ALLEN PARK – The Detroit Lions are no stranger to being on the short end of some strange incidents over the years. Some incidents were so bizarre that they actually led to the creation of a new NFL rule, the most famous of which was the Calvin Johnson rule.
Well, we have the Matthew Stafford rule.
OK, so the circumstances were completely different. Johnson clearly caught that touchdown pass in the 2010 opener against the Chicago Bears, leading to the creation of the “complete the process” standard for receptions that has since been withdrawn. Meanwhile, all of Stafford’s false positives for COVID-19 cost him a few days of strength and stamina.
But if Stafford’s positive happened on Friday, September 11, instead of Friday, July 31, he would be forced to miss the 2020 season opener due to the league’s protocols for COVID-19. That’s a huge deal, and the league has already changed its policy.
According to a memo sent by NFL Chief Medical Officer Allen Sills, players who test positive and are asymptomatic will now undergo two nose tests the next day. If both tests are negative, the player is not considered COVID positive and can resume all normal activity.
Previously, even asymptomatic players undergoing negative testing had to wait at least five days to activate to the 53-man roster. It did not take long for policies to become so problematically exposed.
Stafford tested negative twice for COVID-19 after reporting to the Lions last week. But his third test came back positive and he was immediately placed on the COVID list per league record. He continued to test – three times by the count of the Lions, and five times by the count of his wife – and remained negative. However, due to the five-day rule, he could not be activated until Tuesday and missed the start of the strength and conditioning program.
“To be clear, Matthew did NOT have COVID-19 and has never had COVID-19 and the test in question was a false positive,” the Lions said in a statement. “Also, Matthew’s whole family has been tested and everyone is negative.”
This time of year, that’s not a big deal. But if this happened six Friday nights later, Stafford would be forced to miss the season opener against the Bears, no matter how many times he tested negative before or since. The new rule should help reduce the chances of a player missing a game due to a false positive.
