Thursday, the NFL targeted any unmoved players with the most well-worn of all coaching motivational techniques: the competitive advantage.
Near the end of the Bears’ mandatory minicamp six weeks ago, coach Matt Nagy was asked whether there was a competitive advantage to getting his players vaccinated. He answered carefully. He first veered into his own experience — fully vaccinated, he had been able to leave his mask in the car for the first time that day — before talking about the Bears’ efforts educating players about the coronavirus. He talked about NFL rules in place for unvaccinated players. And then he got to the point. “For us, we would love for everybody to get their vaccinations,” he said. On the eve of training camp — players across the league will report over the next week, with Bears veterans on Tuesday — more than half of NFL teams have vaccination rates of at least 80% among their players. More than 75% of players league-wide are at least in the process of being vaccinated. Nearly all the teams have 100% of their coaches and staff members vaccinated after the NFL made the shot mandatory unless in cases of a legitimate exemption. Thursday, the NFL targeted any unmoved players with the most well-worn of all coaching motivational techniques: the competitive advantage.
