While most of the sports world has been put on a complete pause, the NFL has been operating as close to "business as usual" as possible during this coronavirus pandemic.
Yes, the 2020 NFL Draft will be unlike any other, as teams will operate virtually and remotely, but for the most part, NFL free agency began as usual and the draft is still set to take place April 23-25.
Meanwhile, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell provided an optimistic look at starting the season on time.
Speaking to Kairos founder and CEO Ankur Jain, Goodell said that the NFL is "planning to play."
"The NFL is planning to play," said Goodell. "That's our hope, and that's our planning to date."
President Donald Trump said on a conference call with the major sports commissioners and presidents that the NFL should be able to start on time come the start of next season.
On that same call, NBA commissioner Adam Silver reportedly spoke about how the leagues can help bring the world back from this pandemic, both from an economic and a morale standpoint, something that Goodell expressed as well.
"We can help our country heal. We can help bring our communities together," Goodell told Jain. "We can provide hope. We can provide a distraction from the everyday issues and show people that there is a future out there and that we're all going to be part of that."
Said Goodell: "The hope here is that the steps that our leaders are taking are going to help end this pandemic as soon as possible."Like all sports leagues, the NFL will wait until it is medically safe to resume activities.
But when that day comes, Goodell is looking forward to pro football making its return.
"We're going to get through this," he said. "We're going to get through this together as a country and as a world and that this is something that we're going to overcome. People should keep that hope, because we're going to get back to doing the things that we were doing and hopefully creating a great future for so many people, and I hope everyone stays involved and does what's best in our communities in the short term but more importantly keeps focusing on the future, because it's going to be a bright future for us."