PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Without stating the obvious, the 2020-21 NFL season was unlike any we have seen before.
There was certainly skepticism by some about whether the league could pull it off as scheduled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 94WIP Sportsradio’s Ray Didinger admitted that he thought the season could be extended a bit — with a Super Bowl held potentially in March.
Although some regular-season games were postponed, none of the postseason contests were, including Super Bowl LV, which kicked off as planned and finished the NFL season on time.
“To me, it’s amazing,” Didinger said the morning after the Super Bowl. “It was a herculean achievement, really.”
Not everything was perfect, though. The Denver Broncos played a game without any of their quarterbacks, and we were introduced to Wednesday afternoon football.
During his State of the League press conference prior to the Super Bowl, Commissioner Roger Goodell said a Pittsburgh-Baltimore game that kept getting postponed was very close to forcing a Week 18. It was ultimately cleared safe enough to play.
“Everybody did what they had to do to get the games in, and it’s pretty remarkable,” Didinger added.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame writer also commended how no one currently associated with the league — at least to public knowledge — became seriously sick from COVID-19.
“The best thing of all is that there was no real COVID tragedy in the National Football League,” said Didinger. “When you think about the number of coaches and players and staff that are involved in these games, and the fact that there was travel and all of that exposure, that you went through this whole season and you didn’t have one single NFL person seriously ill or, God forbid, pass away by this disease, and you got it all in and you got it finished, is pretty remarkable.”