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The NFL Is America’s League Because it Has no Covid Plan—Just Vibes
The NFL has mimicked America’s handling of Covid and it’s been just as disastrous.
The NFL is three-quarters of the way through its 2020 season, and there’s no debating that its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been an unmitigated disaster. Sunday, a rookie wide receiver for the Denver Broncos had to play quarterback—because every other quarterback on the team had to quarantine. The Ravens vs. Steelers game, originally scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, keeps getting pushed back like Detox; 18 Ravens players have tested positive, as have multiple Steelers players. Buffalo Bills tight end Tommy Sweeney is missing the entire season with myocarditis, a heart condition linked to Covid. The NFL’s muddled, disorganized plan has needlessly endangered its players, and yet the season continues while willfully ignoring safer protocols.
The NFL has spent the last few years jostling with the NBA for American pop culture supremacy. By now, though, there’s no question that the NFL is the true American tradition—from its silencing of Black protest to its dismissal of a deadly pandemic, the league encapsulates Americana at its worst.
The NBA and NHL established bubbles that kept them Covid-free in their postseasons. Major League Baseball…
