Jon Gruden was repeatedly seen Monday night with his mask pulled downGETTY IMAGES
Both the Raiders' Jon Gruden and the Saints' Sean Payton joined the list of coaches fined by the NFL for "failure to follow proper face-covering protocol," according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com. The coaches were each fined $100,000 and their teams were fined $250,000 after Monday's game. With the latest fines, the NFL has doled out $1.75M in "total fines for Week 2 violations" of rules for wearing face coverings in the bench area after the Seahawks' Pete Carroll, the Broncos' Vic Fangio and the 49ers' Kyle Shanahan were fined on Monday (NFL.com, 9/22). In Toronto, Scott Stinson writes Monday's game was an "absolute master class in how not to wear a mask," with Gruden and Payton "proving themselves thoroughly incapable of managing this task properly for more than a few seconds at a time." The fines were "bound to happen after the league issued a warning following Week 1, when coaches were frequently spotted with masks on their chins or their throats or hanging from their ears, basically covering every part of their face except the part where the mask is required." Stinson: "It does raise the question of just how the league’s disciplinarians determine where poor mask usage tips into the zone that warrants a fine" (TORONTO SUN, 9/23).
CARROLL APOLOGIZES: In Seattle, Bob Condotta notes Carroll yesterday issued an apology for not wearing his mask during Sunday's game. He said, "I had a coach who was reminding me about it throughout the game, (running backs coach) Chad Morton was on my ass the whole night. He was reminding me the whole time. I even changed masks at halftime to find one that worked better. Sometimes you've got to get coached up. Sometimes you have to admit that that you screwed up and have got to do better." Carroll: "I know it's extremely important to wear masks. Sometimes you've just got to be reminded" (SEATTLE TIMES, 9/23).
MIXED MESSAGING? USA TODAY's Nancy Armour writes the "last thing the league wants is to give the impression it is not treating COVID-19 with utmost seriousness." And while the NFL "has to be concerned about the message Gruden, Payton and other coaches who flout the mask requirements are sending to the millions who watch games each week," they "should be equally concerned about the message the coaches are sending to their own players." Armour: "If they’re willing to ignore protocols on national TV, after the NFL has made it clear there will be consequences for noncompliance, what are they doing in the privacy of their facilities?" (USA TODAY, 9/23). However, in Colorado Springs, Paul Klee asks if everyone Fangio is around "tested negative for the coronavirus, and presumably Fangio tested negative since he was allowed into Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, what's with the enormous fine for not wearing a mask ... he doesn't need?" Klee: "The NFL hit Fangio with a theater tax. People in charge have us living in a fantasy play like string puppets. Up, down, obey or else" (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 9/23).
