Vegas Players Violate Virus Protocol

[Buddo]

5 hours ago, Captain Caveman said:

 

It's kind of ironic how often they're getting called out for being "selfish" as the violation occurred while attending a teammate's charity event for a great cause.  I don't necessarily disagree (I'd probably call it stupid rather than selfish) but it just strikes me as funny.

 

I know what you mean, but the selfish part comes as much from putting teammates and other players livelihoods at risk, by being stupid. It can be both.

 

Fwiw, all they had to do was 'mask up', and they could have been rightly lauded for attending the charity 'do'.

[stevewin]

So from the Titans thread

https://www.twobillsdrive.com/community/topic/227185-titans-8-positive-covid-tests-and-impacts-edited-title/?do=findComment&comment=6751193

 

Quote

In his view, the Titans should not play on Sunday. You have to operate as if there is an outbreak and wait the virus out. Their infection clock should start on Monday -- the last day they had contact with infected personnel. Playing on Sunday would allow just six days for the infections to show up, which is a significant risk -- it's a short period of time, and rushing back too soon is what got the St. Louis Cardinals in trouble. People tend to test positive five to seven days after being exposed, so it's entirely possible someone on the field will in fact be infectious despite clear test results leading into the game. Now, the NFL has said they're postponing the Titans-Steelers game to Monday or Tuesday, which would provide at least a seven-day gap from the last point of potential infection. Provided there was a rapid point-of-contact test given on Monday and no positive tests were recorded, Binney said that would help tip the scales from "a very real chance more cases could pop up" to "arguably a good chance no more cases pop up" -- a significant shift in the risk-versus-reward ratio.

Following the logic above, the Raiders players who went to the event could have been exposed and be infectious and not test positive prior to the game (I understand this is Covid specific  - but applies directly to the football context of potential impact on Bills players/season).  

[Alphadawg7]

15 hours ago, JGMcD2 said:

The players in attendance should be forced to sit out this week. They shouldn't be eligible for return until they pass COVID tests over a 10 day period. They would be eligible to return for week 5.

 

I don't see any other way to do it... I am serious. I understand it was a charitable event... but when the rules say you're banned from attending any event that "violates local and state restrictions" and then there are fines levied on the event, "The city of Henderson fined the country club $2,000 on Tuesday for four violations of the Nevada governor's COVID-19 emergency directives, including people not wearing masks and having more than 50 people at the event. The club has 30 days to pay or dispute the fine." 

 

There needs to be serious punishment and protocol put in place to make sure these players don't potentially put their teammates... and the Bills players at risk of losing their season.

 

 

 

 

I agree.  And not because I want an advantage this weekend, I don't fear the Raiders.  But I dont want our guys being potentially exposed that could cause them to miss the KC game.  This is an unacceptable situation and they need to be handled appropriately to protect the other players.

[Aaronthebaron]

At minimum, those players who attended should be expelled from team facilities for two days while testing is done. 
I don’t think it’s too far to prohibit those players from Sunday’s game and stringent testing done on the rest of the Raiders team before the game.

Can you imagine if Bills players get the virus because of this? I mean, what if!?!? It could derail our season! No, a message needs to be sent.

[WEATHER DOT COM]

1 minute ago, Aaronthebaron said:

At minimum, those players who attended should be expelled from team facilities for two days while testing is done.

 

At a minimum, indeed.

 

Since the Raiders allowed the players who violated protocol to practice today, the NFL needs to step in.

[whatdrought]

41 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

The point in this instance is that the event itself was NOT following the local government rules - it had 2x the number of allowed people

and

the NFL/NFLPA bargained agreement requires players to adhere to local government guidelines.

 

So it's not a question of "Las Vegas allowing such events" (the event violated the ban on events of >50 people)

And it's not randomly intruding into their personal lives outside the facilities - it's requiring them to keep to the agreement they made

 

So if they hadn't been in violation of what the local government was saying it wouldn't be an issue? I was wondering about that... It seemed hard to believe the league/PA would do a mask mandate or something along those lines. 

[stevewin]

This also puts a whole new meaning/urgency on OL keeping defenders away from Josh (at least 6 ft)

[Hapless Bills Fan]

6 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

 

So if they hadn't been in violation of what the local government was saying it wouldn't be an issue? I was wondering about that... It seemed hard to believe the league/PA would do a mask mandate or something along those lines. 

