Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera hasn't minced words when conveying his position on vaccinations, as he recently told Sports Illustrated in a profanity-laden rant that those who deliberately spread misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines are "f---ing a--holes."
Suffice to say, Rivera's messages about vaccinations have been powerful. And the 59-year-old cancer survivor joined the Tiki and Tierney show on Monday to discuss the topic in further detail.
"The biggest thing, the thing that's helped us is, we continue to try to get as much information for our players -- and the right information," Rivera said. "When you come to these young men and you talk to them and you present them with the right kind of information, it makes it easy for them to decide for themselves. We have to be careful when we start mandating things and telling things and forcing things.
"And the only thing you can produce, I think that helps, is information -- true information, not false. And then own up to that information. Because it's easy for people to say something, but are you willing to stake your reputation on it? That's the thing that's bothered me. There are people out there putting false information out there, doing it for whatever their reason is, and people are dying, quite honestly. And that's scary to me. That's very troubling..."
According to figures released by the NFL last week, 91.7-percent of all players have received at least one vaccine dose, and 15 of the 32 teams have more than 95-percent of their players vaccinated. Washington was one of the last teams to surpass the 50-percent threshold, and two weeks ago, they finally climbed over the 70-percent mark.
In a memo released on July 22, the NFL informed its teams that if a game can't be rescheduled and is canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak among unvaccinated players, that team will have to forfeit, and be credited with a loss. The league memo also stated that neither team's players will be paid for a game that's cancelled and unable to be rescheduled.
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Rivera, who has a compromised immune system after battling skin cancer last year, became fully vaccinated in February.
"I understand, looking from some of the players' perspectives, the mistrust," Rivera said. "But if you give them the information, you say, 'Look, I'm an example, I'm immunocompromised, so just think about that,' I think it helps. You can't force on people. People are going to make their decisions. You've just got to give them information and let them decide."
Vaccinated players who test positive for COVID-19 can return to their teams immediately after testing negative twice, while unvaccinated players will be required to isolate for 10 days, the league memo says.
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