NFL bans in-person visits with draft prospects
In an attempt to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, the NFL is forbidding teams from setting up in-person meetings with draft-eligible prospects and sending club personnel, including coaches and scouts, to visit with draft prospects, the league announced Friday.
The new policy, which was formulated with the assistance of the NFL’s in-house medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills, and medical experts from the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was laid out in a memo sent to all 32 teams. It will go into effect at the end of the business day Friday.
The league did not say how long the new policy would remain in effect.
In lieu of in-person visits, clubs can conduct telephone or video conferences with prospects provided they are reported to the Player Personnel Department upon completion, along with call participants, date, time and length of the call.
The league is also applying the following new restrictions on the use of phone or video conferences: Clubs can schedule no more than three telephone or video conferences with an individual draft-eligible player each week, and calls and conferences cannot exceed one hour.
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore onTwitter.
