Kovacevic: Until NFL at least sounds serious about this, meatheads, miscreants will keep making messes

No, the Ravens won't forfeit.

No, the Ravens shouldn't forfeit. At least not based on what's known now about what they've wrought in moving the NFL to postpone their Thanksgiving game with the Steelers to Sunday.

But make no mistake: Had Roger Goodell made clear entering this unprecedented NFL season that any team guilty of a set level of violations related to protocol would be severely punished -- fines, docking of draft picks and yes, even forfeits -- no one would've ever seen the debacles in Nashville and now in Baltimore. 

I really believe that.

Oh, there'd have been a mess or two, here or there, the occasional Vance McDonald scenario. That's normal. The coronavirus, particularly now, is everywhere, and it doesn't choose favorites. But there'd never have been a scenario where the stereotypical football-meathead mentality would've been allowed to prevail the way we saw with Mike Vrabel and his terrifyingly clueless press conferences on this subject a couple months ago and, of course, what we're witnessing now in John Harbaugh's house.

Some coincidence, huh?

The two rocket scientists who needed to be separated this past Sunday in warmups because a couple of the Titans were standing on the Ravens' logo at M&T Bank Stadium's 50-yard line, then Harbaugh refused to shake Vrabel's hand afterward ... yeah, these would be your classic candidates to prioritize football above all else, am I right?

Well, coaches like this understand one language when it comes to life matters: Put it in football terms.

Want to threaten fines?

Sure, go nuts. They couldn't care less. Not a penny of any fine comes from their pockets, and their owners are more than happy to pay.

Want to dock draft picks?

OK, now that stings ... but not on Sunday. Coaches care about Sunday. They care about the next game. They spend every waking hour all week fixated on winning one game at a time.

Want to set up the parameters for a forfeit?

Oh, my. Now you've got everyone's attention.

When the NFL concluded a weeklong investigation of the Titans, it was revealed that there'd been an open flouting of protocol at their practice facility in Nashville. Masks weren't being worn. Gatherings were happening in the parking lot. And Vrabel and his entire staff were visibly aware of it all, based on video footage that was found.

Independently, while this investigation was ongoing, a group of college students filmed a group of Tennessee players -- including Ryan Tannehill and some of their main guys -- conducting their own mini-practice after they'd been explicitly instructed by Troy Vincent of the league office to do no such thing.

Even with a harsh national spotlight on his team, even with his facility closed up for fumigation, even with the league leaking out word of a looming "historic punishment," nothing, nothing, nothing mattered more to Vrabel than continuing to prepare for kickoff that week against the Bills.

The NFL's punishment for the Titans: A $350,000 fine.

The NFL's punishment for Vrabel: Zip.

According to the Associated Press, because the Titans were “insufficiently clear to players about not meeting or working out once the facility closed, that kept the loss of draft picks or a forfeit out of the possible punishments."

Gee. How thoughtful.

And equally thoughtful, the league rearranged Tennessee's schedule to accommodate players' availability and, in turn, tore away the Steelers' bye week.

Now, here we are again.

I wouldn't trust a Harbaugh any farther than Lamar Jackson could throw one. John and Jim Harbaugh have both exhibited infantile behavior at all levels of the game, and John perpetuating the embarrassing scene with Vrabel over the weekend painfully illustrates he hasn't grown up in the slightest.

So the moment the Ravens announced their first round of positive tests this week, my antennae immediately went up in the cynical way. Partly because they had a previous mess this season with Marlon Humphrey and a Baltimore staffer coming up positive one weekend but it being reported only after Humphrey played against the Steelers despite being ill late that same week. And partly, if I'm being honest, because the Ravens are so wrecked that they'd have much to gain from a delay this week.

Not all of my thinking was rational or fair. Too bad. That's got to be earned.

But more than anything, my feeling was that this couldn't be coincidence. Not when one name was followed by two more. Then another. Then three more. Then speculation that there still might be several more.

And then, climactically, came this Wednesday night:

Uh-oh.

It didn't take more than a few minutes for the Baltimore Sun to reveal that this staffer was one of the Ravens' strength and conditioning coaches. And that this coach was often working without a mask. And that this coach wasn't wearing his required tracking device. And that this coach ... sit down for it ... failed to report having coronavirus symptoms.

What could possibly go wrong?

Better question: Who else saw this?

Better yet question: Did Harbaugh?

Best question: If he didn't, what kind of head coach amid a pandemic doesn't spend quality time in the weight room, the one area other than the practice field where players are still permitted to congregate at a maximum of 10 people?

The issue isn't the Steelers. It really isn't.

It's unfortunate coincidence that they've now found the short end of such a stick twice this season. And it's just plain unfortunate that, with Mike Tomlin having promised his players they'd have five consecutive days off following the Thanksgiving game, they're yet again stripped of a bye week.

So I get the reaction, from the public and the players ...

... even as I'm not about to buy into any wild anti-Pittsburgh conspiracy. That stuff's almost always silly, and this isn't an exception.

Besides, they'll be fine. They're 10-0 now, their archrivals were already banged up and will be missing at least six of the seven players on the COVID list plus whoever's added ...

... and there's no reason whatsoever that 10-0 shouldn't become 11-0.

Wonderful. Bury the 6-4 Ravens. Help get Harbaugh fired, as I'm hearing might happen regardless. Eliminate them and embrace every bit of it. Hell, pull a Chucky and have the team bus driver do laps around North Shore Drive when it's done.

That won't solve the real issue. Only the NFL can do that.

In early October, trying to address Tennessee en masse, Goodell distributed a memo to all 32 teams that included the following: "If a team that is found through NFL/NFLPA investigations to have violated COVID policies in an egregious manner, and the ensuing game could best be rescheduled in a manner that put their opponent (a team in good standing regarding COVID compliance) at a competitive disadvantage or would compromise their health and safety, then that game is a candidate for forfeiture."

Nobody needs my advice. It's right there.

For some reason, the mere usage of the word 'forfeit' sends some into a tizzy.

It'll never happen!

Too much money on the line!

The players wouldn't be paid!

OK, all of that's accurate. But that's not a reason to talk about it? To cite it, vocally, visually, so that the coaching fraternity that subscribes to the stereotypical football-meathead mentality would be forced to at least consider that a nuclear option exists? So that the players themselves might think about losing a paycheck if they don't follow protocol? So that strength and conditioning coaches might think the same?

At least make them think.

That's all I'm after here. There's only about a third of the regular season left, but it's also the ugliest of the pandemic. This is the time to turn up the heat, to press whatever buttons might work. Talk about docked picks. Talk about forfeits. Make it part of the league's lexicon until this passes.

They could also talk about a quarter-million Americans have been killed by this thing, but what's that next to having the Bills hang an L on you?