NFL Players Launch Coordinated Social Media Blitz

Training camp for all 32 teams is still scheduled to start on July 28, and rookies, QBs, and injured players are slated to report this week. However, unanswered questions remain regarding, among other things, preseason length, opt-out rules, and economics, and a number of prominent players launched a social media blitz today to highlight their concerns.

Using the hashtag #WeWantToPlay, players were very blunt. Saints QB Drew Brees said, We need Football! We need sports! We need hope! The NFL’s unwillingness to follow the recommendations of their own medical experts will prevent that. If the NFL doesn’t do their part to keep players healthy there is no football in 2020. It’s that simple. Get it done @NFL

49ers CB Richard Sherman said, “The NFL has ignored the safety recommendations from the experts that THEY hired. We all love this game and want to go out and compete with our brothers. The NFL needs to provide a safe work environment for us to do that.”

Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network notes (via Twitter) that the tweets are primarily aimed at disputes over the acclimation period and preseason schedule. The joint medical committee recommended a 21-day acclimation period, and the NFL originally proposed early report dates to accommodate that. The union rejected that, but they do not have the right to reject the originally-scheduled training camp start date of July 28. And, as of now, the plan remains for there to be two preseason games, which the NFLPA has opposed for some time.

Pelissero says in a separate tweet that the players could file an unsafe work environment grievance, and today’s social media blitz suggests that they are considering exactly that. Union president J.C. Tretter joined the barrage with the following tweet: “What you are seeing today is our guys standing up for each other and for the work their union leadership has done to keep everyone as safe as possible. The NFL needs to listen to our union and adopt the experts’ recommendations.”

For all practical purposes, the league and the union need to get safety matters resolved tonight, as Dan Graziano of ESPN.com opines (via Twitter). With Texans and Chiefs rookies and QBs scheduled to report to their respective teams tomorrow, Graziano says a grievance could certainly be in the works if the union has not approved all safety protocols.

View Comments (52)