NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman coughed lightly and assured people sitting at least 6 feet away that it was allergies and not COVID-19. He had tested negative for coronavirus three times in the previous week.
That allowed the fully vaccinated 69-year-old to underscore the message that the virus is still a part of the NHL and other professional sports leagues 19 months after the pandemic began.
“It’s not a joke,” Bettman said. “We still face COVID, but not in the same way. »
American sports has been successful in forcing more athletes and staff to get vaccinated than many other industries, in part because the threat of lost wages is so serious. Yet outliers have and will continue to garner more attention and outrage from fans who want to see stars perform.
Basketball’s Kyrie Irving and Bradley Beal, football’s Kirk Cousins, Cole Beasley and Chase Young, baseball’s Chris Sale and hockey’s Tyler Bertuzzi all resisted, with varying degrees of frank skepticism. On Monday, the NHL suspended Evander Kane of San Jose 21 games to present a fake vaccination record and Washington State University fired football coach Nick Rolovich for failing to comply with a state government vaccination mandate, providing two more reminders of the impact the coronavirus is still having on professional and college sports.
They are part of a diminishing minority.
Major League Baseball, in the midst of its postseason, reports that 87.4% of players and key personnel are fully vaccinated. The NFL through six weeks of its season is at 94%, with 133 active players who have not received at least one dose . NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said As of Monday, his league is at 96% with a chance that number will increase. Bettman noted last week that the NHL has just four unvaccinated players out of more than 700 — well over 99% are fully vaccinated.
“If you give them grades, they’re A+,” said former basketball player Iciss Tillis, now a labor and employment lawyer with the Hall Estill law firm. “It’s been really interesting to see the transition over the last year and a half from extreme skepticism to, I guess, people being able to see their friends and family get vaccinated first and kind of see sort how they react to it. I think that plays a huge role in this shift that we’re seeing: people are just giving in and getting vaccinated.
None of these leagues have a full mandate, but all have rules that treat fully vaccinated players differently. Additionally, some cities and states impose additional requirements on players and coaches, particularly those at state universities such as Rolovich. Daily coronavirus testing, mask-wearing and movement restrictions have prompted more players to choose to get vaccinated – as has the threat of losing wages.
The NBA’s Brooklyn Nets begin the season without Irving, who cannot play or practice at home due to a New York City vaccination mandate. The team told him he couldn’t play, even in away games, until his status changed. Irving and other unvaccinated players in professional sports are not being paid for the games they miss.
“For athletes in particular, their livelihood relies on their ability to compete,” said Dr. Wendy King of the University of Pittsburgh, who participated in a research project on vaccine hesitancy earlier this year. “Even if they thought, ‘Oh, I’m healthy enough and I wouldn’t have such a bad case,’ it would still have a huge impact on their ability to go to work, to play a game. It could It can affect their entire team – not just themselves – and they might feel like they’re letting others down if they don’t do everything they can to prevent illness.
Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos of Johns Hopkins University said job security and the threat of lost wages likely led to such vaccination among athletes. “I think it’s a powerful thing,” he said.
This convinced some to get bitten.
Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins – who faced a potential absence similar to that of Irving due to a local mandate – decided to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to be able to play. The NHL’s deal to go to the Olympics requires all participants to be fully vaccinated, which could also lead New Jersey Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to change his mind.
Leagues have still suffered COVID-19 cases involving fully vaccinated players, coaches and staff. At the heart of baseball’s playoffs, the The Atlanta Braves opened the NL Championship Series without Jorge Solerwho tested positive, and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins began the season without winger Jake Guentzel.
Isolated absences are expected, Bettman said, due to the highly contagious delta variant.
“We need to maintain our vigilance and be serious,” Bettman said. “I’m really proud of our players. All our civil servants are vaccinated. All of our staff who come near our players are vaccinated, and that’s what we need to do. But we can’t let go. It’s a reality and it doesn’t just concern us. This is what the world still lives with.
One of hockey’s biggest stars, Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, missed the first two games of the season after testing positive following a breakthrough case. Coach Jared Bednar hopes the combination of the entire team being vaccinated and many having already contracted COVID-19 will keep the Avalanche and the league in general on track this season.
MacKinnon was back on the ice Tuesday, grateful for his vaccination status and ready to play again.
“No one got sick, no teammates got sick, so it’s lucky,” he said. “I didn’t feel anything, so the vaccine must be working.”
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AP pro football writer Arnie Stapleton, baseball writer Ronald Blum, pro basketball writer Tim Reynolds and college football writer Ralph D. Russo contributed to this report.
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