(CNN) If a National Football League game cannot be rescheduled and is canceled due to a Covid-19 outbreak among unvaccinated players, that team will have to forfeit and will be credited with a loss, the NFL said in a leaguewide memo obtained by CNN.
The new rule makes being unvaccinated a competitive disadvantage this year, all part of the league's push to get players and staff inoculated ahead of the coming season. The NFL has said that any team that vaccinates 85% of its players and staff can relax their safety protocols and has applied looser rules to vaccinated players.
"If a game cannot be rescheduled within the current 18-week schedule and is cancelled due to a Covid outbreak among non-vaccinated players on one of the competing teams, the club with the outbreak will forfeit the contest and will be deemed to have played 16 games for purposes of draft, waiver priority, etc. For the purposes of playoff seeding, the forfeiting team will be credited with a loss and the other team will be credited with a win," the NFL memo sent Thursday states.
In addition, if a game is postponed and cannot be rescheduled, players from both teams will not receive their scheduled salary. The memo states the team with the outbreak will be responsible for any additional expenses incurred by the opposing team.
Other sports leagues have taken a similar tack to encourage vaccinations. In college football, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey issued a warning on Monday that games will not be postponed due to coronavirus issues, ESPN reported
Psychological-Ad1433 on July 22nd, 2021 at 23:41 UTC »
If covid wins more games than any other team do they win the Super Bowl?
edmanet on July 22nd, 2021 at 21:55 UTC »
And that’s how the NY Jets will win the Super Bowl.
Grimalkin on July 22nd, 2021 at 20:23 UTC »
The unvaccinated player reactions are coming out fast and furious. DeAndre Hopkins (one of the top WRs in the NFL) just tweeted and then deleted this: