Should the NFL postpone Las Vegas Raiders vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
By BD Williams
Should the NFL postpone Las Vegas Raiders vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
Play the game as scheduled
This is hard for me to write as a Raiders fan, but the reality of the situation is their is no outbreak in the Raiders locker room. There is only one positive test and the contact tracing program is a safeguard to prevent against further spread. Because the players are testing daily, it seems like the Raiders are indeed healthy enough (biologically speaking) to play this weekend and not risk spreading the virus to the other team.
Another negative drawback is how a positive test could derail the entire NFL season if they continue to postpone games each time a team has a sick player. In this case, the NFL has already juggled so many scheduling conflicts to make up for the Titans, rescheduling another game unfairly impacts the rest of the league and the Buccaneers.
The NFL has little reason to throw the Raiders a bone here, especially when their offensive line has been recorded violating league protocols regarding the wearing of masks.
Adding to this recent incident, previous examples of the Raiders violating Coronavirus protocols with un-credentialed people entering the locker room and Jon Gruden being fined for not wearing a mask on National Television, the league is ready to make an example out of the Raiders. After all, its a hole they dug themselves, we’ll see if they can dig themselves out this Sunday.