A year after contracting the Covid-19 virus, Ezekiel Elliott said that he received the vaccine this offseason. And this could be especially important for the Cowboys considering the NFL’s new Covid vaccine rules.
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Ezekiel Elliott has been vocal about how badly the virus affected him, and it took him a whole month to recover. So despite his reluctance, Elliott made the individual decision to get the vaccine.
The NFL is expected to have NFL games at full capacity. While the NFL can’t control fans and external forces, they can control their teams and players. Therefore, they released a memo dictating what could happen if players don’t vaccinate themselves.
Last year, the NFL repeatedly had to reschedule games due to Covid outbreaks within teams, but this is something they won’t be doing this year. As a result, the team responsible for the Covid outbreak may have to forfeit the game entirely.
Here’s more from today’s memo, which also says the team responsible for a canceled game because of an outbreak among unvaccinated players/staff will be responsible for financial losses and subject to potential discipline from the commissioner. Wow. pic.twitter.com/Q86a2WcG1K
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 22, 2021
Ezekiel Elliott said he got the vaccine for the betterment of his team.
“I got the vaccine just because I wanted to put myself in the best situation to be out there for my team week in and week out,” Elliott said Thursday, via Jori Epstein of USA Today. “But I mean not everyone feels that strongly or maybe other people still have their view of vaccines. You can’t force someone to do something they don’t want to do with their body.”
“I grew up in a family where we didn’t get vaccines, so it’s kind of hard to tell someone who their whole life their mom and dad tell them not to get vaccines to go get vaccinated,” Elliott said. “So I mean, I don’t know. It’s everyone’s body. You can’t tell them what to do. It’s kind of touchy.”
Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott said he grew up in a household where he didn’t get vaccines. So he’s sensitive to advising others whether to take. But Zeke got the COVID-19 vaccine. Why? Wanted to give himself best chance to be on field for team, he tells us. pic.twitter.com/7XM4KtJQOh
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) July 22, 2021
A reporter also asked Elliott about the new NFL vaccine rules.
“Um, you said game checks?” Elliott said. “I mean, you just told me something new, but like I said, it’s everyone’s body. You’ve got to respect that. A check is only monetary. You can’t put a price on someone’s health or what they think will make them feel good or not make them feel good. Like I said, you’re kind of walking a tight line.”
