NFL Poll: 60% Think Trump’s Call With NFL Owners Was ‘Inappropriate’

In a poll conducted by the Stillman Business School at Seton Hall University last week that included 762 participants from across the country via landline and cellphone, 61% said they preferred health officials decide when the NFL regular season should start while only 18% believed the president or state governments should have a say in the league’s start date.

In a related topic, 60% of people agreed that President Trump’s conversation with league commissioners on the NFL’s September 10, 2020, start date was inappropriate. By a 46% to 36% margin, people favored the NFL postponing the season opener while 18% were undecided.

The widest margin in the poll (77% to 20%) favored postponing college football and the NFL if players weren’t provided ample time to get in shape.

The NFL has already delayed offseason workouts while they figure out a solution with the NFLPA on how to move forward amid the coronavirus pandemic. Under normal protocol, the five teams with new head coaches would have began their nine-week offseason workouts on April 6 with the rest of teams starting their workouts on April 20.

The league continues to discuss alternate scenarios including virtual workouts and virtual classes for non-football education as team facilities remain closed to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Regarding all major sports leagues, 62% of people believe the government started taking the virus more seriously after the cancelation of various sports seasons. “Americans want the health professionals to say when the time is right for sports to return,” the director of the Seton Hall Sports Poll Rick Gentile said. “And clearly, they feel that the federal government has not communicated well with the public, with the governors left to deliver mixed messages absent a unified national plan. The 38% who feel President Trump’s reaction to the virus is appropriate is consistent with his base support since he took office.”