Thursday, the NFL targeted any unmoved players with the most well-worn of all coaching motivational techniques: the competitive advantage.<\/b>
\nNear the end of the Bears\u2019 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 \u2014 fully vaccinated, he had been able to leave his mask in the car for the first time that day \u2014 before talking about the Bears\u2019 efforts educating players about the coronavirus. He talked about NFL rules in place for unvaccinated players. And then he got to the point. \u201cFor us, we would love for everybody to get their vaccinations,\u201d he said. On the eve of training camp \u2014 players across the league will report over the next week, with Bears veterans on Tuesday \u2014 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. In a letter sent to team officials, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said any outbreak caused by an unvaccinated player could cost his team a victory. The team with a breakout would forfeit. \u201cIf a game can\u2019t be rescheduled and is canceled due to a COVID outbreak among unvaccinated players on one of the competing teams, the team with the outbreak will forfeit and will be deemed to have played 16 games for purposes of draft, waiver priority, etc,\u201d Goodell wrote in the memo. For the first time, teams are scheduled to play 17 games this season, the result of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The league does not plan on adding an extra regular-season week during which to play postponed games. Cancel a game, then, and players from both teams would lose a week\u2019s pay. The same rule applied last year. It\u2019s fair to wonder whether incentives, disincentives or threats will move players who have gone this long without receiving a free vaccination from their employer. One of the league\u2019s biggest stars seemed shaken by the memo. \u201cNever thought I would say this,\u201d Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins Tweeted. \u201cBut being put in a position to hurt my team because I don\u2019t want to partake in the vaccine is making me question my future in the NFL.\u201d Hopkins, who would owe the Cardinals a chunk of his signing bonus money if he walked away, soon deleted the Tweet. During mandatory training camp in mid-June, there was little uniformity in the Bears\u2019 vaccination status. Running back Damien Williams and receiver Darnell Mooney said at the time they\u2019d probably get the shot, center Sam Mustipher said he was due for his second one in June and tight end Cole Kmet said he\u2019d keep his decision private. Unwilling to mandate player vaccinations, the NFL spent most of the offseason trying to do the next-best thing. The league incentivized players to get the jab by making it wildly inconvenient for them not to. When training camp starts, unvaccinated players will be tested for the coronavirus daily. They\u2019ll have to wear masks indoors and will be banned from eating meals with teammates, among other restrictions. When they travel, they won\u2019t be able to leave the team hotel except to play in preseason games. Goodell\u2019s memo Thursday just added to that list of motivations.<\/p>\n