NFL ends in-person, pre-draft visits prospects a day after Panthers limited team’s travel
The NFL has officially restricted the travel of all NFL teams and prospects.
The league sent a memo to all 32 teams Friday prohibiting all in-person, pre-draft visits involving draft prospects based on the growing concerns surrounding the spread COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Starting at the end of the Friday, teams can no longer attend pro days at schools around the country and prospects cannot come to a team’s facility for visits. Teams can communicate with draft-eligible players via telephone or video conference. Teams cannot speak to a single player more than three times per week, per the memo, and those calls can last no longer than one hour. All calls must be reported to the league office.
The Panthers had officially limited travel for coaches and scouts the day prior. They instructed most Tepper Sports and Entertainment employees to begin working from home.
This next month in the NFL calendar was scheduled to be one of the busiest, in terms of travel, ahead of the NFL draft in April. Many pre-draft visits had already been canceled Thursday, along with many pro days as colleges throughout the country canceled their sports programs for the remainder of the spring.
The Panthers released a statement on their decision Thursday, stating:
“Tepper Sports & Entertainment (TSE) understands and appreciates the concerns and questions around COVID-19 preparedness and considers the health and safety of our patrons, performers and staff our highest priority. Outside of a few exceptions, we have instructed our staff to work from home. We have limited travel for Panthers coaches and scouts until further notice and will continue to prepare for the upcoming league year. TSE will continue to closely monitor developments and remain in contact with local health officials.”
Panthers general manager Marty Hurney was seen attending Oregon’s pro day Thursday after being at Oklahoma’s the day before. The team does not have any coaches on the road as they had the week off (unrelated to coronavirus).
The NFL announced Thursday afternoon that it was canceling the league’s annual meeting in Florida that was scheduled to take place March 29-April 1. Every team’s owners and head coaches typically attend the event. The football and business issues that were set to be discussed will now be pushed back to the spring meeting scheduled for May 19-20. The league has not said that there are any plans to push back the start of the league year March 18.
The moves across the NFL come amid cancellations of sporting events around the country. The first major sports league was suspended Wednesday night with the NBA putting a pause on its season.
The precautions taken by sports leagues and cities around the country have picked up pace over the past 48 hours, including the cancellation of the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments Thursday. As of Friday afternoon, the 2020 NFL league year and the start of free agency is still scheduled to begin Wednesday at 4 p.m.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 7:41 PM.
