NFL team facilities slowly reopening. Why Seahawks’ will stay closed and for how long
It’s far from a return to normal operations, let alone practicing.
But this week there’s a flicker of life across some NFL team facilities, as the sport and nation tries to begin emerging somewhat from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were given permission by their state and local authorities in western Pennsylvania to begin slowly reopening their team facility to a few dozen staff members on Tuesday. Same with the Cardinals in suburban Phoenix, the Indianapolis Colts and the Atlanta Falcons.
The Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans are among other teams finalizing plans to begin a first phase of reopening their headquarters.
The Seahawks aren’t reopening their facility in Renton, even partially, for at least weeks, if not longer.
Team facilities across the NFL have been closed since March amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.
Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to all 32 league teams Friday telling them they could partially reopen their buildings beginning Tuesday if: they are permitted by state and local social-distancing requirements to do so; remain compliant with all public-health requirements; and have implemented protocols established by the league earlier this month.
Even as some facilities reopen, coaches and players will continue to be prohibited from returning to their team headquarters. The lone exception: players who have been rehabilitating from injuries and or surgeries can work with team athletic trainers on their rehab inside team buildings.
Given Washington was the first state with a confirmed case of COVID-19 and remains under some of the country’s more stringent social-distancing restrictions and closures, it’s likely the Seahawks will be among the last teams in the league to re-open their buildings.
For now, the Seahawks will keep their Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton closed at least through the end of May. That’s at least how long Gov. Jay Inslee has stay-at-home orders and reductions in non-essential businesses in effect across Washington.
A Seahawks spokesman told The News Tribune Monday: “When those orders are lifted and team leadership feels it is appropriate, we will have a phased approach for reopening based on state, local and NFL guidelines.”
The Seahawks—and 49ers, Rams and Chargers in similarly restricted California—are opposite the NFC West-rival Arizona Cardinals or the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Gov. Doug Ducey announced last week major sports leagues could “operate, play and perform” in Arizona beginning this past weekend. Last week Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis went way past Goodell and said “all professional sports are welcome here for practicing and for playing” in Florida. DeSantis deemed sports an “essential” business in his state more than a month ago.
Goodell wrote to all NFL teams Friday that clubs must have no more than 50% of their staffs in their facility at any one time, and no more than 75 people, total. He reinforced the league is prohibiting coaches from being in team buildings “to ensure equity among all 32 clubs.” The commissioner specifies that members of a team’s personnel, football operations, football administration and equipment staffs, plus medical staff and nutritionists are allowed to be in facilities once this first phase of reopening them begins.
Retail outlets and any other “customer-facing” operations at team facilities are not permitted.
“After we implement this first phase, and as more states and localities enact policies that allow more club facilities to re-open, I expect that additional staff, likely including coaching staff, will be allowed to return to club facilities in a relatively short time,” Goodell wrote Friday to all teams.
Goodell said the league is continuing to work with the NFL players’ union and the league’s medical staffs on developing protocols “that could permit a certain number of players to return to club facilities as early as next month.”
The Seahawks were among the last NFL teams that ended their first three-week phase of virtual offseason training last week. Coach Pete Carroll has said that beyond that, he and fellow coaches across the league haven’t been sure what’s next. In every other May into June, NFL teams would be on the field right now in organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp practices. Those may all end up canceled this offseason because of the pandemic.
“We’re really in the mode of adaptation. ...Everything is kind of fluid and on the move, and you have to be flexible,” Carroll said.
The league has told clubs if team facilities have not reopened during the offseason workout program, teams are allowed to conduct a mandatory virtual minicamp for veteran players. Teams are not required to do these virtual veteran minicamps. They would include online classroom instruction, which the Seahawks have been doing this month with veteran players, and virtual workouts.
“None of us can project what are we working towards,” Carroll said at the end of April. “Are we working towards phase two (of an offseason program)? Are we working towards coming back together? We don’t know. We don’t know about camp or any of that stuff right now.
“We’re just going to keep hope alive and just keep pushing and keep these guys entertained and call on them to be a very big part of what we’re doing.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 2:27 PM.
