NFL players SLAM NFLPA on Twitter over COVID rescheduling
NFL players were sent startling news on Friday when the NFL announced that three games had been rescheduled due to COVID-19. The Cleveland Browns versus Las Vegas Raiders were supposed to play Saturday but will now play Monday.
The Philadelphia Eagles were supposed to face the Washington Football Team on Sunday but will now face off Tuesday. Finally, the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams will play Tuesday rather than Sunday.
NFL players' reactions were generally unhappy, as frustration with COVID-19 has reached another boiling point.
NFL players SLAM NFLPA on Twitter over COVID rescheduling
One of the biggest names at cornerback in the NFL, Darius Slay, was unhappy with the Eagles not receiving a forfeit. Numerous NFL players agree with Slay's feeling that if a team has a COVID outbreak, they should forfeit.
No game in NFL history has ended in a forfeit.
Damn I thought the team would have to forfeit!!! This crazy🤦🏾‍♂️
Another defensive back, Quandre Diggs, took more of a direct approach. He called the NFL Players Association weak while retweeting a quote from K.J. Wright. Wright claimed that if the Raiders were the team that caused the outbreak, they'd still play tomorrow.
PA weak af! twitter.com/kj_wright34/st…
Speaking of Wright, the Las Vegas Raiders linebacker had more to say. He was upset with the NFL for postponing their game when the plan the NFL laid out before the season involved no postponements.
We agreed that their wouldn’t be any postponed game this season right?! twitter.com/_willcompton/s…
The trend of defensive players tweeting their thoughts continued with Green Bay Packers safety Adrian Amos. Amos' tweet wasn't angry per se, but he questioned what the NFL will do going forward. It's a fair question from Amos, as cases could only increase with the holiday season upon us.
They stressed Get the vaccine to prevent outbreak because “we are not canceling or postponing games” So now is there going to be a particular number that has to be out for a game to be changed or is this a one time thing? Not angry just curious.
Another person who was frustrated was Raiders owner Mark Davis. Davis was outspoken about not wanting his game postponed before the NFL announced it. Davis believes his team is at a competitive disadvantage now.
Raiders’ owner Mark Davis told @PGutierrezESPN that moving the game back two days is a “competitive disadvantage to the Raiders.”
Raiders linebacker Will Compton followed his owner's opinion.
“Any time, any place” - not the Browns
Casey Hayward took a direct shot at JC Tretter of the Browns. Tretter isn't just their starting center, he's also the President of the NFL Players Association.
I’m sure the @NFLPA president playing for the Browns didn’t have any effect on these negotiations… https://t.co/MZ95eVyOiz
Another Eagles player who was among the most frustrated was Rodney McLeod. McLeod doesn't see why the Eagles' schedule has to change because Washington has a COVID outbreak.
So we have to suffer, and compromise our schedule because of another teams mistake. Make it make sense! Smh
Fletcher Cox was in support of McLeod's take. For someone as prominent in the league as Cox to feel this way says a lot.
PREAACCHHHHH twitter.com/rodney_mcleod4…
Finally, Kendal Vickers of the Raiders simply called the NFLPA hypocrites.
Hypocrites smh
The bottom line is that COVID isn't going anywhere with the regular emergence of new variants. Flexibility is how the NFL survived through the 2020 season, and flexibility is being asked of the players again. This time, however, frustrations have begun to boil.