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The 2020 NFL season promises to be a lot more than football
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August 5, 2020
If you were the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, you would be ticked off, too.
Only a few teams can likely stand in your way of reaching the club’s second Super Bowl.
The 49ers and the Seahawks are likely two. There may be a few more.
Saints head coach Sean Payton would use training camp and the preseason to get ready for the season opener, against Tom Brady and the Bucs.
But, the Covid-19 pandemic changed much of that.
Payton understands the virus. He contracted it.
But, what he didn’t understand is the calendar negotiated by the players’ union and the NFL management council to arrive at the second weekend in September.
Throughout a lengthy phone call with local media, Payton sprinkled in moments of disdain.
“The first thing I would say is we are not in training camp,” said Payton.
“This is not training camp.”
Padded practices, what most consider to be the actual start of training camp, can’t happen till Aug. 17.
“We can call it a training camp, but, it’s anything but.”
“I think we will look at every angle in how we want to approach the start of this,”
Payton went on.
“Well, the players and the union had a lot to do with the current format and how we are going to practice and how we are going to prepare,” said Payton.
“It was collectively bargained. As a coach, we sit back, wait, find out what the rules are and prepare accordingly.”
Payton went on to praise two professional sports leagues for the way they have relaunched their seasons in the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I think the NBA has done a fantastic job. I think the NHL has done a fantastic job,” said Payton.
“I think the concern we have with football is just the fact that we are not creating a bubble.”
Payton said there will be suspended games.
“There will be some teams that have players at one position group where they just won’t be able to play the game and that’s part of the deal.”
Payton was asked about the social activism of safety Malcolm Jenkins and his accepting of a cable news job in the offseason.
“I want to see these guys have success when they leave the game. And, so I might join them on a network somewhere else.”
But, not before the Saints make at least one more big push for a Super Bowl title.
In a season that will be about a lot more than football.