ProFootballDoc: Biggest COVID Lessons From The NFL For All Of Us

Consensus opinion was the NFL would never start on time or be able to finish without a bubble. Even with football being a contact sport with tackling, blocking and sweating on each other, the naysayers have been proven wrong.

Based on the concept of viral load and how COVID is contracted, I held a minority opinion seven months ago that the league could indeed succeed. 

Now that football is the only professional league to play all of its games, what are the biggest lessons the NFL has learned from their daily testing and contact tracing? How can we use that knowledge in our everyday lives? Certainly, COVID is not a hoax and we have to be careful but here are the top clear lessons from the test case of the NFL.

1. There is no need to dodge people down sidewalks or grocery store aisles.
Transient contact has not been shown to spread COVID in the NFL. "Meeting, greeting and eating" are the danger points of disease spread and if one is careful in these three main areas, we don't need to live our lives in fear or jump away with surprise if you come around a store aisle and come within six feet of someone else.

2. It is safe to start sports youth sports.
There was not a single documented case of spread to an opponent on the football field while playing a contact sport. Players did not wear masks on the field and they did not use the special NFL designed face shield, yet there was no transmission of coronavirus across the line of scrimmage. The risks were on the sidelines, locker room and meetings. Provided that a sport can accommodate these off-field modifications, it is safe to start sports, especially since kids seem to be relatively unaffected. For example, based on the NFL findings, little league baseball is completely safe but the dugout is the concern and kids need to be spread out/masked.

3. Outside is key. 
The NFL found no transmission outdoors including at practices. The point here is air circulation is key. Even indoor stadiums based on their large size did not increase the risk of COVID. Free flowing air to decrease the viral load seems to be the key.

4. Travel did not pose a risk.
NFL travel was not linked to increased COVID cases. Planes and buses were not found to be super spreader events. The theory of sharing air in a closed airplane did not prove to be a concern. The high air circulation on planes seemed to provide enough safety. Of course, the league used larger planes and more buses. No one is saying go maskless and sit three across elbow to elbow with strangers who are coughing but with normal precautions, travel seems to be safe based on NFL data.

5. Flexibility and being proactive are the keys.
The NFL showed incredible flexibility by changing COVID rules midseason and even moving games. Their shift to identifying high-risk close contacts and ruling then out for five days changed the landscape. It is important to take the precautions prophylactically and adapt. It seems their five-day quarantine for anyone exposed to coronavirus worked and perhaps schools and workplaces that now require two weeks after travel can show the same flexibility to adapt based on the NFL findings.

Kudos to the NFL. Dr. Alan Sills, the team doctors and the athletic trainers who basically took on second full-time jobs in addition to the rest of their normal work. The extra work teaches us more lessons about how to be careful with COVID.
The league showing unprecedented flexibility and allowing rules changes midseason was key. What the NFL learned in their "science lab" has implications for us in the everyday world. I hope we can follow the science.