by Aviv Klayman ‘24

With the National Football League (NFL) season well underway, many teams are following regulations and new rules created by the NFL in the hopes of diminishing the transmission of Covid-19. The NFL created the reserve/Covid-19 list last season in 2020, in which players and coaching staff are put on the list if they test positive for Covid-19. The said player or coach cannot attend practices or games while they are on the list, and have to quarantine and retest. The NFL had set in place rules that require unvaccinated players to be tested daily and vaccinated players tested every two weeks (which the NFL now changed to every week). The National Football League Player Association (NFLPA) has advocated for months what it sees as the weakness of this plan, as vaccinated players who do have the virus can go under the radar for the better part of a week. The NFL has also stated that if an outbreak in an NFL team is too detrimental for the team to play a game, that team will be forced to forfeit the game, which will result in a loss for that team. The NFL or individual teams are not mandating players to get the vaccine, giving players full control over being vaccinated. However, the league also implemented other rules that make it more difficult for players that aren’t vaccinated. For example, NFL free agents that aren’t vaccinated must wait 5 days before signing to a team. Unvaccinated players will also be forced to wear a mask inside facilities. All these new restrictions and implementations essentially mean that the most vaccinated teams will be the most successful. With a reported 93-percent vaccination rate of players, there are some players who will have to follow these restrictions from the NFL and possibly impair their team’s chance of winning. 

Even after the National Basketball Association (NBA) was able to have two successful seasons amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, new stricter rules will be implemented in this upcoming season. The NBA has stated that unvaccinated players will have their lockers placed as far away as possible from vaccinated players. These unvaccinated players will also have to eat and be transported separately from the rest of the team when traveling for a game. Unvaccinated players will have to be tested before every game or practice. However, vaccinated players will only be tested if they are showing any Covid-19 symptoms or have been in contact with someone with the virus. Unvaccinated players will also have to be quarantined for a week if they are deemed to be in close contact with someone with the virus or Covid-19 symptoms. The NBA is forcing any coaches or staff that work in close proximity to any players or referees to be vaccinated. The referee’s union has stated that all refs will be vaccinated by the start of the season. It is key to note that the NBA is not mandating players to be vaccinated, but are hinting players to get the vaccine through all these new restrictions. Some players have no choice and will be required to get vaccinated due to the restrictions of some local governments. A reported 90 percent of players are vaccinated so far and is inclined to increase due to the massive amount of pressure to get vaccinated from the league.

After a shortened season last year, the National Hockey League (NHL) is planning to return to its regular 82-game season on October 12 and is implementing health and safety regulations to limit the spread of Covid-19 during the long season. The NHL has decided to follow the trend of other professional American sports leagues by not forcing its players to get vaccinated. However, the NHL has added many restrictions to unvaccinated players, similar to other sports leagues. Some of these examples include the rule that unvaccinated players while traveling to a game will only be able to stay in the hotel of the team during the tenure of the stay. The player must stay in their designated room, meaning they can’t go out to eat or visit public areas, and that player’s teammates are not allowed to visit the player in their room. NHL teams will be allowed to suspend players who cannot participate in team activities due to some restrictions caused by Covid-19. Players who are unvaccinated will not be paid for every day they miss due to Coivd-19. Team staff members must be vaccinated by the start of the season. However, these restrictions might not be as important as the NHL has a reported 98-percent vaccination rate of its players.