Kenny Albert Won't Call Bears-Lions Due To NFL's COVID Rules

Kenny Albert "will not call" Bears-Lions today on Fox "because of COVID protocols." The NFL has made a rule that "anyone coming from a foreign country has to quarantine for two weeks" and Albert for the past month has worked NHL playoff games for NBC in Edmonton. Canada has a "superior COVID record compared to the United States and Albert had been tested multiple times per week there." Still, the NFL is "staying with its protocols." It "will put Albert’s spot in limbo for next week, as well" (N.Y. POST, 9/13). 

The move left Fox "scrambling" yesterday, "flying in Dick Stockton from Arizona as a replacement play-by-play announcer to join analyst Jonathan Vilma and sideline reporter Shannon Spake" for today's 1:00pm ET telecast. A source close to Albert, said that there was "nothing to suggest he wasn’t well." The problem was a "failure to note the NFL requirements until it was too late" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/13).