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Longtime NFL agent David Canter lives in South Florida and he has seen the recent rampant rise in coronavirus cases first-hand.
In the past couple of days, Canter’s hopes for a successful 2020 NFL season have taken a significant dip as after seeing local Miami Marlins MLB team severely hit by the pandemic. The Marlins will not play for the rest of this week, at least, with 17 members of the Marlins having tested positive for the coronavirus.
“I’ve always been worried about whether the NFL can get through this season,” Canter said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “But my hopes are lot lower than they were two days ago. This thing with the Marlins shows that this virus can spread through teams like wildfire … If the NFL losses two teams, I think the season will be over.”
Canter tweeted this earlier Tuesday:
Based on what has happened with MLB and the Marlins I have spent the last 2 days speaking to GMs about pushing hard to have no over night stays during the season. It's imperative if we want to have a full season that players fly in and out on game day for safety reasons.
— DEC Management (@davidcanter) July 28, 2020
He has expressed his concerns about travel to several general managers around the NFL this week and hopes his worries will be discussed during an NFL management council conference call that is set to happen on Tuesday.
Canter has been an NFL agent for three decades and he has several clients, including Raiders’ defensive tackle Daniel Ross. Canter said he was not surprised to see several players opt out thus far. The deadline is next week and he expects “many more guys to opt out.” Canter said he believes one of his clients is close to opting out and he fully supports him.
Canter realizes his plea that all NFL teams travel back and forth on game days is unrealistic for many teams, including the Raiders.
“I don’t know the answer for teams on the west coast or teams on the east coast that have to go across the country,” Canter said. “But I’m worried. We saw what happened to the Marlins. They got infected as a team on the road. What’s going to happen on Saturday nights, when (NFL) players have a little free time? There could be an exposure and then these guys will play each other the next day and then fly home. We can see two teams get affected so quickly. It can be a catastrophe.”
So, as NFL teams are starting to gather for training camp, the questions and logistics of this season are still very much a focal point within the league.
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