NFL announces official start date for training camp

With all of the other professional sports leagues attempting to restart their seasons, many were wondering when the NFL would make some news of its own.

America’s most popular sport made a fashionably late entrance to the party on Wednesday when it announced that teams can begin training camp on July 28.

Better late than never.

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the NFL and NFLPA have agreed to a plan that calls for all players to arrive at their respective camps on July 28. The two sides are still working out plans/logistics for how the camps will actually run.

The league is also looking at additional ways to keep the players safe during camp. NFLPA president J.C. Tretter explained back in May that player safety is top priority when it comes to the 2020 season.

“Our priority is always going to be the health and safety of the players. Usually when you say that, it is things that will happen on the field. Obviously, that takes a new meaning with everything going on now where you talk about the health and safety of the players is you are talking about their own personal health,” Tretter told the media during a conference call. “That is always going to be the top priority for us. There is probably not one, two or five things. There is a long list of hurdles we have to get over and things we have to watch and check. We just continually seek out information to be informed.”

The NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero joined in on the fun, adding that the NFL will shorten its preseason, as well. The first preseason game is tentatively scheduled for August 6.

All of this comes as no surprise as the league has given zero indication that the 2020 season will be in jeopardy due to COVID-19. But as always, only time will tell.

Mark your calendars. The NFL is back.