We are over a year and a half in and you would think we have moved past the ignorant is bliss line of thinking. It's the easy way out if you don't get tested. Is it a safe way out? No, not one of the above. The NFL and NFLPA are not interested in that. They just want to play. This new development is no different from the previous ones, as the NFL forgoing health and safety considerations for the sake of pushing forward with the game is an all-too-familiar tune at this point.
In the midst of an enormous nationwide outbreak that has not left a single major league in sports untouched, the NFL has decided that rather than pressing pause for a few weeks to allow heavily affected teams to reset and not play with practice squad members, they have decided to go with the tried and true
There are less publicly known positive cases. Not less actual cases. The news coverage has been bad for business and the NFL should not have to cancel or delay games. I think they would never recover. The league will now choose a few players who will be tested each week, instead of testing all players once a week. If a player shows symptoms of COVID, they will be tested for unvaccinated players.
This feels like running away from the problem rather than actually facing it with the resources and research we have available to us, but the counterargument from frustrated players appears to be that most of the cases in the NFL are asymptomatic. If the NFL is in a bubble, this argument works. As they are not currently in anything of the sort, it is not only the players themselves exposed to potential infections, but anyone in their circle of family, friends, and fans who they come into contact with, many of whom may not be as healthy as they are. Hundreds of employees throughout the NFL who are not members of the team but come in contact with players every day, from coaches to trainers to referees, are also affected by this.
