The Most Important Story Of The Week -- Comments -- May 22, 2020

Updates

June 21, 2020: an update. The Dak Prescott / Dallas Cowboys story hinges on how the pandemic plays out. 

June 6, 2020: an update.


May 26, 2020: Troy Aikman weighs in.
 

Original Post

 

Top story of the week: Dak and the Dallas Cowboys have not yet come to terms.

Here are my thoughts why this is the most important story of the week on so many levels:

• anyone who says the NFL season will go on as usual this year is not reading the newspapers or the tea leaves or is taking a huge bet:
• is there a chance the 20-21 NFL season will be canceled? Yes, an extremely small chance.
• is there a chance the 20-21 NFL season will be delayed? Yes, the likelihood is 100%. Same link.
• unlike NASCAR, the NFL will not play in front of empty stadiums
• with NASCAR, the networks seldom even "show" the stands (except at the finish); the stands are generally empty except for a very small area -- and that's just in front of the finish line; NASCAR doesn't need "social distancing" rules for the fans; the fans have socially distanced themselves from NASCAR for years;
• with the NFL, the fans are almost as much as the game as the players themselves; both for television optics and for the teams playing;

Timeline:

• there is already talk of a 3-week delay in the start of the season, which brings us to October;
• it's not a stretch to see a further one-month delay
• at the end of the day, all that is really necessary is to play enough games (maybe seven) to salvage the playoffs and the Super Bowl
• everyone has penciled in November 4, 2020, as the last day of the Wuhan flu pandemic
• by then, everything is "back to normal"

So, the Dak Prescott / Dallas Cowboys story hinges on how the pandemic plays out.