(Reuters) – The National Football League (NFL) has stripped the Las Vegas Raiders of a 2021 sixth-round draft pick and fined them $500,000 for repeated COVID-19 protocol breaches, NFL Network has confirmed https://www.nfl.com/news/raiders-jon-gruden-fined-lose-draft-pick-for-covid-19-violations.
Raiders coach Jon Gruden was also fined $150,000 after the league placed the team under its “intensive protocol” measures last month following offensive tackle Trent Brown’s positive test ahead of a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The NFL Network report added that Brown had been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list for a second time earlier this week.
Gruden ($100,000) and the club ($250,000) had previously been fined when the coach failed to follow “proper face-covering protocol” in their Sept. 21 win over the New Orleans Saints.
Several Raiders players were fined for attending an indoor charity event in September and the NFL penalised the team for allowing an unauthorised visitor in the locker room after the Saints game.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
