CLEVELAND — J.C. Tretter was in an interesting position last week. Not only was his Cleveland Browns squad encountering a COVID-19 outbreak, but he represents the league’s players as the NFL Players Association president. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Browns had nearly 20 players on COVID-19 protocol last week

  • The NFL postponed the Browns’ game versus the Raiders due to the outbreak

  • Browns center J.C. Tretter, who also is the NFL Players Association president, said the league was leaning toward canceling the game

  • Had the league canceled the game, players would not have been paid, Tretter said

On Wednesday, Tretter said that as a number of Browns players and coaches tested positive for the virus, the NFL was leaning toward canceling Cleveland’s matchup with Las Vegas.

Tretter said as NFLPA president, his concern was not about competitive balance, but more about wages, benefits and working conditions. Had the game not been played, Tretter said players would not have been paid. 

Mark Davis, owner of the Raiders, told ESPN he was concerned the NFL’s postponement put the Raiders at a competitive disadvantage. The Browns remained ravaged by the virus on Monday as its depleted roster lost to Las Vegas, 16-14.

“I think the thing that people did not understand was that I was fighting for the same thing for the Browns players as I was for the Raiders players, and that was to get paid,” Tretter said. “That is my job as president. I was elected by the players to represent all of the players. I do not think everybody was fully aware of just how close those games were to being canceled. I do not think everybody was fully aware that if canceled, they were not going to get paid – both teams were not going to get paid.”

The Browns were among three NFL teams impacted by COVID-19 outbreaks. With the potential of six out of 32 teams in the NFL not playing games, Tretter said he and members of the NFLPA executive committee voted to push the NFL to reschedule the games over canceling them. 

“It has been a trying week or two weeks for everybody,” Tretter said. "This is a new variant. When COVID first happened, we had six months to kind of figure it out and figure out a path forward. In this instance, we had about six days to figure it out. It is not an easy answer to make.”

Amid the team’s outbreak, the NFL changed its testing protocols. Last week, the league told the Associated Press that two thirds of those testing positive for the virus were asymptomatic. In response, the league decided to limit COVID-19 testing to unvaccinated players and those with COVID-19 symptoms. 

The league is also giving players the option of attending team meetings virtually. 

Tretter said finding a consensus among players on the topic was a challenge. 

"Our membership is a microcosm of the country,” Tretter said. “We have people who are ready to move forward who have done everything that has been asked of them, they have gotten vaccinated and made those decisions, and now, they want to start feeling like, ‘You know what? I am not at risk of serious illness because of my vaccine status. I have done what they have said, and now, I am ready to go back to somewhat normalcy.’ Then we still have guys who do not want to get COVID and still want to live a more cautious lifestyle. Now, everybody has those choices.”

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