The NFL season has barely seen the opening of training camp and already players have begun to opt out of the season out of concerns of the Coronavirus, but Odell Beckham Jr. doesn’t want to simply opt out, he feels the season should be canceled entirely.
In an interview with the TMZ, the talented and sometimes disgruntled superstar wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns expressed his concern going into training camp and floated the idea that 2020 be the first football-less year in decades.
“It’s obviously for their money. And that bothers me because there’s always been this — and I hate saying it like that — but the owners’ [attitude is], Oh we own you guys, and just kind of that unfairness going on that they don’t see us as human.”
He’s not wrong.
Though so far the NBA has been able to avoid any COVID-19 infections (fingers crossed), the MLB experienced new infections almost out the gate when the Miami Marlins suddenly had an explosion of positive tests amongst it’s players and staff which was eventually followed by players on the St. Louis Cardinals suddenly catching the Rona. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred had already suggested that should three or four teams have to be quarantined for COVID-19 cases that the season would be canceled. We already have two on the sideline. One more COVID infected crew could put an end to the already shortened season.
Keep in mind that baseball is basically a sport that practices social distancing as opposed to football which is a full-contact sport and though the league is supposed to use new helmets with face shields to prevent possible spread of the Rona, it’s still a gamble that many players want no parts of.