NFL Agent: 10–15% of League's Players Have a Phony Vaccine Card

With the NFL as with life, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Despite knuckleheads like Cole Beasley of the Buffalo Bills saying they’d rather die than get the COVID-19 vaccine leaving Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones as the voice of reason, the NFL reported over the weekend that nearly 94% of all players on Week 1 rosters had gotten the jab. As part of the report, the NFL said 17 teams had a vaccination rate above 95% and 27 teams had 90% or more of all their players vaccinated.

Well, according to what an anonymous agent told Defector, those figures may be a bit skewed due to players duping the NFL by proving their vaccination status with phony cards. In fact, after speaking to one of his clients about the situation after the player asked him to obtain a fake card, the agent estimated that 10–15% of players have a phony vaccine card. “I think it is a lot more common than people realize,” he told Defector. “Look, you’re talking about the NFL. These guys do anything they can to fudge a weed test or a PED test.”

While disappointing, this revelation, if accurate, shouldn’t be all that surprising. As the agent pointed out, players in the league are not above bending or outright breaking the rules in order to get on the field and perform at a high level. Playing in the NFL is a results-based business and the first step in getting the results that will keep a player in the league and getting paid is getting on the field come hell or high water.

For unvaccinated players who are forced to get tested on a daily basis, getting on the field each and every week is going to be significantly more difficult than it will be for players who are vaccinated — or for players who aren’t vaccinated but are still tested infrequently because the league thinks they are.

It’s a shame that 100% of players in the NFL don’t feel comfortable getting the vaccine, but it also is 100% not surprising that some of the ones who aren’t have found a way to reap the benefits the league hoped to bestow on only the vaccinated. But with the league’s main objective to have its 18-week schedule go off without a hitch, don’t expect a thorough investigation into the matter unless there’s a smoking gun or the crap really hits the fan somehow. Whether players are unvaccinated, vaccinated or lying about it, the NFL must go on. And it will.