Only 3 NFL teams will have fans in the stands for their home openers
29 August 2020
The Cowboys, Chiefs and Dolphins are the only NFL teams that have promised to have fans in the stands during their first game of the regular season, the Boston Globe reports.
Why it matters: Over 75% of the league has ruled out admitting fans at home openers over concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, though a normal game-day experience for teams that do allow fans will be elusive.
The big picture: The Kansas City Chiefs will only have 16,000 fans, around 20% of capacity, in attendance during their first three home games, while the Miami Dolphins will only admit 13,000 on Sept. 20 to see them play the Bills.
- The Dallas Cowboys have yet to announce a plan, though owner Jerry Jones promised to allow some fans, according to the Globe.
- Another six teams — the Cardinals, Panthers, Browns, Colts, Jaguars and Buccaneers — hope to allow fans but local authorities have yet to approve their plans.
Of note: Miami and Dallas are two of the largest coronavirus hotspots in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Go deeper: NFL teams suspend practice over Jacob Blake shooting
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.