Big Red
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- Mar 16, 2019
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The NFL looked markedly different in 2020, with no offseason work, fanless stadiums and omnipresent COVID-19 protocols.
While vaccines are being administered throughout the country, the pandemic continues, allowing for plenty of unknowns as the 2021 season looms down the road.
At his annual state of the league press conference preceding Sunday's Super Bowl, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about his expectations for a possible return to normalcy next season.
"I wish I knew the answer to that," Goodell said. "…I don't know when normal is going to occur again, and I don't know if normal ever will again. I don't know if anybody here can (answer) that. I know this: we have learned to operate in a very difficult environment. We have found solutions. And we'll do it again."
The NFL will complete a full season when the game between the Chiefs and Buccaneers concludes on Sunday night. While no games were canceled this year, there were plenty of obstacles for every team and several close calls.
The league now has a blueprint and some experience in this COVID-19 reality, and will be prepared with contingency plans if the pandemic does not abate by the summer.
The likelihood of another virtual offseason seems high. The pandemic made for a unique free agency, draft and offseason setup in 2020, which could be duplicated.
"The combine is already going to go through significant changes, which is just in a few weeks," Goodell said. "We anticipate that a lot of the things we did last year, with respect to training camps, with respect to the offseason -- virtual is going to part of our life for the long-term. I think we learned, the coaches learned, the players learned, that it was actually a very positive way to install offenses and to work in the offseason. So I think we'll see more of that, for sure."
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