NFL Football is on TV All the Time.
An unexpected delight of this pandemic is having NFL football on TV.
When it started this summer, I was against it. I thought about James Conner, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ star running back, who had Stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma in college and came back from the deadly disease to play in the NFL.
Knowing that prior cancer puts him in the VERY high risk category with COVID, I thought about James Conner’s family. I sincerely hoped that James Conner wouldn’t play.
But he did. In fact, most of the NFL players came back. Some of them had COVID in the summer, before games even started. Whole groups of NFL players are being quarantined left and right, but they are somehow still playing football.
So when the season started and I had nothing better to do, I watched football. I watched a bunch of Steelers games, because they are my favorite.
But sometimes the Steelers aren’t on TV, since I live in Maryland. So I watched Ravens games. I watched the Red— er, Washington Football Team games. I watched the Browns and the Bengals. I even watched teams I’d hardly seen before, like the Detroit Lions, the Las Vegas Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
As the season wore on, COVID started forcing teams to delay games. No one ever talks about whether or not these young men are getting sick. The football world just talks about the “COVID protocol” and there’s a list of names, like soldiers – players who are not playing.
The list of players who have been in “COVID protocol” is extensive. Some teams have dozens. Others have one. I don’t think any teams are left without at least one player having been removed for that “protocol.” Seattle Seahawks – emanating from the area where the first deaths were reported – had one on “protocol” but they still report all players as healthy.
However it’s happening, NFL football is on TV all the time. The Steelers/Ravens game was delayed so many times, they ended up playing on a Wednesday afternoon! The following week, there were two games on a Tuesday! It’s been like Football Heaven – especially since it’s cold outside and there’s literally nothing else I want to do.
I have learned about a bunch of new teams, and I’ve even grown attached to some of them. The Kansas City Chiefs, for example, are amazing. And I really like the Jacksonville Jaguars’ team colors.
With my new YouTube TV, I can record every game that’s on, so I can watch the games faster, without wasting time on commercials or halftime. I’m honestly having a ton of fun!
The only real problem I have is … James Conner. Weeks ago, he dropped out of sight and into the mysterious COVID protocol. No one in Maryland is talking about him, or wondering about him, the way I am.
But James Conner, age 25, is still in that “COVID protocol.” He’s gone without playing for a pretty long time. And in the back of my mind, with every game I watch, I think – I hope he’s okay.
Just today, someone said he’s coming back to play on Sunday. But he did test positive for the virus – and what does that mean for a cancer survivor, even a young one? Will he be okay?
If James Conner comes back on Sunday, and he can breathe and run like he used to, I can go back to enjoying football without worrying.
Or at least, that’s what I tell myself so that I can continue to enjoy football.