The NFL announced that the 2020 draft will be held “virtually,” with the representatives of each team joining from remote locations.
On Monday, the league released a memo to inform all 32 teams that they should prepare for a “fully virtual” draft. Team personnel will be located “in separate locations and able to communicate with one another and draft headquarters by phone or internet,” Pro Football Talk reported.
“We have reviewed this matter in the past few days with both the competition committee and CEC (a group of league executives),” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in the memo, “and this will confirm that clubs will conduct their draft operations remotely, with club personnel separately located in their homes.”
Goodell claimed that the plan was aimed at running the draft in a “consistent and fair way” during the coronavirus crisis. The league also hopes that the plan will “comply with government directives and to model safe and appropriate health practice.”
The original plans for the draft included a great festival of games, interviews, and musical acts that were to have been held in Las Vegas Nevada.
“We are operating in an environment unlike anything we have experienced before,” Goodell added in his memo, “one that requires flexibility, patience, and cooperation.”
The draft is expected to be televised by ESPN and the NFL Network.
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