The NFL, by all appearances, has no inclination to aggressively investigate whether teams other than the Buccaneers have an issue with fake vaccination cards. The NFL Players Association has a voice in this dynamic — and to date the NFLPA hasn’t used it.

The union that represents all players finds itself in a tough spot. On one hand, it needs to protect the interests of players who may eventually be accused of using fake vaccination cards. On the other hand, the NFLPA needs to protect the interests of players who are legitimately vaccinated and who are exposed to players lying about their vaccination status. The harder the NFLPA pushes on behalf of one group, the more it infringes on the rights of the other.

Still, given that the COVID protocols were crafted jointly by the league and the union, the union presumably has a clear interest in ensuring their integrity. If players are lying about whether they’ve been vaccinated, that’s not just an affront against the NFL but an insult to the union, too. It therefore would make sense for the NFLPA to state in a loud, clear voice that it wants the NFL to aggressively investigate the possibility that fake vaccination cards were used by one or more players with one or more of the other 31 teams.