Report: NFLPA Board Votes To Recommend Canceling 2020 NFL Preseason
Jul 3, 2020, 5:00 PM | Updated: 5:02 pm
A detailed view of the NFL logo on the field during the NFL game between Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 13, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
(Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The National Football League Players Association Board voted to recommend the cancellation of the entire 2020 NFL preseason, according to multiple reports.
The NFLPA’s membership reportedly voted in favor of not playing any preseason games this season during a conference call on Thursday, July 2.
“It’s clear that the union and the league are not on the same page with regard to the length of the preseason right now,” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo told NFL NOW.
𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚: NFLPA membership votes to play no preseason games ahead of 2020 regular seasonhttps://t.co/aePiKlYEJT
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) July 3, 2020
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Garafolo previously reported that NFL players expressed a number of concerns about preseason play.
“The players I’m told are expressing a number of concerns on this call,” Garafolo previously told NFL NOW. “Not the least of which, is if there’s so much concern about this virus right now, why are we returning to work, period? And I was told that one of the medical experts said that is something you’re going to have to decide on an individual basis. Basically, are some players going to opt-out based on risk factors and just how they’re feeling about themselves and their family? So that is something to watch going forward.”
News of the NFLPA’s vote comes two days after reports surfaced that the NFL planned to shorten the 2020 preseason schedule to two weeks.
Weeks one and four will be cut from the preseason slate, according to Pro Football Talk.
Week One and Week Four will be the preseason weeks that are scrapped, per source.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) July 1, 2020
According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, the primary factor in the tweaked preseason “was the understanding that players will need longer to get into football shape.”
Seifert reported that there will be about a three week “acclimatization period” between the starting of NFL training camps and the first preseason games.
Games are scheduled to be played in Weeks 2 and 3 of the original preseason schedule. Could mean we’ve seen the last 4-week NFL preseason. CBA allows for it to be shortened if/when 17-game regular seasons start.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) July 1, 2020
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In early June, NFL coaching staffs were allowed to return to work at team facilities.
The league and NFLPA are currently working to finalize protocols for players to return to team facilities for training camp in July.
The 2020 NFL season is currently scheduled to kick-off when the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs host the Houston Texans on Thursday, September 10.
