Report: Kenny Albert blocked from FOX NFL telecast due to COVID-19 protocol

In a somewhat bizarre series of events, Kenny Albert won’t be able to call his assigned Week 1 NFL game due to COVID-19 protocols.

Albert has been calling NHL games for NBC at the league’s Edmonton site. NFL rules state, however, that anyone traveling into the United States from a foreign country must quarantine for two weeks. According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, Albert will not be exempted from that rule despite the fact that he has been working in a safe environment and has been tested multiple times per week in accordance with NHL guidelines.

Albert had been scheduled to work Sunday’s game between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions. Instead, Dick Stockton is expected to take his place.

Rules are rules, but Albert had been working in one of the safest environments that anyone could conceive of. It also means that Jonathan Vilma, who will be making his FOX debut, will be working with a partner he didn’t expect to be working with.