With week 12 of the regular NFL season over, most fans of the sport have experienced periods of uncertainty and doubt over what is going to happen and the NFL’s plan for the playoffs. The 2020 Covid-19 outbreak has forced a multitude of different sports to adapt to different ways of playing and practicing. One of the hardest-hit sports so far has been the National Football League, as they have confirmed over a couple of dozen staff and player’s positive Covid-19 tests. Many games have also been delayed or postponed because of the virus, so what is the NFL preparing for the postseason since delaying or postponing a game will be much harder?

 NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has provided mostly unclear answers to questions regarding this, such as when he said that the NFL is considering, “a number of alternatives,” for the playoffs, which will be largely based on what the COVID situation is at that point. Other than this quote, it seems like the NFL will most likely run on the plan that they have been doing during the regular season even though it hasn’t been the most successful. Many students at iUP have also experienced this type of uncertainty with the sports that they play. Being restricted to meet up with other people properly means that they either have to find a very creative way of doing it or not even doing the activity at all. For example, I have always loved to run cross country, but now I can only train running by myself in fear of exposure to the virus from my friends. However, even with all of this doubt, there is still one thing for sure, the fact that a vaccine that will start to be given to people by the end of the year, thus signaling the beginning of the end of this pandemic.

In conclusion, The NFL is going to decide what is happening for the playoffs whether or not the pandemic is still bad or not. This means that they will either stick to the plan that they have right now or put in harsher restrictions that could even result in the NFL doing a bubble approach for the postseason much like the NBA.

Bibliography:

DelVecchio, Steve. “Roger Goodell Addresses Talk of NFL Using Playoff Bubble.” Larry Brown Sports, Larry Brown Sports, 2 Dec. 2020, larrybrownsports.com/football/roger-goodell-addresses-nfl-playoff-bubble/569061.