Final week, Cleveland received its season finale in opposition to Pittsburgh and certified for the playoffs regardless of lacking six gamers and a number of assistant coaches due to coronavirus protocols. This week, whereas getting ready for the franchise’s most vital sport in nearly twenty years, the Browns are isolating, hoping their follow facility can open once more quickly and fretting the likelihood that the analysis might worsen.
At a time when it seems like persistence and persistence are the one instruments accessible, the Browns appeared a great, reassuring story. Eventually, after all of the laughs at their expense, after all of the teaching modifications and front-office shake-ups, after an infinite seek for a dependable quarterback and smart plan, they’ve some hope. And their hope might have some stamina. They’ve changed into a feel-good story, and who doesn’t wish to really feel one thing in addition to angst? However the coronavirus appears decided to deliver their new starting to an abrupt finish.
The Browns’ outbreak could be an omen for the NFL. With a surge in circumstances all through the nation, with a brand new coronavirus pressure inflicting concern, with house owners and gamers resisting even probably the most primary bubble ideas, the NFL ought to acknowledge the lesson on this scenario: The league, like everybody else, continues to be on the mercy of covid-19. There’s nowhere to cover. You may preach protocols and self-discipline, however greatest practices don’t include the promise of immunity.
All season, the NFL’s reported circumstances have been remarkably low. In its newest joint launch, the league and gamers revealed 70 confirmed optimistic checks (34 gamers, 36 different staff personnel) final week. It’s up from 58 the earlier week. However the pool is big: 40,709 checks got to a complete of 6,702 gamers and staff personnel. It’s vital to maintain the microscopic share in thoughts. However the issue isn’t the uncooked numbers for an unlimited sport; it’s how just a few circumstances can begin a hearth on particular person groups.
On Sunday, Pittsburgh will host the rival Browns within the first spherical. The Steelers are certainly relieved they aren’t the shorthanded staff. However they dwell in worry of an ill-timed outbreak.
“Each morning at 6 a.m., I’m taking a look at my cellphone, ready for verification of the day gone by’s check outcomes,” Coach Mike Tomlin mentioned. “Are we within the clear, or are we not? And what crucial changes must be made? What investigations, if any, must be made? That has been our life — not solely ours right here in Pittsburgh, however ours collectively as members of the Nationwide Soccer League — since July.
“We don’t want a day by day reminder as a result of now we have day by day continuous reminders of how fragile these circumstances are.”
Daily, check by check, the NFL managed to get by means of the common season on time, needing solely to delay video games and tweak schedules once in a while to get to the end line. It performed all 256 video games. There have been shut calls, low moments and embarrassing predicaments, comparable to Denver having to play with out a quarterback. However the NFL made it. Just like the 14 franchises that earned postseason berths, the league itself can boast about attending to the playoffs.
However you know the way sports activities work in America: The postseason means probably the most. Every little thing is magnified now. If the NFL is compelled to regulate this time, it should accomplish that with out the wiggle room of a 17-week slate. Tremendous Bowl LV is scheduled to be performed in a month.
Within the common season, the NFL might get keep its next-man-up mentality and plow forward. However now the selections shall be harder. Possibly the worst of the Browns’ struggles are over, and most of the people outdoors of Cleveland received’t care that they needed to play with out Stefanski and some others. Or perhaps the unfold will proceed, and their roster shall be so decimated the NFL should postpone the sport, altering the complete postseason schedule.
The NFL has been adamant about solely adjusting for compelling medical causes. It has tried to go away aggressive steadiness out of the decision-making course of. However what occurs if Fee Roger Goodell is confronted with a state of affairs during which one of many sport’s marquee quarterbacks checks optimistic? What occurs if Kansas Metropolis or Inexperienced Bay comes off the bye week and experiences a Browns-like predicament? Would the NFL actually let the coronavirus rob the playoffs of luster? Would the league actually let it resolve the champion? And if it modified the best way it offers with covid-19 misfortune so late within the sport, would the league have the ability to dwell with critics screaming favoritism?
It’s playoff time, and the Browns are in for the primary time since LeBron James was a highschool senior. If we weren’t so accustomed to watching the Browns undergo, the dialog would transcend “Poor Cleveland!” this week. Sadly, the Browns could be too frequent a sufferer to encourage deeper dialog. This type of arduous luck is outrageous, even for them, nevertheless it received’t cease the NFL prepare.
I maintain watching the locker-room video of Stefanski’s postgame speech last Sunday. It was a masked and muted celebration in comparison with regular occasions. But it surely was stirring, nonetheless. Stefanski threw a sport ball to Bitonio and requested the veteran to talk. As Bitonio talked by means of his face masking, you may really feel his emotion as he repeated his appreciation for lastly being on a superb staff.
Now, although, the postgame scene feels haunting. Firstly, Stefanski requested his gamers a query.
“Was the aim ever simply to go to the playoffs?” he mentioned.
“No!” the gamers screamed. “No sir!”
“You bought extra in ya?” Stefanski puzzled.
“Sure, sir!” the gamers replied.
It’s uncertain the Browns have sufficient in them to beat what the coronavirus has executed. In that case, that’s a disgrace. After 18 desolate years, they exhaled, solely to recollect this can be a extremely contagious time.
