What Will The Falcons 2020 Season Look Like? Fauci Weighs In

ATLANTA, GA — Last week, the NFL released its schedule for the 2020 season. They did so with the abundant optimism that not only would the season take place as scheduled, but also that fans would be allowed to fill Mercedes-Benz Stadium and other stadiums around the country.

However, with the start of the NFL season four months away, there is no certainty either way, according to the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci. It's possible the season could start on time and even that fans could be allowed in the stadium. But things will need to look very different in September than they do today.

"The virus will make the decision for us," Fauci said in a recent interview with NBC's Peter King.

>>NFL Releases Falcons 2020 Schedule Amid Ongoing Uncertainty

Play in every major sports league in the United States is still suspended. Even Major League Baseball, which, unlike football, naturally incorporates social distancing, has not been able to settle on a return date. And even their tentative plans for returns do not involve any fans in stadiums any time soon.

"If the virus is so low that even the general community the risk is low, then I could see filling a third of the stadium or half the stadium so people could be six feet apart," Fauci said of the NFL. "I mean, that’s something that is again feasible depending on the level of infection. I keep getting back to that: It’s going to depend."

Two major Asian baseball leagues that feature some of the world's best players, the Chinese Professional Baseball League and the Korean Baseball Organization, have provided a model for how American leagues may move forward. Both leagues restarted their seasons with empty stadiums. Recently, however, games in Taiwan have permitted up to 1,000 fans inside their stadiums, as long as they sit several seats and at least six feet apart, according to ESPN. The NFL could follow suit.

For the season to begin on time, however, things will likely have to improve well before September, officials note: Preseason games begin in August, and training camps begin in July. That's seven weeks away. Delays on the front end could trigger delays to the season; however, the league could also move forward with an abbreviated training camp and no preseason games.

Two of the most important things Fauci noted in the interview were the accessibility of tests and and the severity of a potential second wave of the virus in the fall.

Tests are expected to become much more widespread in the coming months. Players would have to be tested before every game, Fauci said. If the infection spreads beyond two or three players, the entire team would have to be placed in quarantine and miss two weeks.

There are serious ramifications for competition, too. If, say, Matt Ryan or Julio Jones tested positive, the Falcons would have to be willing to lose them for two weeks while they were placed in quarantine.

“It would be malpractice in medicine to put him (a player who tested positive) on the field."
Players, of course, will be at increased risk because football is the "perfect set up" for transmission of the virus, Fauci says.

Read the full interview with Fauci over at NBC Sports.

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