Never has the NFL doubted it would open its 2020 season on time. For months, it has steadfastly stuck to its plans, even as the coronavirus pandemic has altered the course of every other sport - on all levels.
With its kickoff game of Super Bowl champion Kansas City hosting Houston rapidly approaching, possibly with fans in the stands, America's most popular sport must recognize the challenges off the field could be more daunting than those on it. Particularly after 77 false positive COVID-19 tests last weekend.
"We're going to have to be flexible and adaptable," said Dr. Allen Sills, the league's chief medical officer and, in 2020, for good reason, its most visible executive. "I think that's something we'll continue to track and monitor. If this taught us anything, projecting three, four weeks down the road is a hazardous business."
Many would say playing a collision sport not only is hazardous but foolhardy. The NFL did have 67 players opt out of the season. But it seems the vast majority of players, coaches, executives and, for certain, team owners, want to stick to the script. Even with the risk COVID-19 presents.
"I just really thought about all the things that could happen," said Denver Broncos star linebacker Von Miller, who has recovered from the coronavirus. "This season is different from any other season. I weighed the positives and the negatives, and I came to my own decision that I can play. I thought about me having asthma. I went over everything that I possibly could with my agent, and we just thought about it.
"I feel like every player should do that. Every player should think about everything they could do."
The NFL believes it has thought of everything it can do to provide the safest environment for its games. Some clubs are planning to open the gates to fans, with the Miami Dolphins announcing plans for about 13,000 in the stands on Sept. 20.
Yes, there are competitive imbalance possibilities there, but if one municipality allows fans and another doesn't, is it up to the league to step in?
"It's very hard," Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. "Some stadiums, they're allowing people in, and it looks like we're not going to have any fans there early, which really stinks because we have such unbelievable fans and they make that place rocking every Sunday. But the best way to have home-field advantage is to play really good: Execute, make tackles, don't make mistakes, don't commit penalties, turnovers, all those things."
AP photo by Bryan Woolston / Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, left, the No. 1 pick in this spring's NFL draft, throws during practice Wednesday. He goes from leading the LSU Tigers to a record-breaking, undefeated, national championship season to trying to help turn around a pro football team that hasn't won a playoff game since the 1990 season.Some teams have huge advantages heading into a season like no other, with or without anyone in the seats.
Looking for clubs with a distinct edge when the 16-game (maybe) season kicks off? Try both Super Bowl playoffs teams - the championship-winning Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers - plus the Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks.
Not surprisingly, the teams that made the playoffs and made few significant changes are in the best shape.
"We've added a few different guys player-wise," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said, "and we have added a couple of different coaches, but the foundation of our team and especially our defense and our defensive coordinator, that hasn't changed. I do think that helps a lot, especially where we left off."
Teams that could struggle mightily after an offseason of constant upheaval: the Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants. All of them missed the playoffs last season.
Don't expect an easy transition for top draft pick Joe Burrow, either. A young quarterback going to a tailender, in this case the Cincinnati Bengals, is difficult enough under normal circumstances.
No one is making more of a transition, at least where a team's achievements are concerned, than Tom Brady. Maybe Philip Rivers' journey from Los Angeles to Indianapolis is longer in miles as he goes from the Chargers to the Colts, and certainly Todd Gurley's trip from L.A. to Atlanta is as he goes from the Rams to the Falcons.
When it comes to meaningfulness, though, the conversation begins and ends with the six-time Super Bowl champ. At 43, when most football players are looking for tee times, not touchdowns, Brady joins the perennial underachieving Tampa By Buccaneers. They most recently made the playoffs in 2007, when Brady led the New England Patriots to an undefeated regular season.
Although not as difficult as what Burrow faces with the Bengals, Brady recognizes there's a gamble in his move, even as he is surrounded by outstanding offensive talent, including tight end Rob Gronkowski, his former New England teammate and reliable target who came out of a one-year retirement to join him with the Bucs.
"It's a good, hard-working group, really smart players," Brady said. "Again, it's going to be up to all of us to come together to see how we can make it all work."
AP photo by Chris O'Meara / New Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) and backup Blaine Gabbert throw during practice Monday. After two decades and six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots, Brady is starting over in Florida as he tries to help a franchise that hasn't even made the playoffs since the 2007 season win its first championship.Also working in new places are quarerbacks Teddy Bridgewater (Panthers), Nick Foles (Chicago Bears) and Cam Newton (Patriots); receivers Stefon Diggs (Bills), DeAndre Hopkins (Arizoa Cardinals) and Emmanuel Sanders (New Orleans Saints); defensive linemen Calais Campbell (Ravens) and Jurrell Casey (Denver Broncos); and defensive backs Chris Harris Jr. (Chargers) and Byron Jones (Dolphins).
First-time head coaches Joe Judge with the Giants, Matt Rhule with the Panthers and Kevin Stefanski with the Browns couldn't be taking over teams that missed the playoffs in a worse situation. And it won't be a walkover to the postseason for the Dallas Cowboys newcomer with the strong Green Bay résumé, Mike McCarthy.
Transition defines the Washington Football Team right now, which should be clear from the generic name that will have to suffice for the time being.
Owner Dan Snyder's team seemed to be on a good path, hiring a prime-time coach in Ron Rivera - formerly with the Panthers - disposing of the nickname with racial overtones and hiring Jason Wright, the first Black team president in the NFL. Unfortunately, Rivera announced he has a form of skin cancer, making his in-season contribution to the club uncertain, though he said he wants everything to proceed normally.
And after the past week, when the NBA playoffs shut down in response to continued concerns about racial injustice - causing a ripple effect across professional and college sports - there is even more reason to expect protest displays this NFL season.
Colin Kaepernick's name always will be associated with pro football as the instigator of kneeling and protests during the national anthem against police brutality, social and racial injustice. That began back in 2016, however, and only now has the league fully recognized what the San Francisco 49ers quarterback at the time was attempting to expose.
Several teams skipped practice in recent day in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. More unified demonstrations can be expected.
"We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest," commissioner Roger Goodell said while also embracing the Black Lives Matter movement.
Approximately 70% of NFL players in 2019 were Black.
How will the team unity being espoused by management and coaching staffs play out when the first bars of "The Star-Spangled Banner" are heard on Sept. 10 at Arrowhead Stadium for the Texans-Chiefs opener?
Like nearly everything else in 2020, prognosticating that is useless.