Mark Madden: NFL has billions of reasons to trudge on through covid mess

The NFL has problems.

The Steelers-Ravens game just refuses to be played. The Ravens have 23 players on the covid list, including six of last year’s Pro Bowlers. The Steelers have four players listed. James Conner tested positive and, as a cancer survivor, is at higher risk. The same applies to Baltimore tight end Mark Andrews, a Type 1 diabetic.

Yet, the teams are scheduled to play Wedesday night. What’s left of them.

Denver played without a quarterback. (That’s never stopped Chicago.) A practice-squad receiver named Kendall Hinton took snaps. A month ago, Hinton was working in sales. Sunday, he completed 1 of 9 passes for 13 yards. He tossed two interceptions. Denver lost to New Orleans, 31-3.

The Zamboni goalie must have been unavailable.

Santa Clara County told the San Francisco 49ers they can’t play or practice there for three weeks. They’re going to play two home games in Arizona.

Too many involved with the NFL are exercising their inalienable right to not be inconvenienced for even one second.

Denver’s quarterbacks all hit the covid list because starter Jeff Driskel tested bad and none of them wore masks. Baltimore’s strength coach, the Ravens’ perceived Patient Zero, didn’t wear a mask or his proximity tracker. New Orleans got fined $500,000 and lost a seventh-round draft pick because they didn’t wear masks during a post-game celebration.

When asked for comment, Justin Turner told security to bleep off.

Many more chapters still are to be written in the NFL’s covid saga, but here’s a spoiler: The NFL will not shut down unless forced to by the government, nor should it.

The schedule might be further finagled. We could yet see a Week 18. Some teams might not play 16 games. Two additional teams could be added to the playoffs. The Super Bowl may be pushed back (but probably not). More retail clerks may be asked to suit up.

But the NFL will not shut down.

When the season began, the NFL’s goal was not credibility, or for things to go smoothly and as per usual. Covid was never going to cooperate. You can’t negotiate with a virus. Criticize the league if you like, but trouble has occurred because teams and players didn’t adhere to protocol.

The NFL’s aim was, and remains, to get enough games on TV to collect on their network contracts. So far, that’s happened and will continue to happen. Problems could double, triple or multiply by 10. But the NFL will keep playing.

Despite covid, and all that’s happening now, Week 18 isn’t yet needed. No games have been canceled. Whether that impresses or dismays is in the eye of the beholder.

Current television deals pay the NFL $39.6 billion between 2014 and 2022. When those deals get renewed, the NFL will get paid even more.

Covid will not stop that. Covid never had a chance.

It’s not like there’s a body count. Bills tight end Tommy Sweeney is out for the season because covid gave him myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. Not to be callous, but that’s one player. The NFL has presided over severe brain trauma since 1920. About 150,000 die yearly from lung cancer, but nobody talks about shutting down the tobacco industry.

That’s as it should be, because we all know smoking is cool. (Sarcasm font.)

The tobacco industry is a good parallel. It reminds us industries that rake in billions don’t often listen to reason, nor are they made to. Small business dies a bit more daily. Big business usurps that revenue. Don’t doubt this nation’s commitment to making the rich still richer.

Fines and forfeiting late-round draft picks won’t make teams minimize risk (and haven’t so far). A half-million bucks is chump change to NFL owners. It’s about individual accountability. It’s about players and staff controlling risk.

Given how that’s worked in places like Baltimore, Denver and Tennessee, the NFL should consider the bubble option for the playoffs.

The debacles listed easily are brushed aside until they occur in a playoff game. But imagine a Super Bowl participant using a practice-squad receiver at quarterback or having 23 players on the covid list. That would invalidate the entire season.

In light of the Denver situation, the NFL should put Duck Hodges in isolation at a secret location. If any team faces what the Broncos did, Hodges plays quarterback. It’s simultaneously a safety valve and punishment.