 

I don't know the details of the NFL/NFLPA Covid-19 safety protocols.  If someone does I think it would be helpful and appropriate to post them here.  It's obviously not a perfect, or a perfectly logical system given the local variations.

 

But I think it's a reasonable point that, whatever the protocols are all the players on all the teams should be accountable to follow them, and that apparently includes a clause saying to follow all local and state guidelines.

[YoloinOhio]

 

[Cheektowaga Chad]

It sounds like these players shouldn't be able to play, the nfl just fined some coaches large amounts of money for not wearing a mask at all times.

 

This is a big moment that the NFL can show they care about player safety

[WEATHER DOT COM]

[The Wiz]

2 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

All those players should be fine 25-50k and the fine should go to the charity.  I understand the event was for a good cause but they should still be held accountable.  This way it at least shows some sort of disciplinary action.

[Rocbillsfan1]

Who cares how much the charity raised? That’s not the point Gruden. Also if the charity mattered so much to them they could have just written a check and called it a day. That organization is shitting all over the rules and common sense. The NFL should step in.

[Mango]

I’m shocked the league has not stepped in. Maybe it is a looming Gruden suspension given the issue with number of people in the facility, the fine, then basically mocking the league fining him to wear a mask.

 

The Raiders could single hand-idly derail the entire season. Then what? Eff those guys. 

[stevewin]

7 minutes ago, Rocbillsfan1 said:

Who cares how much the charity raised? That’s not the point Gruden. Also if the charity mattered so much to them they could have just written a check and called it a day. That organization is shitting all over the rules and common sense. The NFL should step in.

Or followed the rules for contact

 

Letting the Raiders self-police/punish themselves does not exactly give me confidence - Gruden does not seem like the virus is his main concern

[stevewin]

12 minutes ago, GaryPinC said:

Yes, but there's 10 of them.  Nothing's 100 % but odds are strong it would show up in somebody.

 

That doesn't help the case where some of the 10 may be infected but not yet test positive before the game - if some are infected and test negative they will play and possibly infect Bills players

 

Granted - this is a risk in all cases (players during the week being exposed/infected but not testing positive until days later)  - but in this specific case, the NFL could minimize risk by taking those 10 out of the picture - knowing because of their actions they are at higher risk than those who followed the rules 

[Turk71]

The players who attended all practiced with the team? That means if any of them caught it their whole team could have it now. It also means they could expose the Bills on Sunday. That could derail the entire season and the NFL is just going to look the other way evidently. It is completely unfair to the players who are following the rules that they and their families will be put at risk. With no enforcement of the rules I'm not confident this season gets finished.

[whatdrought]

The reality is that masking isn’t a perfect fix to the solution anyways (especially given most people’s masking which involves adjustments, taking it off occasionally, etc) so they could have been exposed whether or not they followed the guidelines. Point being, any player could be at any point shedding virus during a game. Obviously we want to mitigate risk, but there’s only so much that can be done and at this point the main thing is testing and going from there. I expect (barring a positive test) that everything will be fine. 

[WhoTom]

6 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

The reality is that masking isn’t a perfect fix to the solution anyways (especially given most people’s masking which involves adjustments, taking it off occasionally, etc) so they could have been exposed whether or not they followed the guidelines. Point being, any player could be at any point shedding virus during a game. Obviously we want to mitigate risk, but there’s only so much that can be done and at this point the main thing is testing and going from there. I expect (barring a positive test) that everything will be fine. 

 

Other things that aren't a perfect fix but are still REALLY effective:

• condoms
• seat belts
• helmets
• PPE
• ...

 

[1ManRaid]

15 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

The reality is that masking isn’t a perfect fix to the solution anyways (especially given most people’s masking which involves adjustments, taking it off occasionally, etc) so they could have been exposed whether or not they followed the guidelines. Point being, any player could be at any point shedding virus during a game. Obviously we want to mitigate risk, but there’s only so much that can be done and at this point the main thing is testing and going from there. I expect (barring a positive test) that everything will be fine. 

Video of the event showed players getting right in peoples' faces, shaking hands and whatnot and not wearing masks.  Supposedly Waller wore his mask through the event but didn't notice him in the videos I saw.  

 

If they’re not going to suspend them for the week, they should at least be quarantined and kept out of team activities till the weekend.

 

*edit*

My main issue is that if they are stupid and entitled enough to so blatantly break protocol AND law in a Covid hotbed like Vegas AT A VIDEO RECORDED EVENT then how often are they breaking protocol elsewhere?

Edited September 30, 2020 by 1ManRaid