NFL botching return-to-play protocols as Carson Wentz, Eagles players sound alarms on social media | Marcus Hayes

The league was doing so well. The NFL conducted an entertaining virtual draft during a global lockdown. It spent billions in its season of free agency and contract extensions as millions of Americans lost their jobs. The NFL finally bucked the president and admitted that #BlackLivesMatter, even though it was about 1,000 days late and millions of dollars short. It did all of these things in the middle of a pandemic, rebranding its intolerant and parsimonious “shield” as a beacon of hope and normalcy.

Now it’s reverted to its tone-deaf, bungling form.

Dozens of players, led by prominent Eagles like quarterback Carson Wentz, on Sunday tweeted their #WeWantToPlay hashtag of displeasure with protocols and parameters the NFL has presented as teams begin training camp this week and next while the coronavirus continues its five-month stranglehold on the United States, with little sign of abating before players begin reporting to training camps.

Wentz wasn’t the only Bird bothered by the state of negotiations between the league and the players’ union. Zach Ertz, Brandon Graham, Miles Sanders, Jalen Mills, Rodney McLeod, DeSean Jackson, and former Eagle Malcolm Jenkins all posted their complaints and concerns.

The players don’t want to get hurt, so, since there were no real offseason programs, they want a longer lead-in to the season, which would be achieved by eliminating risky preseason games. This remains under negotiation, though a report Monday night indicated that the league at least broached the subject.

They don’t want to get sick, so they wanted daily testing, instead of testing every other day. They got that Monday, at least for the first two weeks of training camp.

» READ MORE: NFL agrees to daily COVID-19 tests for first two weeks of training camp, plans to reevaluate based on positivity rate

High-risk players want to opt-out and receive salary and service time. It all seems simple, right?

No. Nothing is ever simple for the NFL, where cash is king and players are commodities. Testing every day is expensive, so the owners made the players grovel. Every preseason game drives revenue, but preseason games are useless. Making high-risk players choose between playing and risking their lives? Ghoulish. Unconscionable. Inexcusable.

And entirely predictable.

Considering the concussion coverup, the past tolerance of domestic violence, a hiring culture so racist it had to revamp its flawed coaching diversity program, and the sexual-harassment scandals in Carolina and Washington, it would be astounding if the NFL didn’t botch its return-to-play.

It’s not as though they haven’t had the time. In fact, they’ve had the most time. NASCAR, the PGA Tour, foreign soccer leagues and baseball leagues, and even the minor leagues of racing and golf restarted. The NFL can draw from all of these experiences: bubbles, modified bubbles, opt-outs, medical conditions, testing, the works.

It doesn’t need preseason games. It doesn’t even need to start in September.

What the NFL needs in its 101st season is to finally earn the trust of its players. Like every other person who returns to work during a pandemic, NFL players, coaches, support staff, and administrators are literally risking their lives. Unlike so many other workers, the NFL exists for nothing more than your entertainment -- the definition of nonessential workers.

They’re only essential in the sense that, if the league wants to have games this fall, it will need players. Several stars, such as Drew Brees and Myles Garrett, have hinted that they won’t come back if they aren’t comfortable.

While most of the country managed to behave sensibly and mitigate the spread of the virus, moronic behavior in the South, West and Southwest makes players anxious about returning to play. But then, some of the players have been moronic themselves.

In June, Fletcher Cox hosted a mask-free defensive lineman’s minicamp in Houston. Wentz went to Houston in June to throw with first-round pick Jalen Reagor. The face of the NFL, Tom Brady, mocked the league and the union after both begged him to stop holding workouts in Tampa.

All this, and now Texas and Florida are spiking cases like Gronk spikes footballs. They’ve been global hot spots for weeks. Houston Texans rookies reported for their first coronavirus tests Monday. So did Chiefs rookies. Those teams convened earlier than others, since they meet in the league’s Thursday night opener Sept. 10.

So yes, some players have been part of the problem, and they have been irresponsible. But that does mean the NFL shouldn’t have a solution by now?

Following Sunday’s Twitter blitz, owners met via teleconference Monday, which resulted in the testing resolution. The league’s website announced that teams have submitted their response plans, and that no team can have more than 20 players on-site until the union approves the league and team protocols. Eagles quarterbacks, rookies, and select veterans will report Wednesday.

It’s unfair to imply that the NFL’s protocols are irresponsible, or even incomplete. They are neither. They’re just not what the players want.

In this moment, that’s the only thing that matters.