When the NFL’s lead executives, medical advisers and lawyers were formulating a fluid plan of attack for a response to COVID-19 in 2020, there was always a palpable concern over what the infection radius would look like in the event of a blindside outbreak.
What if the infection jumped over late-week protocol barriers — when point-of-care tests become less reliable largely because of an incubation period that can mask an outbreak?
What if a game kicks off with multiple COVID-positive players and operations staffers?
What if the NFL runs into a super-spreader moment, with a franchise’s traveling party unknowingly boarding an hours-long flight with COVID-positive individuals?