The NFL is still planning to start its season on time, with all 32 teams playing in their own stadiums. But Dr. Anthony Fauci is skeptical that’s going to work.
Fauci, one of the leading figures in the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, told Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN that he thinks the NFL may need a “bubble” -- like the NBA is planning with the entire league relocating to Orlando -- if it’s going to make this season work.
“Unless players are essentially in a bubble – insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day – it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall,” Fauci said. “If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year.”
Fauci’s comments serve as a stern warning to the NFL, that while its plan is to play a season as usual, it had better have a good backup plan.