Would Murphy Play During Pandemic?

Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy had a lengthy career as an NFL safety. He called the league's testing regimen the "most comprehensive" in professional sports.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With NFL training camps starting and the season expected to start on time, player safety is at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

Before becoming Packers president and CEO in 2007, Mark Murphy played for the Washington Redskins from 1977 through 1984. His experience as a player and knowledge of the health issues begs this question:

Would Murphy play football – a sport in which there is no social distancing – during a pandemic?

“That’s a great question. I do think I would,” he said during a Zoom call previewing Thursday’s virtual shareholders meeting. “I really feel like, when you look at what the league has done and the precautions they’ve taken, the testing – I think it’s going to be the most comprehensive testing program by far of any professional sport. But there’s no question it’s a really difficult decision for our players.”

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Murphy is aware that not all players, especially those with health concerns or families, might share that opinion. While he is unaware of any Packers players who have decided not to report to training camp, it’s a possibility.

“I think that’s one of the reasons we have opt-out for our fans and then that’s also an issue in the bargaining” with the NFLPA, Murphy said. “If players are uncomfortable playing during a pandemic, we want to give them the ability to opt-out. We’re working through the details of what that would entail and what that would mean in terms of compensation.”

Murphy said he’s confident the NFL will start and finish the season on schedule. However, playing in a “bubble,” as the NBA is trying to do to complete its season, isn’t feasible, he said. Moreover, NFL rosters are much larger than they are in the other professional sports. That means a lot of players and a lot of potentially risky situations, on and off the field.

“There’s no question it’s going to be a challenge,” he said. “That’s why we want to make sure we do it right and that’s why the talks are continuing in terms of various protocols that need to be in place to make sure that the players are as safe as possible.”

Meanwhile, the league is racing against time to establish player-safety guidelines and hash out the financial details. On Monday, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to daily testing, and the league agreed to scrap the preseason. However, other sticky issues remain. The last-minute talks have frustrated players, coaches and agents.

“These are difficult negotiations,” Murphy said. “Particularly when you’re talking about the health and safety of our players and, really, everybody in the organization, they’re complicated issues. It’s not just the NFL. You had similar situations with Major League Baseball and basketball and hockey. We’re working through those and hope to have everything finalized as soon as possible.”