Selfish and Stupid

The Buffalo Bills have a problem.  They're one of the best teams in football, one year removed from an AFC Championship Game appearance and with very realistic Super Bowl aspirations this season.  That is if stupid, selfish behavior by some of their players doesn't get in the way.

We all know about Cole Beasley's shall we say "interesting" take on COVID and the vaccine.  He's made his feelings, misinformed and ignorant as they may be, very well known.  And, oddly, he takes pride in coming off like an idiot (as well as a number of more colorful terms).  Evidently, Beasley isn't the only Bills wide receiver who has a problem with the rules that were pretty clearly spelled out by the NFL.  Because Isaiah McKenzie tweeted out a picture of the letter he got from the NFL telling him about his $14,650 fine for not following the COVID protocols--as if he was bragging about it!

That right there is the problem.  These two are acting like selfish, spoiled children.  Plain and simple.  Just because they don't like the rules, they don't think they should have to follow them.  Then when they get caught breaking them, they don't just act like they didn't do anything wrong, they act like they're some sort of victim because the rule is "unfair."

Beasley ended his tweet where he whined about the fines by saying "Make it make sense!"  Hate to break it to you, Cole, but it does!  If you're vaccinated, you can go back to 2019 normal, or at least pretty close to it.  If you're not, you've still got to follow the restrictions that were put in place last year.  How does that not make sense?  It's your choice.  Either get vaccinated or don't.  The NFL can't and won't make you.  But if you choose not to, then you can't do as many things as those who are.  Is it just me, or is that pretty easy to understand?

It's also worth noting that 81 percent of the Bills team is vaccinated.  So, that means four out of every five players don't need to worry about the COVID restrictions.  Just because you're the most vocal doesn't make you the majority.  Or right.  And your selfishness directly impacts them.  Which obviously you don't care about at all.

Another point that Beasley made that he thinks supports his argument but actually proves the opposite is that the NFL didn't cancel any games last season.  That's true.  They were able to play all 256.  But that's mainly because the NFL was committed to getting every game in and wanted to avoid cancellations at any cost.  Which they were able to do.  But it wasn't easy.

How many games had to be rescheduled (some at the last minute, some multiple times) because of outbreaks?  The 2020 season was the first one in NFL history that had a game on every day of the week--which was not by choice.  In fact, it was a complete mess.  Multiple teams had multiple games moved around as the NFL tried to rearrange the pieces of a very elaborate puzzle basically on the fly.  Oh yeah, and they had to make sure broadcasting NFL games at completely random times worked for CBS, FOX and NBC, too!

Buffalo experienced all of this firsthand.  They played the Titans on a freakin' Tuesday, then had to play their Thursday night game in Kansas City on a Monday afternoon.  Meanwhile, at least three other teams lost their bye week because of schedule changes.  A Thanksgiving night showcase game was played almost a week later...at 5:00 on a Wednesday!  The Ravens had a four-week stretch of games where they played on Sunday, Wednesday (10 days later), Tuesday and Monday!  The Broncos had to play a game without a quarterback because of a positive test and contact tracing!

Last season was odd for many reasons, and everyone was willing to put up with all of the restrictions and schedule changes as long as it meant they were playing football.  And the vaccines weren't developed and approved until the very end of last season, so everybody was unvaccinated.  There was no distinction.

This season, of course, is much different.  Vaccines aren't just available, most of the population has already chosen to get the shot.  Teams are mandating it for their non-playing employees and even requiring proof of vaccination for fans to be allowed to attend.  Players are encouraged to get vaccinated, but the league can't mandate it since that requires negotiations with the NFLPA. 

If the NFL could require it of the players, they likely already would have.  Meanwhile, there will be some NFL stadiums where literally everyone except the players is required to be vaccinated before they can even enter.  How exactly is that fair?  So the players are already getting special treatment.  This is a fact that Beasley, McKenzie and Co. either choose not to understand or they simply don't care.  (It's most likely Option B.)

Most teams don't have this problem.  Their players are getting vaccinated at a rate well above the NFL's threshold.  Which is why the NFL isn't going to be as lenient with teams that suffer outbreaks this season.  Last year, there was some degree of bad luck involved.  This year, they're viewing it more of it being your own fault.  And, since it's your own fault, it's not the NFL's problem.  It's not your opponent's problem, either.  If you can't play, tough luck!  We're not rescheduling your games for you!

With that in mind, selfish and reckless behavior like this can have very real consequences for the entire team...not just the unvaccinated few!  But, of course, why would the impact their choices and actions have on their teammates matter to them when they've already proven that they don't care about anybody else?

So, the choice is really up to Beasley, McKenzie and every NFL player who thinks his own personal anti-vaccine stance is more important than his team's success.  Do you want to continue making your point (which garners very little sympathy and just makes you look bad)?  Or do you want to win a Super Bowl?  Because you can only win a Super Bowl as part of a team.  And that requires being a team player.  If you know what that is.