After an extended Twitter tirade on Tuesday regarding the NFL’s vaccination rules and the vaccine generally, Bills receiver Cole Beasley has been silent. After the news of Thursday’s memo from the NFL to all teams explaining that an outbreak among non-vaccinated players and/or staff that results in a cancellation will trigger a forfeiture, another Bills receiver had something to say.
“Accountability . . . availability,” Stefon Diggs tweeted.
It’s always been that simple. Today’s memo simply raises the stakes.
Beasley may bristle at this, but the simple reality is that vaccinated players will be tested once every 14 days. They’re more likely to be available because they won’t be tested for two weeks after their most recent test. Thus, they can’t suddenly be unavailable.
Non-vaccinated players assume a daily risk of being immediately unavailable. because they’ll be tested every day.
Beasley has yet to tweet in response to today’s memo. However, it’s becoming harder and harder for anyone to argue that vaccination status doesn’t directly impact a team’s competitive interests. After today’s memo, it’s impossible to make the argument.
After today’s memo, every unvaccinated player who isn’t a franchise quarterback or otherwise untouchable due to skill or cap reasons is at risk of being cut.