then, on July 27th, the rest of the NFL gets started. The long drought is almost over my friends. In less than four weeks, on August 5th, the NFL hosts the Hall of Fame game. From that point on, there will be NFL football every single week until February of 2022. And those games will have FANS in attendance. With more and more people getting their COVID vaccinations, we are slowly returning back to normal, including live sporting events with stadiums full of fans cheering. I am not a big soccer fan, but I will confess, I watched the UEFA championship game this weekend, and what I saw was marvelous. Not the game itself, which admittedly was quite good, but rather, Wembley Stadium. It was packed. The fans were raucous, it just felt...right. We kind of got used to quiet sports, played in near empty stadiums...but just because we kind of got used to it, doesn't mean grew to like it. Seeing Wembley in full attendance, reminded me of just how much I missed the 12th man at football games. OK, I am rambling a bit, so I am gonna close this out. Guys, it's almost football season. We survived yet another offseason (mostly). |
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