As COVID numbers continued to increase last year, many NFL teams were left without their first, second, and third-string quarterbacks and other key players due to COVID positive tests. To fill those gaps, NFL coaches and team managers were forced to widen their search for new talent.
Below are the highlights from 2020’s signings.
Denver Broncos: Aidenson Elliott, Walnut Creek High School History Teacher
Vic Fangio, coach for the Denver Broncos, reached out to local high school history teacher Aidenson Elliott to join the team as quarterback. The Denver Broncos quarterback Jeff Driskel tested positive for COVID and was in close contact with Brett Rypien and Drew Lock (alternate Broncos quarterbacks), exposing the full team’s roster of quarterbacks to COVID. Instead of risking postponing their upcoming game against the Raiders, Fangio got strategic.
“It wasn’t hard,” said Fangio. “I had my staff pull up former high school football stars that went on to D1 schools and we just started calling until someone answered and agreed to join the team.”
We reached out to Dr. Cynthia Reynolds, president of the Board of Directors of Denver Public Schools, to hear her thoughts on the acquisition. She commented on how instrumental Elliott has been in keeping his students engaged and active virtually but also noted how the schools just can’t compete with an NFL starting salary.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Carl Caughlin, Pharmacist
Carl Caughlin, a pharmacist at a Pittsburgh CVS responsible for providing the first phase of vaccines to long-term care nurses and residents, was picked up by the Pittsburgh Steelers to complete the season as the starting safety. Caughlin wasn’t available for comment so we reached out to some local fans to hear what they had to say about the recruiting tactics.
Jackson Miller, a generational Steelers fan, spoke to us outside the Beehive bar in downtown Pittsburgh. Miller said, “I think it’s great. I don’t think I can handle another postponed or ‘off-scheduled’ game this year. It’s too much. We have our traditions here and those cannot be broken.” Miller and his friends have continued to meet and watch the games together throughout the pandemic. He mentioned that so far they’ve had seven COVID cases but only one that was fatal and they continue to watch in Dan Deluke’s honor.
When asked how he felt about the late-season fill-ins, Miller responded with “as long as the Steelers keep kicking ass, I don’t care. Also, Tomlin, hit me up” and proceeded to throw a fake pass and scream “touchdown” into the mic.
Las Vegas Raiders: Kyle McRainey, RN, Sunset Hospital and Medical Center
Kyle McRainey, RN, was selected as the Las Vegas Raiders’s new starting running back in lieu of Devontae Booker, who tested positive for COVID last week. Kyle McRainey is an RN instrumental in working with the Sunset Hospital and Medical Center on the COVID crisis. Outside of his professional career, McRainey was an all-star high school running back and went to the University of Nevada on a football scholarship. We spoke with McRainey and he said he was surprised about the call, but jumped on this “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Coach Jon Gruden mentioned that “it’s been hard keeping the players under lockdown. I don’t know how [NBA Commissioner Adam] Silver did it – we’ve had to resort to playing games on Wednesdays, the most unholy of football days, so we had to do something.”
Dallas Cowboys: Dr. Tim LaShae, University Medical Center Epidemiology Department
The Dallas Cowboys, in desperate need for a quarterback, recruited Dr. Tim LaShae at the University Medical Center Epidemiology Department, who played for Texas A&M back in the early 2000s as a wide receiver. When asked why the team didn’t go after Colin Kaepernick, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, coach Mike McCarthy commented that as good as Kaepernick is and as badly as they need a solid quarterback, it felt too controversial at this time and LaShae has potential.
