The NFL Players Association last week asked players to stop training each other due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford didn’t get the message or just don’t care.
Stafford took the practice field with teammates Jamal Agnew, Jesse James and Nick Bawden on Thursday, his wife Kelly shared on her Instagram story, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“It just feels good to be sitting on a soccer field and watch,” she wrote, via Free Press. “I couldn’t imagine how good it feels for these guys.”
The Lions shared a video of Stafford and the others exercising a few hours later as well.
There were more than 2.4 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States as of Friday night, according to The New York Times, and it was attributed nearly 125,000 deaths. The country set a new record for single-day cases on both Wednesday and Thursday, when it topped more than 41,000 cases. Various states, many with one or more NFL teams such as Florida and California, also set individual records.
Michigan had nearly 70,000 confirmed cases, fewer than 500 of which were reported Thursday.
Although the league insisted that training camps will start on time, NFLPA medical director Dr. Thom Mayer officially asked players to stop training together last week until they start.
“Please note that it is our agreed medical opinion that, in light of the increase in COVID-19 cases in certain states, no player should participate in private practice training,” Mayer wrote. “Our goal is for all players and their families to be as healthy as possible in the coming months.
“We are working on the best mitigation procedures at the team facility for both the training grounds and next season, and we believe it is in the best interest of all players to advise against any voluntary joint practice before the training camp. “
The league can recommend players not to train, however it cannot legally prevent them from doing so.
Now Stafford is not the only quarterback in the league that goes against the NFLPA recommendation. Far from there. Even Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady continued to work with his teammates and posted a photo to his Instagram story on Friday despite the massive increase in coronavirus cases in Florida.
“The only thing to fear is fear itself,” Brady wrote, invoking President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous quote.
While it’s understandable that Stafford and others want to exercise, it’s certainly a tough one, especially given the sharp increase in cases the country has seen this week.
Matt Stafford worked with several teammates on Thursday, a day the United States set a new one-day record for new cases of coronavirus. (Leon Halip / Getty Images)
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