NFL Fines 3 Coaches, Teams for Not Wearing Face Masks; Virus, Social Justice Become Lead Storylines in NFL Debut
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: They say, when money, talks people listen. And the NFL hopes that some hefty fines imposed on several teams and their head coaches will do the trick. A penalty for the coaches' failure to wear face masks during Sunday's games. CNN sports anchor, Andy Scholes, has the details.</s>ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Brianna, the NFL is not messing around when it comes to its mask policy, coming down hard on three coaches seen not wearing their mask on the sidelines over the weekend. A league source telling CNN the Broncos' Vic Fangio, Seahawks' Pete Carroll and the 49er's Kyle Shanahan all hit with a $100,000 fine. Their teams each receiving $250,000 fine, as well. Last night, the Raiders' Jon Gruden and Saints' Sean Payton were also seen not wearing masks. Fines likely coming their way. Gruden apologizing after the game for not wearing his mask, revealing he's already had COVID-19. All coaches and team personnel are required to wear a mask while on the side lines. And, Brianna, the NFL warned teams after week one that if they did not comply, they would receive severe penalties.</s>KEILAR: Andy Scholes, thank you so much. Joining me now to talk about the NFL's pandemic response Jonathan Jones. He is a senior NFL reporter for "CBS Sports". Jonathan, that is -- that's a lot of money. Do you think that these fines are going to work in forcing the coaches and teams to take this more seriously?</s>JONATHAN JONES, SENIOR NFL REPORTER, "CBS SPORTS": Yes, certainly, money talks here. And so you want to talk to coaches where this hurts them, in their wallets. The NFL is taking it seriously. I fully believe because the NFL understands its role and responsibility in all of this. It is the most visible sport in North America. It's the most watched product there is on television. And so they want the coaches who are obviously shown what these super closeups, the coaches were not wearing helmets, these coaches who otherwise can wear masks. It's not that difficult. They're wanting to hide the faces any way so that television and their opponents are not seeing the play call coming in. So it really shouldn't be that difficult for these head coaches. And we're seeing across the board -- and let's be honest, a lot of coaches aren't having much of an issue with it. But the three coaches who were hit with fines as well as the two last night, who have previously had COVID, who likely will be fined, obviously the NFL with a shot across the bow that they are not going to tolerate this throughout the season.</s>KEILAR: It's worth noting that the NFL reported zero new COVID cases among its players last week. I wonder if you're surprised by that when you consider the NFL doesn't actually have a formal bubble like the NBA does.</s>JONES: Right. The NFL can't because of just the massive infrastructure that would be necessary for one team, let alone several or even 32. But, no, it wasn't present. And they just released numbers from September 13th through the 19th that they tested more than 2,600 players almost daily and they got zero confirmed cases, five confirmed positive cases with personnel, you know, staffers, coaches and what not. But still very impressive numbers. It shows me that these players, coaches, staffers and otherwise are really taking seriously this social contract that they want to keep each other safe. They want the season to happen. And we've seen, since they reported to camp in late July, that these guys are taking it seriously. Now the NFL is concerned that what happens when teams, Super Bowl aspirations are dashed. And once everyone who might be 1-1 right now turns into 2-6, are you still going to be a strong -- not going out to bars and not putting yourself and your teammates in danger as you were at the start of the season when you had everything in front of you? That is to be determined. But so far, a really incredible job by the NFL and the players.</s>KEILAR: Yes. Good news for players and for fans as well. The league, separately, on a different issue, made a very big show of solidarity this season, supporting social issues like the Black Lives Matter movement. Two weeks into the season, how's the league doing so far do you think?</s>JONES: So far so good. They're doing what they can right now I believe. They're putting money at causes that they have heard from players that they want the money directed to. They're painting end zones with some phrases that people may believe like "stop hate" or "end racism." And they may roll their eyes and say, OK, now it's done. But coaches are wearing Black Lives Matter patches and there are putting that on broadcasts. And so that is important. Unfortunately, for the NFL, and certainly unfortunately for Colin Kaepernick, they can't go back and undo the injustice that was done to Kaepernick, one of the top 32 quarterbacks in the NFL. Certainly, top 64 if you want to include backups. But and ever since he has not had a job since leaving San Francisco, there's no good on-the-field reason why he is not. And the NFL may want to say, all right, we messed up and we heard from him. But it would be great if we could turn back time and say, well, you know, everything he was saying back then was true and you should have listened to him and your other black players at that time. But what the NFL can do right now, the players absolutely want the league and the team owners to use their political influence and leverage to hold officers accountable when they step out. Obviously, you want to be able, those in power, to use that power. And that's what the NFL and team owners have been listening to and that's what the players have been requesting.</s>KEILAR: Jonathan Jones, thank you so much for coming on.</s>JONES: Thanks.</s>KEILAR: The CDC issuing new guidance about Halloween and the coronavirus, as one long hauler survives surviving 100 days in the hospital. Plus, the situation has gotten so serious in the U.K., Boris Johnson is ordering all pubs to close by 10:00 p.m. Is the U.S. headed in the same direction? And we are just getting word from the world's largest vaccine maker that vaccinating the entire world won't happen until 2024.