[ad_1]
OXNARD, Calif .– Jerry Jones owns the most valuable sports franchise in world history, nestled deep in a long-standing red-leaning political state. Some of the Dallas Cowboys owner’s closest allies have been blamed for rooting politics deeply in a pandemic that has caused nearly 625,000 deaths (and more) in the United States. And yet, when it comes to the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination culture war, Jones has continued to lean deeply on the one side that best represents his interests.
He believes in getting shot. If only for the money and normalcy on the other side.
And as one of the NFL’s most prominent team owners, he continues to seem like he’s taking his entire franchise with him, even if it takes every last minute of this pre -season to get there. Pfizer and Moderna may not be able to win a Super Bowl or sell 100,000 seats in the AT&T stadium, but Jerry Jones knows these two pharmaceutical giants can bring him one step closer to those two goals.
So when you hear Jones say that he has his team “in the process” of being a league leader when it comes to vaccination rates, recognize that Jerry is maximizing business and mitigating any other complications to win. This is Jerry’s camp in this vaccine culture war. It’s not about good or bad or party platforms. This is financial green rather than political red and blue. It is about pragmatism rather than patriotism. And that’s great for the NFL, who must quietly wish they had a club owner like Jones in every town now – obsessed with more wins and more profits, and ready to adapt to whatever makes that happen. .
This is why you can believe Jones and his son Stephen, both of whom said at Wednesday’s training camp kickoff press conference that Dallas will meet and possibly exceed the NFL’s 85% vaccination line. to relax COVID protocols in season. This strengthens the company’s bottom line and avoids giving an untimely advantage next season. It’s as easy as being good for business – and that’s the side that Jones is going to vote for 99 times out of 100 (and the 100th time, it was only because Jerry was in the bathroom).
As much as the league and other NFL team owners could talk about the health and safety implications of COVID and vaccination, Jones delivers the message that truly matters to every billionaire in his sphere. The pandemic frightened Jerry as a businessman. Just like that scared everyone among franchise owners because it was completely out of the control of the NFL. And for all team owners knew, the pandemic could have represented the Black Swan event to finally end the league’s long-standing stranglehold on American sports.
If Jerry Jones made anything clear on Wednesday it was that he was troubled by the disruption COVID caused to the NFL and his own team last season. So much so that he repeatedly choked on Wednesday’s launch press conference and then admitted it was because he wasn’t sure a return to normal would occur.
“Doggone, as much as I love this stuff, I’m like, ‘Well, are you ever going to see this again? Are you going to ever sit there talking to everyone at the same time? ‘ Jones said, his voice breaking for a moment. “I guess I’m not going to apologize, but I’m sensitive today and moved by the whole show.… Not coming here would kill me. It would just kill me.
Incentive vaccination
There is an eye-opening simplicity in this statement and how it relates to what the NFL is trying to achieve with vaccinations. The league is trying to resume its activities. Right now, the path to that goal is as straight and sharp as the needles that deliver the vaccines to get there. And while the league can’t force players to get vaccinated, it can create an environment to encourage it. This is where COVID protocols come in. These are protocols that ostracize, separate, and pressure unvaccinated players to shoot. Either that, or being separated from the squad in different ways during the season, or risking becoming an unvaccinated outcast if a COVID-positive case strikes at an inopportune time (as is the case in a multitude of other sports).
People can make up their own minds about whether this is the right way. They cannot deny whether this has been effective in the NFL, as it seems very likely that the vast majority of the league will be vaccinated at the start of the season. With each team going to have 53 players on the active roster and 12 players on the practice squad, it is important that the NFL can vaccinate an overwhelming 2,080 players at a time when half of the United States does. are not.
Of course, that doesn’t mean there won’t be controversy. There will be players who become lightning rods in the debate, like former Cowboy and current Buffalo Bills player Cole Beasley, who refused to get the shot and took to social media several times to discuss it. Or former players like Michael Irvin, who suggested a very clear correlation between vaccination and the player’s willingness to do whatever it takes to win.
“If you are not one of these teams [at the vaccination threshold], are you really thinking of winning a championship? Irvin wondered aloud on ESPN. “You see what I’m saying. OK, so now if you don’t get the shot and you have all these other teams getting the shot. … Someone in that damn locker room [should say], ‘Hey man, we’re gonna have a chance, are you vaccinated?’ Let’s go over that because he could be a healthy two week dude missing out on games, and in this league it’s not the NBA. In this league, that could be for you. The right person is missing two weeks, that’s all. Your ass came out.
It was a message that sounded like one delivered by Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield on Wednesday, who bluntly told reporters that teams with higher vaccination rates have an advantage over those with lower rates.
“It’s a competitive advantage, but it’s also so much more than that,” Mayfield told reporters. “It is about safety and simply the general health and well-being of human life.”
It should be noted that when Jones was asked about Irvin’s comments that the vaccination was a sign of will to win, Jones praised Irvin’s commitment as a player and ultimately decided to call it “an exceptional message”.
It’s about as close to a result statement you’re going to see from an NFL team owner not supposed to force his players to get the shots. The message is there and Jones is surely not the only one who wants to say it.
The NFL saw its revenues weigh on the pandemic in 2020 and now a handful of drug companies have given the league a weapon to defend itself. That’s what matters to Jerry Jones and franchise owners. That’s why they want players to be vaccinated. To get their financial juggernaut back on their feet and on track to reach the $ 25 billion in annual revenue that seemed well within reach before the pandemic was declared.
All in the name of personal financial gain and the proud accomplishment of the team – a two-shot injection that Jerry Jones has pursued for decades.
More from Yahoo Sports:
[ad_2]
Source link