On Monday, the Atlanta Falcons became the first and only team in the NFL to have 100 percent COVID-19 vaccination among their players. That's an important threshold to cross and a should-be goal of many teams. The fewer restrictions that keep players apart from each other, the better.
That's probably part of the reason that New York Giants co-owner John Mara wished the NFL had made the vaccine a mandatory part of players' preparation for the 2021 season, which he mentioned in his media session about the Giants' vaccination status on Tuesday.
"I'd prefer that everybody be vaccinated," Mara said (via Darryl Slater of NJ.com). "I would've preferred that it would've been mandatory for players to get vaccinated. But the players' association did not share that view, so we are where we are, which is not a bad spot to be in. Obviously, I'd like it to be 100 percent [of players vaccinated], because I think it's the right thing to do."
Players like Cole Beasley have made it abundantly clear that should such a mandate go into effect, they'd be willing to sacrifice their NFL careers. In fact, Beasley even said that he'd "rather die actually living" due to COVID-19 as opposed to living his life in a more restricted manner.
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That may have factored into the league's current stance of strongly encouraging, but not requiring, vaccination for players. It's different for coaches and other staff members, though, as league policies require vaccination for certain tiers of team employees.
Luckily for Mara, his team has done a pretty good job at getting vaccinated without it being mandatory. He said that "well over" 90 percent of the team had gotten vaccinated.
Mara also mentioned that, "as of right now," the Giants had no plans to require proof of vaccination for fans attending games, which is what the Raiders are doing. Similarly, the Saints will ask fans of proof of vaccination or a recent negative test.
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Mara isn't dead set on that plan of action going forward, however.
"If you ask me that question again in a week or two, I may give you a different answer," Mara said. "That’ll depend on our discussions with the governor’s office and further guidance from the CDC and other health organizations. I think it’s a fluid situation.
“As of right now, they do not need to show proof of vaccination. Could that change in a few weeks? I don’t want to rule anything out, because it’s something we would have to discuss with the governor’s office. But as of right now, we’re planning on going ahead without requiring proof of vaccination."
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