As the NFL was finalizing its plans for the 2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic last month, epidemiologist Zachary Binney advocated a severe strategy to anyone who would listen. The league, Binney said, would need 32 self-contained "market bubbles" to keep its essential staff healthy during COVID-19 spikes this fall and winter.
The NFL and NFL Players Association chose differently, of course. And already, their decision to give players and coaches access to local communities has drawn new scrutiny after baseball's Miami Marlins experienced a large team outbreak less than a week into the start of the MLB season.