NFL Asst. Coaches To Lose On-Field Access Without Proof Of Vaccination

The NFL announced that four anonymous assistant coaches have declined the option to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and they may be paying for it in the form of on-field privileges.

According to Tom Pelissero from NFL.com, the NFL will potentially be shedding tiers for its assistant coaches across all teams that forego receiving a dose of the vaccine by June 7.

Tentative discussions of the punishment for the four assistant coaches suggest that they will lose Tier 1 status in the upcoming season.

"Losing Tier 1 status would ban these coaches from the field, meeting rooms and direct interactions with players," said Pelissero in a news thread posted Friday.

According to a statement released by the NFL's chief medical officer, players who want to receive full vaccination status for the upcoming season must receive their single dose of the vaccine by the proposed deadline of June 7.

Pelissero also tweeted the following: "The NFL allows unvaccinated individuals to keep Tier 1/2 status if they provide a valid medical or religious reason, but has advised teams to consider restricting their access. For many coaches, there are two choices as of now: Get vaccinated or spend the season in your office."

As part of the ruling, active players will keep all designated tiers of access, even if they choose to opt out of receiving the vaccine.

Promotion for a quicker path to immunity via vaccination efforts continue to inspire Americans to get their shot, while some exercise their freedom in saying 'no' to the vaccine as a result of confidence in recovery and reaching immunity. Or just a personal decision.

As the discussion of free-will ensues among Americans in the midst of potential vaccine passports and indefinite COVID lockdowns, the option to decline vaccination for star players compared to the four assistant coaches fuels questioning as to whether the move by the NFL is more a scare tactic than it is "following the science."

Though the vaccination efforts are making progress in the league, players contracted by the NFL continue to be one of the least vaccinated groups in all of sports.

"Vaccination rates among NFL players remain low compared to staff league-wide, but it's not mandatory for players," per the NFL report.

No news has been released as to whether any of the four coaches have already had COVID-19.