Last week, two NFL players made headlines after they announced their decisions to not receive a COVID vaccination.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold and Washington Football Team star Montez Sweat remain opposed to the vaccine. Both said they wanted more information before getting the vaccine.
On the other side of the spectrum are the Pittsburgh Steelers. Head coach Mike Tomlin made it clear he’s happy with the team’s vaccination rate in a comment to NFL Network reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala.
“Participation has been awesome from what I understand. From what I understand, we’re tops in the league,” Tomlin said today.
Mike Tomlin incredibly pleased w/ #Steelers‘ vaccination rates, especially in comparison. Says two more players were vaccinated today and, “Participation has been awesome from what I understand… From what I understand, we’re tops in the league.”
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) June 15, 2021
After Darnold and Sweat took some heat, NFLPA director DeMaurice Smith made it clear the decision on the vaccine is up to the players.
“I really don’t know what the numbers are,” Smith said. “But pulling back for a moment, we’re a microcosm of our country, right?… There’s wide disparities in our country between where some people are getting vaccinated and why some people haven’t.”
Some professional leagues set thresholds for their players. Certain leagues set the number at 80-percent.
However, the NFL has not set a specific vaccination threshold for teams to go through training camp without restrictions.
It’s unclear if that will change in the near future.
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