The NFL's Tone-Deaf Non-Response to Coronavirus is No Surprise
The NFL has passed their CBA by a slim margin and the league is moving forward with their official offseason. Tags are being placed. Franchise quarterbacks are getting obscene amounts of guaranteed money. It's business as usual and not everyone is happy.
In the midst of a national emergency, with every expert begging people to work from home, not travel unless absolutely necessary, and practice social distancing, the NFL is leaving its teams with no choice but to do the opposite. At its heart, the NFL is an old-school business. Free agents must be wined and dined. Deals are negotiated by looking a man in the eye and closed with a handshake. Basically, you don't just Skype Tom Brady. Especially if you still have a rotary phone on your desk.
The NFL should have delayed. While other leagues are missing actual games, the NFL is obviously just trying to remain a trending topic on Twitter. They are the only league that could be completely unharmed by this crisis and they're still putting teams in a position of danger.
If everyone stays home, tampers the old fashioned way - in relative secret - and stops jumping around the country, this thing should start to clear up in time for regular season games to be played in full stadiums. Worst-case scenario could be their top draft picks don't have to ride a boat in the middle of a quarantined Las Vegas.
But that's not the NFL we know and love. The NFL has ignored concussions for decades so a little public health crisis should be no problem. In the NFL, life moves on. Deal with it and damn public perception. Rather a couple private airline employees expose themselves than the Hall of Fame Game take place a week later than scheduled.