Tracking Devices on all NFL players to assess possible COVID contacts

[Chevrolet]

Players will wear tracking devices pretty much all day, every day so that team doctors can go back and determine which players may have had a "close contact" with someone who tests positive for Covid


I would not want to be betting on games this year. It will be a crap shoot. Any time during the season in a non closed system, players can be pulled either for having COVID or even being in close proximity to someone with COVID.
Incubation period is 3-4 days, so initial negative test could be during incubation...will need two negative tests 72 hours apart to make sure players in close contact with someone who had COVID19 are not truly positive.

Tons of uncertainty in a "non bubble" environment.

 

[Hyped]

You can bet 89 minutes prior to kickoff though as we will know who is active. And the lines will be weird as there likely will not be early bets made in the week preceding the game...thus the lines won't move much unless there is heavy betting made on one side in the 1.5 hours preceding kick off.

should be interesting...

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I'm a closing line kinda guy anyway ....

 

[fxmallon]

We're getting a taste of this lineup problem right now with the NBA Clippers (were for many experts the favorite to win it all) experiencing a depleted lineup as their last big man has just broken the bubble for family reasons.

This NFL method is more of a take-down than I assumed it would be. I expected that there would only be frequent testing and not tracing. This tracing stipulation will multiply the lineup reliability and make betting a definite last hour thing. Maybe we'll be crowning the team which manages to stay most free of covids--that is, if we get around to that championship moment.

 

[Joey007]

Will be an interesting year. Hopefully they can work out a system to make this all work as well as it can.

I’m willing to accept a bizarre year of sports filled with positive tests/cancelled games. I’ll be thrilled with anything at this point. Think the country could certainly use the distraction,

Let’s hope for everything to be in much more reasonable shape in 2021.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Players will wear tracking devices pretty much all day, every day so that team doctors can go back and determine which players may have had a "close contact" with someone who tests positive for Covid


I would not want to be betting on games this year. It will be a crap shoot. Any time during the season in a non closed system, players can be pulled either for having COVID or even being in close proximity to someone with COVID.
Incubation period is 3-4 days, so initial negative test could be during incubation...will need two negative tests 72 hours apart to make sure players in close contact with someone who had COVID19 are not truly positive.

Tons of uncertainty in a "non bubble" environment.

On the bright side, there are always the ol' dead pools.

 

[Triumph]

Mark of the Beast.

 

[NormZauchin]

So the league office will now know which bars and massage parlors the players have frequented.

 

[A Defiant Goose]

Let's not give the government anymore bright ideas please

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Let's not give the government anymore bright ideas please

That crap will indeed never fly here, but it is pretty much why a dozen or so asian countries hammered this disease and have nobody dying anymore. Test lots of people, positive tests get quarantined wearing a tracking bracelet, those exposed to them also get bracelets and quarantine. 1-3 months of pain, and the plague is over. But no... here, 5 months into it, it is worse than ever.

I know we aren't going to widely track by electronic means, but testing, tracing, and wearing masks for the past 3 months would have had us back to normal by now. Japan pretty much only nailed the mask-wearing part of that strategy, and they even came out on the other side way better off than the USA. But no, some won't even wear a mask, in a hot zone.

 

[gobesmug]

Unless the NFL and NFLPA agree to allow players the choice to play with COVID, or a vaccine pops up in the next few weeks, I see no logical way for a season to happen this year

 

[BTTA]

So the league office will now know which bars and massage parlors the players have frequented.

I don't care about the League office knowing this stuff, but it will leak from NFLJ HQ for sure. And then we will all know way more than we want to about our favorite NFL players.

 

[BTTA]

The spit test, with a turn-around time of a few minutes, will be a game changer.

 

[Steve102]

The spit test, with a turn-around time of a few minutes, will be a game changer.

Scenario: Pats are lined up vs Buffalo 12/28, with division/wildcard/home field in the balance based on the outcome. 20 minutes before kickoff, 10 patriots test positive for COVID, including 4-6 defensive starters, and they fall in a must win game. Tell me everyone here isn't screaming the NFL is out to eff the Pats.

