Report: NFL Coaches, Execs, IT Employees 'Concerned' About Coronavirus Spreading While Preparing For Virtual Draft
BOSTON (CBS) -- The NFL draft will take place this month, though it will look nothing like it has ever looked before. With Americans isolated in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic, all involved parties will be participating from the comfort and safety of their own homes.
Seems like a nice and easy solution, right? Well, even the simplest solutions can have complications these days.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, some coaches and executives are concerned with having team IT personnel enter their homes, out of fear of exposing their home to the virus. Likewise, IT employees in quarantine are not eager to enter the homes of coaches and executives.
A concern has emerged in recent days: There are certain coaches and front-office staffers reluctant to have their IT employees in their homes for fear of the virus spreading, and vice versa; some IT employees are concerned about going into other homes to equip them for the draft.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 8, 2020
Such concerns go against commissioner Roger Goodell's edict that NFL personnel are not allowed to criticize the draft taking place during a pandemic and numerous stay-at-home orders and advisories around the country. But for now, those concerns remain anonymous, so Roger can't quite know which coaches and executives to punish for speaking out.
Earlier this week, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh expressed serious concerns about his team's system being hacked.
And shortly after Goodell's memo banned NFL employees from being critical of the draft taking place, Peter King reported that many coaches and executives were angry with Goodell.
Clearly, the NFL hopes to carry on with business as usual, but the realities of life in America at the moment are making that quite difficult.