Tampa Bay Buccaneers powerhouse quarterback, Tom Brady, recently disclosed that he contracted the COVID-19 virus in February after the Super Bowl parade. Alongside this, he shared that he believes the upcoming football season will be plagued with challenges concerning the spread of the virus.
“I think it’s going to be challenging this year,” the seven-time Super Bowl winner commented in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times. Despite the fact that Tampa Bay is among the few teams in the league that reached 100% vaccination, challenges are still expected to rise.
He went on to explain, “I actually think it’s going to play more of a factor this year than last year, just because of the way what we’re doing now and what the stadium is going to look like and what the travel is going to look like and the people in the building and the fans.”
Continuing his statement, Brady elaborated that the situation is different compared to last year. “It’s not like last year, although we’re getting tested like last year. It’s going to be, I definitely think guys are going to be out at different points and we’ve just got to deal with it,” he offered.
Tom Brady’s coaches are responsible for Tampa Bay’s lack of COVID exposure
Unlike many other teams, Tampa Bay had little exposure to COVID, which allowed them to have a pretty straightforward player roster. While other teams had large exposures to the virus, many players had to be pulled out for a majority of the season. Quarterback coach Clyde Christensen attributes the team’s negative test results to head coach Bruce Arian.
“He did an unbelievable job keeping this thing together during COVID,” Christensen commented. He recalled the memories of last year and what Arian’s response to the virus was and shared, “He didn’t compromise, and it ended up being one of the huge advantages because we didn’t have any dips because of COVID, largely because of him. He had zero tolerance for cutting corners on the COVID protocol.”
“He dog-cussed them. If he thought there was any slack whatsoever in us taking that thing for granted or letting down our guard, he snapped the team back to attention,” Christensen finished his statement, referencing how Arian was able to whip his players into shape and avoid exposure to the virus.
What to Read Next...
At The Buzzer, or ATB is the place for those who love sports, life, family, community, and so much more. We are far from the run-of-the-mill 24/7 sports news websites. We not only bring you what’s happening in the world of sports in terms of trades and breaking news, but we also bring you the news that goes on behind the scenes, like big life moments, and so much more. So take a minute and read one of our articles, we promise you won't regret it.