Calling Tom Brady
July 10th, 2020
“The players want you, Tom.”
Attention: Tom Brady, your colleagues are begging for your help.
The NFL and the NFLPA continue to have phone calls to hatch plans for training camp, preseason and the regular season, in addition to conversations about NFL owners trying to float an idea to keep some 35 percent of players’ salaries for 2020 in escrow.
The league and the union are still in constant talks to decide protocols for how training camp, preseason and the regular season will transpire as the COVID-19 has a chokehold on society.
Yesterday, the Big Ten Conference sounded major alarm bells that the college football season could be shuttered or pushed back to the spring. The B1G announced member schools will only play conference football games this fall.
Other conferences like the ACC and the PAC-12 appear to be on the brink of following their lead.
Even if you don’t follow many NFL players on Twitter, their outrage and frustration has seeped into Joe’s timeline. Bucs left tackle Donovan Smith is one player upset the NFL, in his eyes, is asking too much of players.
The players, as they are noting on Twitter, are going to be on the front lines, practicing and playing and risking catching “The Sickness” and perhaps endangering their careers.
Just a gander at Richard Sherman’s Twitter feed (which includes retweets from several players including the NFLPA president J.C. Tretter of the Browns) details their frustration and anger.
As Ben Cohen and Louise Radnofsky, writing for no less an authority than the Wall Street Journal, point out, doctors simply do not know what the long-term effects of the COVID-19 will be on professional athletes.
The consensus among doctors is that athletes have long odds of the worst Covid-19 complications. But improbable is not impossible—and the chances of moderate and severe cases increase with thousands of athletes returning to work. One nasty case that requires a trip to the hospital could destroy someone’s career. …
This disease’s potential to attack the lungs is particularly alarming. Studies of SARS and MERS patients showed that roughly one-third had residual scarring on follow-up visits, said Ali Gholamrezanezhad, a University of Southern California radiologist. He predicted that rate would be much lower for Covid-19. But he also warned of the possibility that unexpected lung damage would lead to reduced functional capacity.
“What does that mean?” he said. “It means that when you’re walking or sitting, you don’t have shortness of breath. But as soon as you start running, you don’t have enough oxygen. This can happen in young people.”
In another Wall Street Journal story, the piece featured COVID-19 victims in their 20s and 30s — same ages as the vast majority of NFL players — who have severe complications from the virus, including a runner who now cannot walk up a flight of stairs without the aid of an inhaler.
So it seems a Pro Bowl receiver thinks it is time for the NFLPA to bring in the big gun, a guy the NFL fully respects, to take the baton and fight on behalf of the other members of the players’ association. That would be Brady, as Jarvis Landry pleaded with the Bucs quarterback to step forward and help.
@TomBrady The leagues needs your voice right now.. We need our Leaders on these calls with the NFL. Ask you as a fellow athlete, as a brother, as one of the most respected players of All-Time… We Need To Hear You #Salute✊🏾 #Unity
— Jarvis Juice Landry (@God_Son80) July 10, 2020
Reportedly, Brady is in Montana at his summer enclave as he is spending his final days until training camp is scheduled to start (currently July 28).
Will Brady hear the pleas of his fellow NFL players and fight for more protection for the players’ health and safety?
When is the last time you remember a non-Bucs player make a public plea to a Bucs player for help?
As JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman would say, Tom Brady wields clout.
July 10th, 2020 at 5:56 am
Risk management.
What are the odds a player being struck by lightning in Florida? Yeah, they take measures now to mitigate that lightning within 5 miles). God forbid, of a team plane or bus mishap? Rare, but we’ve seen it. There are safety rules. Of getting cancer?
Closer to home: Are the odds greater of a player getting a football-related injury that hurts/ends his career greater than those of a lasting COVID-19 complication? I don’t know the odds, and I’m not saying throw caution to the wind; they are prudent to be cautious and even very concerned. But put it into perspective. And now translate that first responders, medical, and military personnel who get paid a whole lot less and likely have a whole lot more risk face the same dilemma. THEY are REALLY on the “front lines.” And they are coming into forced contact with societies worst people on a daily basis.
I don’t blame individual players who would like to sit out. It is a personal decision. Just as the NFL is leaning to supporting fans who are season ticket holders but are at risk. All still in play. So players, if you don’t want to play, don’t play. The NFL shoudl come up with a mechanism for that–25% of your annual non-bonus salary and you agree to sit out and avoid team exposure for the whole season? Or maybe you draw unemployment like everyone else? That will give others who are not as worried, or believe it’s worth the risk an option (maybe their careers are already in jeopardy and they would like an opportunity in all of this). If enough players want to sit out, then that’s another factor for the NFL’s decision to play at all.
Death is pretty permanent. The questions and dialog are critical to have.
Now, if players want to say they want full pay AND not play, that won’t work.
July 10th, 2020 at 6:11 am
Play or don’t play. At this point, I don’t care if there is a season or not. The SJW BS has killed all enthusiasm. Starting to realize how irrelevant sports are to everyday life. People are scraping by to make a living while millionaires cry out in pain about their loss of pay. Not realizing their actions and public displays have already put their leagues revenue stream in jeopardy.