 

[farn]

I would like the NFL to develop an app : 1.99 per dload. Put the tracker on Kraft. And I can pay two bucks and follow his comings and goings.

 

[Chevrolet]

I think the tracker applies to NFL players and staff only. So the "contacts" who tested positive who an individual player were in close proximity to will most likely only be NFL players or staff.

But in the absence of an "NBA type bubble" and many more players and staff than the NBA, the likelihood of COVID positives in NFL players during the season would seem to be much higher than for the NBA.

I think the impact of this tracer system is that if one player tests positive, the downstream consequences are that whoever that player has been in close contact with would have to have 2 negative tests in 72 hours in order to be safe to play (assuming he has had no other contacts with other Covid positives during those 72 hours).
I think daily testing is an absolute must have in this situation

All of this becomes enormously complex to administer and leaves the team and league vulnerable to "group player disqualifications" during game week, which of course could impact quality of play. Also the possibility that coached might have to at time coach "remotely". Besides player and staff health, I think ultimately this season if it can be played through will see some low quality games and chaotic weeks between games.

I can not believe the NFL does not have a detailed plan in place to administer all of this. I think everyone may be in store for unpleasant surprises.
If I were a player with guaranteed $ in place for 2021, I sure as hell would either want the season to be played OR guarantee salary if can not play b/o positive tests.

 

[mgteich]

The spit test, with a turn-around time of a few minutes, will be a game changer.

I believe that there is an availability issue, and the test is expensive.

However, I strongly agree. This test should be used every day on every player and staff member. The cost is minimal compared tot he risk. I suspect that the president's staff doesn't wait a week for test results, as folks do in FL.

 

[mgteich]

Many countries have survived the epidemic without electronic devices, which of course is a great tool. Extensive testing and tracking is essential. Masks would ONLY save 30 or 40 thousand live in the next 3 months.
====
But, we are Americans. It is OK for to make sure that we don't lose our pets, by mandating locators on them. But, children? It is OK for children to get lost and die. Similarly with vaccines. Most think nothing of vaccinating pets, but won't vaccinate their children or themselves. Many don't take the flu vaccine now, and won't take the COVID vaccine when it is available.

LIVE FREE OR DIE! No masks for the MAGA folk, and certainly no electronic trackers.

That crap will indeed never fly here, but it is pretty much why a dozen or so asian countries hammered this disease and have nobody dying anymore. Test lots of people, positive tests get quarantined wearing a tracking bracelet, those exposed to them also get bracelets and quarantine. 1-3 months of pain, and the plague is over. But no... here, 5 months into it, it is worse than ever.

I know we aren't going to widely track by electronic means, but testing, tracing, and wearing masks for the past 3 months would have had us back to normal by now. Japan pretty much only nailed the mask-wearing part of that strategy, and they even came out on the other side way better off than the USA. But no, some won't even wear a mask, in a hot zone.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

... Many...won't take the COVID vaccine when it is available.

I am already signed up and hoping I will get picked as a phase III clinical trial volunteer for a vaccine.

sign up here: Volunteer for a Local Clinical Study | COVID-19 Prevention Network

 

[FCB02062]

Many countries have survived the epidemic without electronic devices, which of course are a great tool. Extensive testing and tracking is essential. Make would ONLY save 30 or 40 thousand live in the next 3 months.
====
But, we are Americans. Is is OK for to make sure that we don't lose our pets, by mandating locators on them. But, children? It is OK for children to get lost and die. Similarly with vaccines. Most think nothing of vaccinating pets, but won't vaccinate their children or themselves. Many don't take the flu vaccine now, and won't take the COVID vaccine when it is available.

LIVE FREE OR DIE! No masks for the MAGA folk, and certainly no electronic trackers.

Yes, excuse us if we don't freely submit to the government tracking us...