Colts quarterback Philip Rivers is looking ahead to the Super Bowl as he wonders whether the NFL is fully prepared for all the implications of playing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On an NFL Players Association call on Friday, Rivers asked what would happen if a player tested positive for COVID-19 before the Super Bowl, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media.
The answer Rivers got is that there would be no exceptions, even for the Super Bowl, even if the player is asymptomatic. The rules say that any player who tests positive would have to be isolated for at least five days, and then could only return if he tested negative twice, and those two tests were administered at least 24 hours apart.
A nightmare scenario for the NFL could entail both Super Bowl teams’ starting quarterbacks testing positive during Super Bowl week, or one team having an outbreak at the team facility that resulted in so many players having to miss the Super Bowl that they couldn’t even field a competitive roster.
Those nightmare scenarios aren’t fun to think about, but the NFL needs to be ready for anything if it’s going to play during a pandemic.