Gary Sheffield, Jr
Videos by OutKick
According to league sources, the NFL has decided that all fans in attendance will be required to wear face masks. The move will theoretically help fans from contracting COVID-19, as well as give players a sense of security — even if viral load all but eliminates risk of fan-to-player transmission.
For those wondering, yes, it is league-wide: fans at NFL games this season will be required to wear face coverings pic.twitter.com/D139KGKQ4r
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) July 22, 2020
Masking all fans seems incredibly inconvenient for those planning to attend games, and it likely means concessions are going to be drastically limited. How exactly can you enforce a rule to wear a mask when fans sip a beer or eat?
You can’t.
The idea of doing everything you can to protect a fanbase sounds great on paper, but how enticing could it be, sitting in the middle of the Tampa Bay heat with your face covered like Batman? Watching the game at home has always had some perks, but the new demand to wear a face mask makes the couch seem that much better.
Expect plenty of backlash from fans being ejected from games either inadvertently or intentionally removing the mask. Watching an NFL game in 2020 with a face covering might surpass the misery of a middle seat on Southwest Airlines.
If you’re looking for ways to save some money this year, spending NFL Sundays at home to avoid a mask might be a start.
My question is how aggressive will they be with this policy? In Tennessee, when people are forced to wear masks, they wear them over their mouth only. They keep the mask below the nose/nostrils. Will they police to that extent?
I tell you, I’m not seeing NFL ticket sales spiking any time soon.
Optics over science/common sense.
This mask wearing can’t go on for much longer.
It’s not very human to interact with others while only using your eyes, shaking head and muffled bad breath to communicate.
I had a 10 minute convo with someone today while wearing a mask. Not sure what we were taking about. I know what I was saying. I couldn’t quite figure out what he was saying. And it was obvious that I couldn’t pretend to be deaf 😬.
We stared at each other a lot. And I nodded my head sometimes. I made a funny joke. No one laughed 🤭
Definitely becoming the No Fun League
Doesn’t really seem like the league or the players think much of the fans.
I can’t tell if their doing us a favor or punishing us.
As Eddie Murphy famously said, ‘a triscuit can taste like steak when you are really starving’.
(fans need collective bargaining)
I was all fired up to see Tom Brady and the Bucs play the Raiders at the new stadium on a Sunday Night, but now forget it! I’m not gonna pay hundreds of dollars to wear a mask, get the hell out of here with that!
This is a wack rule but I’m not surprised the least bit. The NFL is entitled to make whatever rules they wish but it’s just another bs half-measure that is going to hurt revenue (ticket sales and concessions) and is likely more optic than anything. If you want to wear a mask, cool. If you don’t want to wear a mask, cool. At this point anyone who is gravely concerned about ‘rona should stay home – that’s their own personal responsibility, not mouth-breathing Joe Blow sitting 3 seats away. And I’m not the type to throw a temper tantrum about mask requirements but this does not make me any more likely to go to a game in person.