The Patriots may be on the verge of a coronavirus outbreak Wednesday morning after reports surfaced that star cornerback Stephon Gilmore has tested positive for the virus and joins New England starting quarterback Cam Newton on the COVID-19 reserve list.
This comes less than 24 hours after New England placed practice squad defensive lineman Bill Murray on the COVID-19 reserve list and less than 48 hours after the Patriots traveled to Kansas City on Monday night to lose to the Chiefs.
Newton may have been the first player to test positive in New England, but if Gilmore is not the last there is only one place to point the finger of blame for this would-be outbreak – the hypocritical decision makers of the NFL. Or, as Bill Belichick has disparagingly referred to them in the past, the geniuses at the league.
The NFL could not possibly have sent more mixed messages regarding its protocols and priorities regarding coronavirus than it did on Monday.
That was the day the league sent out a strongly-worded memo to all teams’ decision makers and held a conference call reemphasizing the importance of adhering to health and safety protocols regarding the coronavirus.
There were threats of draft picks being taken and game forfeitures if teams didn’t take this seriously!
That made perfect sense given the outbreak of the virus in Tennessee that forced the Titans to postpone their game with the Steelers.
Except there was a problem with the NFL pretending that it’s taking the coronavirus as seriously as it should, bragging about testing that’s unmatched in the world.
Pure and simple, it was a lie.
The proof of the lie was no further away than the Patriots.
Because on that same day the league had the Patriots massive travel party – players, coaches and staff who’d been in contact with Newton, close or otherwise, less than three days earlier – board busses and planes (yes, plural, as the Newton close contacts had to fly separately to be safe before huddling up in K.C.!) for a roundtrip trek to Arrowhead Stadium to take on a Chiefs team that had its own positive test in the form of a backup quarterback late last week as well.
There’s lies. Damn lies. And then the hypocritical joke of the NFL pretending it’s taking the coronavirus seriously while simultaneously sending the game-must-go-on message to the Chiefs, Patriots and rest of the football world by forcing the issue on a haphazardly rescheduled Monday night game.
As Bryce Harper might say, that’s a clown decision, bro.
And the bro in question is NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
The incubation period of the coronavirus may be in question. Various scientists and experts put it at three, five, seven, 11 or even 14 days.
Nobody, however, seems to think it’s less than three days, which was the time between Newton testing positive and Gilmore’s Patriots masking up to travel to Kansas City to play a game that should never have happened.
Heck Gilmore was all over the field for all 56 snaps and then spent some time postgame chatting with the new-age face of the NFL – Patrick Mahomes.
Goodell and the league wants the world to believe it’s taking the coronavirus as seriously as it can while protecting its Golden Goose of games and billion-dollar contracts with its TV networks.
The league can fine coaches all the money it wants for not wearing masks properly. It can harp on the Raiders making ill-advised decisions in regards to interacting with fans at charity events.
But it’s hard to harp on players and coaches for not taking the virus and preventative safety protocols seriously enough while sending a team to a road game after its most important and magnetic player – a guy who coaches and teammates alike agree spends more time in the building and more time interacting with his teammates in all three phases than maybe anyone – tested positive.
Sorry, the charade is over.
The NFL put the Patriots, Chiefs and others at unnecessary risk on Monday.
There is no other way to look at it.