'A ton' of star NFL players are opposed to COVID-19 vaccines?

The NFL and NFL Players Association have said since the spring that they're not mandating players be vaccinated against COVID-19 to participate in the upcoming regular season, but unvaccinated players can be fined $14,650 each time they violate health and safety protocols related to the pandemic. Those who remain unvaccinated must continue to follow strict guidelines similar to those installed for the 2020 campaign before vaccines became readily available, so players who don't get the shots will, on paper, "have a harder time" from August through the end of this season. 

While touching upon the subject of the NFL and NFLPA potentially agreeing to mandatory player vaccines, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported "'a ton' of star players are opposed to the vaccine." Florio added that a source from "the management side of the ledger" told him mandatory player coronavirus vaccines "won’t happen and can’t happen, that the union would never approve of it." 

As of Wednesday morning, only five NFL teams were below an 88% COVID-19 vaccination rate among players, and a reported 90% of players league-wide had received at least one vaccine shot. Those rates either increasing or decreasing after clubs trim rosters later this month could lead to some awkward conversations in locker rooms, particularly for teams responsible for the league's lowest rates.