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The league is holding the Draft virtually. Off-season programs are remote as well. However, what happens with training camps and the regular season remains to be seen.
Even though the NFL intends to start games in September, NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said, "we have to ask questions, tough questions, about how does a sporting event fit into the safe practices of our country during a pandemic?"
"I don’t think that anyone in our community, our larger community, should suffer simply because we want football to proceed on time," he said.
Like many experts, Smith thinks mass testing is essential for a contact sport like football to take place. But testing players, he said, must not at the expense of essential workers and the general public — the people who need it to keep American safe.
"For all of us who have our lives depending on people who have taken an oath to keep us safe, I think we have to make sure they are taken care of first," Smith said.
Another major question mark for Smith is how risky it will be to hold football games with first responders in attendance.
"Are we comfortable with those first responders being at football game in order to keep us safe?" Smith asked. "Or, are we more comfortable with them being where they need to be in order to keep our families safe? And, to me, that’s the ultimate question that we have to ask.”
Smith says he's happy the NFL has gone virtual with the Draft and the off-season programs, because safety is the priority.
"On our side of the table, football is not essential," he said, "and that’s where you start."