The sports world came to a grinding halt amid the global outbreak of COVID-19. As a result, the NFL has started to take precautions in order to prepare for the 2020 NFL season.
Regardless, a potential timetable for a return to daily, normal activities still has yet to be determined. According to TMZ Sports, ESPN college analyst Kirk Herbstreit would be admittedly surprised if there is any football played in the fall:
“I'll be shocked if we have NFL football this fall, if we have college football. I'll be so surprised if that happens,” Kirk said.
“Just because from what I understand, people that I listen to, you're 12 to 18 months from a [coronavirus] vaccine. I don't know how you let these guys go into locker rooms and let stadiums be filled up and how you can play ball. I just don't know how you can do it with the optics of it.”
Herbstreit added that he feels the worst has yet to come.
Article Continues Below“As much as I hate to say it, I think we're scratching the surface of where this thing's gonna go.”
“You don't all of the sudden come up with something in July or August and say, ‘Okay we're good to go' and turn 'em loose!”
Although Herbstreit's field of expertise is in analyzing college football and not global health pandemics, it is safe to say that the notion for the NFL and NCAA getting their seasons pushed back is hardly far-fetched.
The NBA and MLB has already suspended activity until further notice and are attempting to find a solution to finish out the season at a later date. Meanwhile, the league has announced it will be holing a remote 2020 NFL Draft in an effort to continue with the schedule as planned. It could only be a matter of time before the start of the 2020 NFL season gets delayed since teams are not going to have much time to prepare together this offseason.