Post by Purple Pain on Sept 21, 2021 11:27:45 GMT -6
The Athletic: Unvaccinated NFL players living a very different experience than their vaxxed teammates by Stephen Holder and Lindsay Jones
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Link:
theathletic.com/2828959/2021/09/21/unvaccinated-nfl-players-living-a-very-different-experience-than-their-vaxxed-teammates/
When Denzel Perryman reported for training camp in late July, he unabashedly stated his intent to forgo COVID-19 vaccination, saying he was fully prepared to deal with the weighty restrictions placed on unvaccinated NFL players.
“Zero vaccination, period,” said Perryman, then on the Panthers’ roster. “Nothing against it. I know people who got the vaccination and still got COVID. To me, what’s the point?
“I know unvaccinated players can’t do this, can’t do that. … It is what it is. It doesn’t bother me, though.”
Later, having dealt with inconvenient daily COVID-19 testing, eating meals in isolation, constant masking and painstaking social-distancing requirements for seven weeks, Perryman has made an abrupt about-face.
“I ain’t gonna lie,” he said earlier this month in Las Vegas after being traded to the Raiders. “Too many restrictions going on. Can’t even eat with my fellow brothers. I don’t like being an outcast.”
Yes, life comes at you fast. The Raiders’ roster, according to the NFL, is now fully vaccinated. And that means Perryman, too. It turns out, his characterization of life for unvaccinated players was no exaggeration.
Entering Week 1, 93.5 percent of the NFL’s nearly 2,300 players had received at least one dose of a vaccine. Three teams, the Buccaneers, Falcons and Raiders, are now 100 percent vaccinated. That means only a tiny minority of players — fewer than 200 — are subject to these rules. But holdouts remain. And the decision of those players to not be vaccinated is proving to be quite the commitment.
Wherever you stand on vaccination, it’s difficult to argue that remaining unvaccinated is somehow not an impediment for an NFL player. A player’s unvaccinated status has an impact on everything he does, from how he conducts himself in meetings (because of social distancing) to when and how he can lift weights and what time he arrives for work.
“We’re segregated,” one player said. “Vaxxed over here, unvaxxed over there.”
Put simply, for vaccinated and unvaccinated players, the 2021 season is a completely dissimilar existence. Players who have elected to not be vaccinated are, in essence, operating under the league’s onerous, pre-vaccine restrictions of 2020. Even vaccinated players marvel at what unvaccinated players are subjected to.
“Oh, it sucks,” said Colts running back Nyheim Hines, who is vaccinated. “It really, really sucks.”
Of his own decision to get vaccinated, Hines said, “I just wanted to make my life easier. I’m here to play football. I’m here for business.”
Vaccinated players test once every seven days, a recent change from the previous 14-day interval. Even before the workday begins, the inconvenience for unvaccinated players already is undeniable. As one player explained in a particularly relatable example, unvaccinated players had to report for testing at 7:30 a.m. on a day his team played a 1 p.m. preseason contest. Conversely, vaccinated players not scheduled to test that day had the luxury of sleeping in.
The previous 14-day testing interval was described as “ineffective” by NFL Players Association president J.C. Tretter, who cited breakthrough cases and clusters of positive tests from vaccinated individuals, like a cluster of 14 positive cases in Tennessee last month, and at least six positive tests among vaccinated coaches and staff in New Orleans.
Union leadership pushed for a return to daily testing for all players and staff, regardless of vaccination status. The weekly testing cadence was a compromise, though a complicated one, because the elimination of frequent testing for vaccinated individuals was one of the most compelling incentives to prompt players to get their shots. It was a carrot that worked because the testing process can be a nuisance.
Case in point: On many teams, unvaccinated players must report for work earlier than vaccinated ones in order to get tested. And, in another vivid example of the difference vaccination status can make, unvaccinated players are barred from entering the facility until the results of a rapid Mesa test are available (Mesa tests are rapid PCR lab tests that are typically returned within 45 minutes). Meanwhile, vaccinated players can undergo their weekly test and immediately enter before learning the result.
The situation conjures an image of an unvaccinated player sitting in his car waiting while vaccinated teammates stream into the building unfettered.
Keep in mind, the testing protocol remains in place even on days when players are off. That means while many teams enjoyed a long Labor Day weekend, allowing vaccinated players to embark on a brief getaway before they hunker down for the upcoming season, unvaccinated players had no such benefit. Day off? Daily testing. Bye week? More testing.
Any break in that daily testing regimen means an unvaccinated player is subject to a five-day “re-entry” process, which prevents a player from returning to the team facility for five days if testing negative each day during that period. The Patriots and then-quarterback Cam Newton were reminded of this in dramatic fashion last month when Newton was barred from returning to practice after testing offsite — a violation of the protocol — during a trip away from Foxborough, Mass. He was made to go through the re-entry process and was released by New England a week later, on Aug. 31. Head coach Bill Belichick said Newton’s vaccination status played no role in the decision to part with the former league MVP.
Even if that’s true, Newton is still very much being affected by his decision to remain unvaccinated, even as a free agent. Players who are signed by clubs in-season are still subject to the five-day re-entry procedures, complicating matters for a player such as Newton if a team wishes to sign him on short notice. If a team’s quarterback sustains an injury and immediate short-term help is needed at the position, it’s hard to envision that team waiting nearly a week to bring in an aging veteran who might be unavailable for its next game.
A major element of the current unvaccinated experience in the NFL is the strict social distancing required. It’s an ever-present challenge, even on the practice field. All NFL personnel wear electronic trackers for contact-tracing purposes, and unvaccinated players get no benefit of the doubt if and when they come into contact with someone who later tests positive.
A so-called close contact situation means an unvaccinated player must quarantine for five days following that point of contact. An example of the far-reaching potential implications of this came when the Vikings were reduced to one active quarterback after losing three others, including starter Kirk Cousins, to COVID-19 reserve one week into training camp. Additionally, three key Colts players, including starting quarterback Carson Wentz, were abruptly sent home a week before the season opener under a similar scenario.
Vaccinated personnel who are categorized as close contacts are not subject to the quarantine rules, as long as they continue to test negative.
This creates a delicate dance for unvaccinated players, who must constantly avoid being in close proximity to others for too long. This runs counter to the natural inclination of teammates, who are coached to work collectively toward a common goal, to want to be together.
In team cafeterias, unvaccinated players may not sit less than six feet apart and, depending on a team’s logistics, might be required to eat at predetermined times. These issues are present even during practice. Colts All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard, who is unvaccinated, acknowledges that the protocols are burdensome.
“If we’re out on the field and we’re making a play, it’s fine, but you have to think about it after the play is over,” Leonard said. “You have to understand that your (tracker) is still going. You have to have it on your mind 24/7. You can’t slip up. If you slip up, you’re out for five days.”
“Zero vaccination, period,” said Perryman, then on the Panthers’ roster. “Nothing against it. I know people who got the vaccination and still got COVID. To me, what’s the point?
“I know unvaccinated players can’t do this, can’t do that. … It is what it is. It doesn’t bother me, though.”
Later, having dealt with inconvenient daily COVID-19 testing, eating meals in isolation, constant masking and painstaking social-distancing requirements for seven weeks, Perryman has made an abrupt about-face.
“I ain’t gonna lie,” he said earlier this month in Las Vegas after being traded to the Raiders. “Too many restrictions going on. Can’t even eat with my fellow brothers. I don’t like being an outcast.”
Yes, life comes at you fast. The Raiders’ roster, according to the NFL, is now fully vaccinated. And that means Perryman, too. It turns out, his characterization of life for unvaccinated players was no exaggeration.
Entering Week 1, 93.5 percent of the NFL’s nearly 2,300 players had received at least one dose of a vaccine. Three teams, the Buccaneers, Falcons and Raiders, are now 100 percent vaccinated. That means only a tiny minority of players — fewer than 200 — are subject to these rules. But holdouts remain. And the decision of those players to not be vaccinated is proving to be quite the commitment.
Wherever you stand on vaccination, it’s difficult to argue that remaining unvaccinated is somehow not an impediment for an NFL player. A player’s unvaccinated status has an impact on everything he does, from how he conducts himself in meetings (because of social distancing) to when and how he can lift weights and what time he arrives for work.
“We’re segregated,” one player said. “Vaxxed over here, unvaxxed over there.”
Put simply, for vaccinated and unvaccinated players, the 2021 season is a completely dissimilar existence. Players who have elected to not be vaccinated are, in essence, operating under the league’s onerous, pre-vaccine restrictions of 2020. Even vaccinated players marvel at what unvaccinated players are subjected to.
“Oh, it sucks,” said Colts running back Nyheim Hines, who is vaccinated. “It really, really sucks.”
Of his own decision to get vaccinated, Hines said, “I just wanted to make my life easier. I’m here to play football. I’m here for business.”
Vaccinated players test once every seven days, a recent change from the previous 14-day interval. Even before the workday begins, the inconvenience for unvaccinated players already is undeniable. As one player explained in a particularly relatable example, unvaccinated players had to report for testing at 7:30 a.m. on a day his team played a 1 p.m. preseason contest. Conversely, vaccinated players not scheduled to test that day had the luxury of sleeping in.
The previous 14-day testing interval was described as “ineffective” by NFL Players Association president J.C. Tretter, who cited breakthrough cases and clusters of positive tests from vaccinated individuals, like a cluster of 14 positive cases in Tennessee last month, and at least six positive tests among vaccinated coaches and staff in New Orleans.
Union leadership pushed for a return to daily testing for all players and staff, regardless of vaccination status. The weekly testing cadence was a compromise, though a complicated one, because the elimination of frequent testing for vaccinated individuals was one of the most compelling incentives to prompt players to get their shots. It was a carrot that worked because the testing process can be a nuisance.
Case in point: On many teams, unvaccinated players must report for work earlier than vaccinated ones in order to get tested. And, in another vivid example of the difference vaccination status can make, unvaccinated players are barred from entering the facility until the results of a rapid Mesa test are available (Mesa tests are rapid PCR lab tests that are typically returned within 45 minutes). Meanwhile, vaccinated players can undergo their weekly test and immediately enter before learning the result.
