Link to the tweet

The context for those who don’t care about sports:

The NFL’s Covid policy has been absolute ass and not nearly enforced equally or fairly throughout the year. A Baltimore Ravens coach ignored Covid protocol and his Covid symptoms and practiced with the team. As a result, a catastrophic number of Ravens players have caught Covid, including almost the entire offense and their star players. The game was postponed after the initial Covid diagnoses (including a type 1 diabetic player who has a much higher chance of experiencing acute symptoms) from Thanksgiving, to be played Tuesday, December 1st. In the subsequent days since Thanksgiving, an even larger amount of players have now been diagnosed or deemed ineligible to play due to close contact with players/coaches who have tested positive.

In the beginning of the year the NFL released a statement saying there could be fines, suspensions, loss of draft picks, or even forfeits as the result of failure to comply with Covid protocol. As of now, the league has again postponed, and the game is to be played on Wednesday, December 2nd. Some players are outraged at being forced to take the field when practice facilities have been shut down for over a week, just to go intermingle with each other and a previously unexposed group of players from the other team. There have been rumors of a wildcat strike for player health and safety, and as of now it appears that enough players are in on this idea that the Ravens would not be able to field a full team.

  • UnironicWarCriminal [any]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Why is it so violent, why is the turnover rate so high? Other sports manage to not cripple their athletes and spit them out at age 26

    • opposide [none/use name]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Because the physical contact is so violent. It’s hard to give it enough emphasis

      • UnironicWarCriminal [any]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Ice Hockey players shove each other against boards constantly and its notorious for fights, teeth being knocked out, etc. Why do NHL players play it into their 30s routinely and NFL players don't?

        It's Labor power. The NFL is a more or less a feudal system. Other sports aren't, they're conscious workers, and safe, secure conditions are a part of that. NFL players are manipulated into seeing themselves as gladiators and warriors, coaches are portrayed as sargeants and generals, all more or less sacrificing themselves for the enjoyment and honor of hooting morons in the stands.

        College sports in general have this issue with slave/army mentality (and youth sports are insanely fucked up, every high school coach thinks that they are a combination hard-ass replacement dad and a drill sargeant), but players in not-football sports don't have to be NCAA slaves for 3-4 years before going pro. They can be actual professionals, either in a minor league or overseas.