More football players are ready to stay at home if the league doesn’t protect their health properly
The training camps are about to be reopened in preparation for the 2020 NFL season in just a few days, but players are far from feeling on board with how things are being handled in the league. The coronavirus pandemic has changed things for the NFL and, so far, some offseason and preseason events were canceled. Now, players seem to be concerned about the NFL’s refusal to listen to recommendations from experts regarding how to safely open training camps amid the health crisis; therefore, several players took over Twitter yesterday in a coordinated effort to urge the NFL to listen to recommendations.
The idea of raising their voice came from Byron Jones, Miami Dolphins cornerback, who proposed this during one of the players’ internal planning calls Sunday, according to ESPN. The idea was to get the message out to the public that players want to play, but they want to do so in an environment that is as safe as possible. Players like Drew Brees, Myles Garrett and Todd Gurley were among those who expressed their concerns on Twitter.
According to what sources in the league told Adam Schefter from ESPN, club owners are about to have a league meeting today at 2 PM EST, in an effort to finalize all aspects pertaining to the beginning of the 2020 season, such as financial arrangements, reducing or eliminating preseason games as well as the necessary health and safety measures.
The hashtag used to accompany the actions in this initiative was #WeWantToPlay and the move was supported by NFL Players Association president JC Tretter. “What you are seeing today is our guys standing up for each other and for the work their union leadership has done to keep everyone as safe as possible. The NFL needs to listen to our union and adopt the experts’ recommendations #wewanttoplay,” he wrote on a tweet.
