It’s been nine days since Buccaneers receiver Antonio Brown’s former live-in chef claimed that Brown secured and presented a fake vaccination card to the team. It’s been nine days since the NFL began its review of the matter.
Nine days later, there’s no answer.
“The matter remains under review,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told PFT via email on Saturday, in response to a request regarding the status of the investigation.
No reports have emerged regarding the specifics of the probe, or whether the league is pursuing the situation as aggressively as it has in past situations involving potential violations of the COVID protocols or, in this case, the Personal Conduct Policy.
It wouldn’t be difficult for the league to descend on One Buc Place and commence making clear and direct demands for answers. If the league has done so, no one has said so to anyone who follows these matters for a living.
Time, presumably, would be of the essence in a situation like this. If the NFL has an issue with fake vaccination cards, the sooner the NFL figures it out, the sooner the NFL can rectify it.
Assuming the NFL wants to know. Given that the COVID protocol created a clear incentive to use fake vaccination cards, any proof that the NFL knew or should have known about an issue and failed to take action would invite aggressive scrutiny regarding the public-health consequences of such potential negligence.