The situation conjures an image of an unvaccinated player sitting in his car waiting while vaccinated teammates stream into the building unfettered.
Keep in mind, the testing protocol remains in place even on days when players are off. That means while many teams enjoyed a long Labor Day weekend, allowing vaccinated players to embark on a brief getaway before they hunker down for the upcoming season, unvaccinated players had no such benefit. Day off? Daily testing. Bye week? More testing.
Any break in that daily testing regimen means an unvaccinated player is subject to a five-day “re-entry” process, which prevents a player from returning to the team facility for five days if testing negative each day during that period. The Patriots and then-quarterback Cam Newton were reminded of this in dramatic fashion last month when Newton was barred from returning to practice after testing offsite — a violation of the protocol — during a trip away from Foxborough, Mass. He was made to go through the re-entry process and was released by New England a week later, on Aug. 31. Head coach Bill Belichick said Newton’s vaccination status played no role in the decision to part with the former league MVP.
Even if that’s true, Newton is still very much being affected by his decision to remain unvaccinated, even as a free agent. Players who are signed by clubs in-season are still subject to the five-day re-entry procedures, complicating matters for a player such as Newton if a team wishes to sign him on short notice. If a team’s quarterback sustains an injury and immediate short-term help is needed at the position, it’s hard to envision that team waiting nearly a week to bring in an aging veteran who might be unavailable for its next game.
A major element of the current unvaccinated experience in the NFL is the strict social distancing required. It’s an ever-present challenge, even on the practice field. All NFL personnel wear electronic trackers for contact-tracing purposes, and unvaccinated players get no benefit of the doubt if and when they come into contact with someone who later tests positive.
A so-called close contact situation means an unvaccinated player must quarantine for five days following that point of contact. An example of the far-reaching potential implications of this came when the Vikings were reduced to one active quarterback after losing three others, including starter Kirk Cousins, to COVID-19 reserve one week into training camp. Additionally, three key Colts players, including starting quarterback Carson Wentz, were abruptly sent home a week before the season opener under a similar scenario.
Vaccinated personnel who are categorized as close contacts are not subject to the quarantine rules, as long as they continue to test negative.
This creates a delicate dance for unvaccinated players, who must constantly avoid being in close proximity to others for too long. This runs counter to the natural inclination of teammates, who are coached to work collectively toward a common goal, to want to be together.
In team cafeterias, unvaccinated players may not sit less than six feet apart and, depending on a team’s logistics, might be required to eat at predetermined times. These issues are present even during practice. Colts All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard, who is unvaccinated, acknowledges that the protocols are burdensome.
“If we’re out on the field and we’re making a play, it’s fine, but you have to think about it after the play is over,” Leonard said. “You have to understand that your (tracker) is still going. You have to have it on your mind 24/7. You can’t slip up. If you slip up, you’re out for five days.”
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The NFL’s stance is that none of this is meant to be punitive. The goal, the league has consistently said, is keeping players and staff members healthy amid a pandemic. While vaccinated people can and do contract COVID-19, particularly the highly contagious Delta variant, NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills said recently, “The data has consistently shown higher rates of infection in unvaccinated players than vaccinated players.”
That said, if the rigorous rules motivate players to opt for vaccination, the NFL isn’t about to complain. And there’s evidence this has occurred. Before training camps began in late July, the leaguewide vaccination rate was around 80 percent, with five individual teams lagging below 70 percent. Now, every club is above 80 percent vaccinated.
But if the rules don’t do the trick, the fines just might. Ask Isaiah McKenzie.
The Bills wide receiver revealed last month that he was cited for a second violation of protocols set forth for unvaccinated players. The violation, specifically for a failure to wear a mask, resulted in a fine of $14,650, McKenzie said.
That said, if the rigorous rules motivate players to opt for vaccination, the NFL isn’t about to complain. And there’s evidence this has occurred. Before training camps began in late July, the leaguewide vaccination rate was around 80 percent, with five individual teams lagging below 70 percent. Now, every club is above 80 percent vaccinated.
But if the rules don’t do the trick, the fines just might. Ask Isaiah McKenzie.
The Bills wide receiver revealed last month that he was cited for a second violation of protocols set forth for unvaccinated players. The violation, specifically for a failure to wear a mask, resulted in a fine of $14,650, McKenzie said.
...
Put simply, unvaccinated players create a hassle for teams.
But that probably pales in comparison with the daily annoyances that unvaccinated players themselves are subjected to individually. They have two options: Get vaccinated or comply with the restrictions.
All of them.
But that probably pales in comparison with the daily annoyances that unvaccinated players themselves are subjected to individually. They have two options: Get vaccinated or comply with the restrictions.
All of them.
Link:
theathletic.com/2828959/2021/09/21/unvaccinated-nfl-players-living-a-very-different-experience-than-their-vaxxed-teammates/
... and neither is this Chris guy.