It’s that whirlwind thing. Reap it.
July 10th, 2020 at 6:33 am
What’s the death rate? I can tell you. .026%. With the denominator increasing because of more testing, it will become lower. 70% of those who have died have been 70+ years old with other morbidity issues. This has been a bad flu hijacked for nefarious purposes. No, I’m not being insensitive, I’m calling out the nonsense of shutting the world down and destroying all the economies for the…flu. Suicide rates alone along with those who have died because they were deathly afraid of going to the hospitals for their medical issues because they were not considered essential far surpasses the Covid death rate.
People should ABSOLUTELY stop living in fear. You have a greater chance of getting killed in a car accident than dying from Covid-19. I’ll take a survival rate of 99.74% any day.
Get on with the damned football season and stop this propagation of nonsense.
I swear, if Anthony Fauci said the only way to mitigate the spread is to now wear a diaper in your entire head, there would be a run on diapers.
Why have people lost the ability to honk critically?
July 10th, 2020 at 6:34 am
…to “think” critically.
July 10th, 2020 at 6:48 am
Anybody that knows anything about Pneumonia and contracting it will have the same effect on the lungs.
Heck, even bronchitis can virtually have the same effect as well.
Buttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt…………….the media will never tell you that ^^^^^^
The NUMBER ONE PROBLEM is the mass general public not knowing all the ramifications of the virus…….and therefore getting mass fed by the national media pumping news which promotes nothing but FEAR to anyone who is in ear shot of this “so called” news.
You wanna know the greatest weapon on how to control a population / people <—————–is fear.
July 10th, 2020 at 7:21 am
A player can choose to sit out…..and not get paid…..pretty much like anyone else.
July 10th, 2020 at 7:28 am
Good question Todd… why have people lost the ability to think critically about a highly contagious disease, that has no cure or proven therapy, that has killed over 130,000 WHILE many folks isolate, socially distance or wear masks, and shows no sign of abating and is in fact increasing in infection rate?
Probably bc folks have politicized the disease and put out a false narratives to serve their own best interest.
I wear a seatbelt bc I fear dying of whiplash or being ejected through the windshield in a car crash. Thankfully car crashes aren’t contagious either. Why is social distancing and taking a disease seriously so offensive to people? It’s not just about you, but all the other “you’s” you come into contact with.
July 10th, 2020 at 7:32 am
@Todd…….This is not the flu. The ICU’s in New York and now in Pinellas have NEVER been filled to capacity because of the flu. Yesterday Florida reported 120 deaths. The death rate WILL go up as there is a 2-3 week delay in deaths after a spike. Learn to read a chart. I agree we can’t shut everything down but this is not the flu and it is not a conspiracy. Ask an E.R. doc or nurse if hey think this is being overblown.
July 10th, 2020 at 7:36 am
Ok how many essential business were open during the three months the rest of us were forced to stay home. I admit that they are not smashing into each other, but were together daily with customers not wearing masks. Grocery stores had to be the worst, but when I have been to a grocery store or Home Depot or a car dealership I ask if they had any sick employees and I hear the same thing. “thankfully No”. Someone wants sports shutdown and the country locked up to prove some point and why is it that the media announces that thousands of people daily have gotten the virus, but even though I have a large family in the Tampa area and friends all over the state I personally do not know anyone who is positive with the virus. My question is how is it that on July 5th they media announced that July 4th was the worst day yet for positive test but who was getting tests on July 4th? This is after they announced that the test were so backlogged results were taking 5 to 7 days! The reason for all of this is that Football needs to come back! The players have to stop being afraid? We all do. Play football, go to work, live your life!!!
July 10th, 2020 at 7:40 am
Take precautions based on an outline agreed to by the NFL, NFLPA & CDC (or leading “ex-spurts”). Progress into the season based on the comfort of the players which, should be contingent upon the NFL’s assumption of liability. The players take tremendous risks to play the game, already. COVID-19 is a new & unanticipated one. They need their fears allayed.
This, of course, opens up the NFL to a myriad lawsuits. Which is the greatest loss to the owners; no 2020 season or lawsuits for the next 20+ years? Answer that & that should tell you what the NFL is angling for. With their bottomless pockets & attorneys’ ability to take advantage of both the players & the legal system, my guess is that the owners are hell-bent on a season!
July 10th, 2020 at 7:46 am
Demente – stop just stop! Look at facts do you think all people in the ICU in Pinellas have the Chinese Virus? Did heart attacks, car accidents and other aliments stop? Do some have the virus, probably, but really not as many as the other things. Look at who is giving the “facts” and start to think why? As for New York, I from there and I don’t believe anything I hear from there as they seem to come up with stupidity on a daily basis!! Luckily the Jets and Giants play in New Jersey!!!
July 10th, 2020 at 7:55 am
Really Joe??? Shame on you!!!!
July 10th, 2020 at 8:35 am
To me it’s clear what Brady would say and Smith wouldn’t like it.
