“They got me!” Isaiah McKenzie wrote Thursday – after the league disciplined the unvaccinated wide out for failing to wear a mask.
If only he was wearing something covering his face to hide his identity from the video cameras.
McKenzie and Cole Beasley, two Buffalo Bills wide receivers, violated the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol by having mask lapses around the team facility – both while refusing the vaccine.
McKenzie said he was fined $14,650, sharing a note from the NFL citing his failure to wear a mask multiple times Wednesday on Twitter. He went maskless while “walking through the indoor fieldhouse and into the training room,” and again in the weight room “while gathered near other players after the offensive meeting,” per the note.
Beasley did not disclose the amount he was fined, but replied that the NFL “got me too.” He said on Twitter that he did not have one on “from entry door to the locker room. Which is literally 5 steps.”
The 10th-year receiver was sent home Tuesday after being a close contact of a vaccinated trainer who tested positive. Though Beasley has tested negative, he has to remain away from the team for five days – a consequence that would have been avoided if he were vaccinated.
“I was wearing a mask when I was in close contact with fully vaxxed trainer who tested positive and still got sent home,” said Beasley, who has been openly critical of the league’s protocol. “So what’s the point of the mask anyways? Meanwhile I’m here still testing negative and can’t come back. Make it make sense.”
Unvaccinated players must wear masks throughout team facilities. In the memo to McKenzie, the league said it sent him a warning July 27 for “refusing to wear a mask” and said additional violations would involve discipline.
In addition to Beasley, the Bills had to send five other players home Tuesday after the positive test.
