Report: NFL Coaches, Executives Believe Coronavirus Will Make Starting Season On Time 'Nearly Impossible'
BOSTON (CBS) -- The coronavirus pandemic has thus far impacted nearly every single corner of every single industry in America. And it may be just beginning.
Despite the national concern, the NFL has carried on for the most part as if nothing is happening. Free agency kicked off last week as scheduled, the league still plans to hold the draft in late April, and the NFL as an organization remains "optimistic" that the 2020 season will go on either in its entirety or close to it.
On the ground level though, many in the NFL remain more realistic.
Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman, who owns a thick Rolodex full of NFL contacts, shared a series of tweets on Wednesday morning that cast serious doubts on the 2020 NFL season going off as planned.
The first tweet was the whopper:
One thing to pass along: I'm increasingly hearing from coaches and front office executives that they believe it will be nearly impossible for the season to start on time. Some believe training camp will start in the fall.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) March 25, 2020
Freeman explained that, rather than relying on the league office for information on the pandemic, coaches and executives are hearing from team doctors, who are much more informed on the matter.
One dynamic in play is that some coaches are having blunt conversations with team doctors. The doctors are telling them the truth. That the pandemic could last months. There's been no sugarcoating or lying.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) March 25, 2020
Coaches are quoting me data from the World Health Organization. Again, team doctors are giving them the honest info.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) March 25, 2020
Freeman added that there seems to be a disconnect, with the league wanting business to operate as normally as possible while the GMs and executives don't feel that such a course is really possible.
On more of the ground level of the NFL, with coaches and team execs, there's more of a blunt realization of where we are. This is exemplified by @AdamSchefter reporting on how GMs want draft postponement. But league office is pushing for as much normalcy as possible.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) March 25, 2020
Freeman concluded that at this point, nothing's been determined, but the feeling is not particularly positive.
No one is saying the season will be postponed, it's just that some in the NFL aren't trying to fool themselves. They see the same data we do.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) March 25, 2020
Also, keep in mind, the pandemic isn't hitting the country evenly. It's a disaster in NY area, California and stare of Washington. Now creeping heavily into Louisiana. Teams in those states are impacted differently than places where the virus hasn't hit hard yet.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) March 25, 2020
Of course, with America still very much in the early stages of dealing with the virus, nothing is set in stone -- because nothing can be set in stone. But Freeman's conversations with numerous people around the NFL indicate that the people in charge of making the league function do not currently feel as though it will be possible for the league to carry on as if a national crisis is not taking place.