No NFL team has gotten 100 percent of its players vaccinated. One college program has.
Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin, a former head coach of the Raiders, said Sunday that the Ole Miss program has all players, coaches, and staff vaccinated.
“It’s pretty amazing and great motivation for our fans and the state,” Kiffin said, via Chris Low of ESPN.com.
As of a week ago, the state of Mississippi ranked last in the nation with a vaccination rate of 41.6 percent. However, since July 1, Mississippi has seen a 178-percent increase in citizens who have gotten at least the first shot, per CNBC.com, second only to a 197-percent increase in Arkansas.
Kiffin told ESPN that, at the start of the summer, the program wasn’t close to 100 percent. Players pushed each other to get vaccinated.
“Nobody wants to be in a position to forfeit games,” Kiffin said.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has said that 2021 games will not be rescheduled if team’s can’t play due to positive tests. Also, Sankey has said that all teams that reach 85 percent won’t have to undergo regular testing or comply with COVID protocols.
It’s impressive, to say the least, that a college team in the state with the lowest vaccination rate got to 100 percent before any NFL team. Maybe that will provide the final little push to get an NFL franchise with close to all players vaccinated over the top.
And maybe that will have a domino effect among other NFL franchises.