The NFL game-day experience will look vastly different in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including during postgame celebrations.
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Thursday that, under proposed NFL-NFLPA game-day protocols, teams would be forbidden from interactions within six feet of each other following games, and jersey exchanges between players would be prohibited, per sources informed of the situation.
The bans were included in the game-day protocols distributed to clubs on Wednesday. Pelissero added, per a union source, that while the joint NFL-NFLPA medical committee has worked together for months to develop these protocols, those sent to clubs last night related to game day have not yet been agreed to and are "still a work in progress."
Other notable proposed game-day changes: On-field fan seating would be prohibited; both teams would travel to the stadium via bus; and media would be banned from the locker room.
Some proposals have been met with criticism by several players, including veteran Richard Sherman.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport added that, under the proposed protocols, coaches and players wouldn't be required to wear masks on the sideline, but other game-day workers in the bench areas would be required to wear one. Anyone with bench access would be screened pre-game, and all who record a temperature above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or might have been exposed to COVID-19 wouldn't be permitted to enter the stadium on game day.
The proposed protocols are set to be in effect during any preseason action, if agreed to. As are all things during the pandemic, they're subject to change as the science, data and situations develop.
