NFL explains why it greenlit Cowboys-Ravens game after Dez Bryant's positive COVID-19 test
Dez Bryant announced shortly before kickoff on Tuesday that he tested positive for COVID-19.
The positive test result arrived after Bryant participated in pregame warmups. The game between Bryant’s Baltimore Ravens and the Dallas Cowboys carried on, leaving many to wonder why the NFL allowed it amid the potential coronavirus exposure.
The league made the decision after determining that Bryant didn’t have any high-risk contacts ahead of the game. Bryant was seen before the game hugging and talking with members of the Cowboys, his former team.
NFL: ‘There were no high-risk contacts’
The NFL’s chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills addressed the decision Wednesday.
“I made the final determination that there were no high-risk close contacts to the case, so there was no need to remove anyone else,” Sills told reporters, per Pro Football Talk. “I would say it was a very straight-forward review simply because there were very few contacts identified by the Kinexon data.
“I think that’s a reflection of the fact that this club has been under our intensive protocol and certainly has done a tremendous job with compliance around their facility leading up to the game.”
Kinexon is contact-tracing technology the NFL uses in collecting COVID-19-relevant data.
Tuesday’s case was a new one for the NFL. This was the first time a player is known to have returned a positive test after participating in pregame activities and prior to kickoff. Sills insists that the NFL did not cut corners in greenlighting the game.
“The same exact process was followed in this case as we do in every case,” Sills continued. “We made that determination using the same group of people and the same process.
“And the fact that we were able to do it fairly quickly is not reflective a lack of thoroughness in the process. It’s just simply the amount of data to be sorted through that allowed us to do that.”
What about Bryant’s pregame hugs?
The fact that Bryant interacted with members of the Cowboys raised even more questions. A member of the Ravens media team tweeted a photo of Bryant from pregame hugging someone from the Cowboys. The caption read “Lots of hugs between Dez Bryant and Cowboys players/coaches/staff early in warmups.”
The tweet was deleted after the news of Bryant’s positive test. But there were screenshots.
This tweet is now deleted ... 🤦🏻♀️ pic.twitter.com/505nSn3kpX
— Downtown Diane (@downtowndiane) December 9, 2020
Sills was asked about Bryant’s on-field interactions and said that the league did not consider them to be high-risk.
“The brevity of the interactions and the outdoor nature of it is certainly an important factor here,” Sills continued. ... “All interactions are not created equal when it comes to risk.
“To have a high-risk close contact, there’s really a matrix of four different variables which include cumulative exposure time, the distance, the ventilation available and the use of a mask.”
Bryant’s case linked to Ravens outbreak?
Bryant’s positive test arrived after the Ravens experienced a significant COVID-19 outbreak. Last week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed twice after several players tested positive. The delay in the Steelers matchup forced the game against the Cowboys into Tuesday’s time slot.
No other Ravens players tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. Because of the incubation period associated with the coronavirus, that doesn’t mean that nobody else was infected.
Sills said that he doesn’t believe that Bryant’s infection was related to the larger Ravens outbreak based on the timing of his positive test.
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