My bet is Brady would say, let’s lock ourselves in a quarantine bubble and play the games on practice fields if it provides a path to another championship. If you don’t want to be a part of it stay home and ‘do not pass go’.
In BA I Trust!
July 10th, 2020 at 9:16 am
Brady should be saying we need to try the rookie at LT. Get you lazy arse up and show some desire to win. I can’t wait till we can kick ol’ half arse Donovan to the curb.
July 10th, 2020 at 9:21 am
I can and have read graphs to the point where my wife is totally FLOMOXICATED (Chris Thomas reference R. I. P) from the early “end of human kind “models to the “no more than a case of the sniffles” charts. Consensus? The 99% chance of survival for most HEALTHY individuals without underlying problems is accurate. However, I fully believe if you are concerned about passing or spreading the virus mask up or stay home I pass no judgement. I draw the line at arbitrary one size fits all measures handed down to keep the panic rate at full blast! Example? A town in Colorado is floating the idea of 1 year in jail for anyone caught outside not wearing a mask! Just think of that. Unlikely sure, but 6 months ago who among us would have thought that we would have shut the country down due, in great part, to a terribly flawed model (since debunked)? Bottom line? We all know as sports fans how statistics can be manipulated one way or another. Stay safe, stay smart,stay sane. Go Bucs.
July 10th, 2020 at 9:27 am
Fool brady doesn’t just have clout he has actual power
July 10th, 2020 at 9:44 am
show me a player who doesn’t want to play this season, and I’ll bet they are making more than 6 million a year, and probably more likely over 12 million and are not on the final year of their contract.
July 10th, 2020 at 10:22 am
Geez, I’m usually optimistic AF, but this doesn’t sound good at all. I don”t know man.
Good article Joe’s.
July 10th, 2020 at 10:31 am
Todd- You say that people have lost their critical thinking, yet purport or infer that Anthony Fauci is the one making decisions regarding the guidelines. That statement, in itself, is proof that your opinion is biased.
AND yea, statements and guidelines are debunked as more research is done on an unknown virus. Fauci, Birx, CDC, WHO, and scientists all over the world are adjusting to the virus as more is learned.
Don’t act like this is a virus-specific phenomenon either.
July 10th, 2020 at 10:33 am
OH TB is up here alright. Word is the other day he shot a 73 and his playing partners were ragging him about “Where was this game in “The Challenge”
lol
July 10th, 2020 at 10:45 am
Those who @todd…you’re all under a spell.
July 10th, 2020 at 10:55 am
When one of you loud mouths gets this? Make sure you have the nads to come back and tell us how your hospital experience was. And don’t change your name. I guarantee there are people that were on this site that have had it and will not. And I am not talking about one of you asymptomatic that just just gets a mild case and spreads it.
July 10th, 2020 at 12:32 pm
I read at VT that the entity stealing Palestinian land created and released the virus worldwide. Admit it sounds like something they would do. Biden or Trump, they got that covered.
July 10th, 2020 at 12:53 pm
All hail Todd the all-knowing! We so dumb!
July 10th, 2020 at 12:58 pm
@ Bucsfanman
Dude………….it doesn’t what you say to the masses of skeptics and brain-washed people.
Governments don’t want the masses educating themselves and asking questions because they view it as challenging their authority.
No doubt there are issues but the people wishing harm upon others for simply making their opinions heard is downright sinister & evil.
July 10th, 2020 at 3:49 pm
Anthem- I agree. It’s also why I added the last sentence.
EVERYONE, everywhere should pause before digesting ANY information spread via media.
Personally, I feel that simple common sense should suffice in this case. We’ll make it through this so there’s no reason to make things any worse than they are.
July 10th, 2020 at 3:51 pm
fan37- You Hokie alum?
July 10th, 2020 at 9:10 pm
“This has been a bad flu hijacked for nefarious purposes.”
Normal flu deaths in US are 30 – 40k a year.
Covid-19 is at 130k and counting in 6 months.
Critical thinking?
July 10th, 2020 at 9:11 pm
And, the entire subject of this articles is about the other possible effects BESIDES death, that you can be left with.
lol
July 11th, 2020 at 12:10 am
I just want to go back to when the Bucs signed Brady… I said something like, just the Bucs luck, they let their 5000 yards just turned 26 year old QB go, sign a 43 year old QB, then the season will get canceled and Brady will never play for us. Also said worst case scenario is that Winston goes to New Orleans where he’d sit on the bench for a year behind Brees, then take over for him and putting up 40 points a game on the Bucs for the next 15 years (this was weeks before he signed with NO).
To be clear I was for the Brady signing, but also said they need to do a hard press to keep Winston around and sell him on the fact he sits for a year or two behind the GOAT – and use Dan Fouts as an example of a guy who didn’t do anything until he was 27 and went to the HOF (and Winston has done a ton already).
In any case this is shaping up to be an epic disaster. Sort of like drafting Bo Jackson to pair with Steve Young in your backfield, then 2 seasons later having neither player.
I really hope I’m wrong… I really really really hope I’m wrong. But you don’t become the most losing team in all of professional sports history by making good decisions.