Coronavirus hits the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Coronavirus has hit close to home to the state of Florida and now is starting to affect the restart for professional sports throughout the country.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the rest of the National Football League has begun reopening facilities, but the former is already seeing issues pop up. The Buccaneers has two players and an assistant test positive for the novel coronavirus, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter over a week and a half ago.
The news comes at a time where the NFL is adamantly staying that they believe a 2020 should take place on time, despite the threat of the coronavirus still taking place around the United States. Just recently in Florida, the state has seen cases just surpass over 100,000 with just over 3,000 deaths. The NFL has also stated that training camps will take place on time towards the end of July.
Florida has become the latest state to see its cases spike and now it has become an issue with so many professional leagues looking to start their seasons. The NBA, WNBA, MLB and MLS are planning to play their seasons in Florida but now are having second thoughts because of the spikes going on throughout the country.
This current off-season has been like no other for professional sports and especially for the Buccaneers, who made a couple of blockbuster type moves ahead of the 2020 season. Tampa Bay signed 6-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady and decided to move on from 5-year starter Jameis Winston, was ho has since signed with the New Orleans Saints.
Brady has been gathering teammates at Berkeley Prep in Tampa and getting down timing with routes and learning various formations within Bruce Arians’ offense. It’s been a crazy summer, though, for Brady as he was kicked out of a City of Tampa park back in late March and then made the news when he accidentally walked into the wrong house, which he thought was the home of offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.
Tampa Bay also made a splash move by trading for Brady’s former New England Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski, who now joins an already loaded receiver room. Brady could arguably have his best set of receivers and tight ends since the 2007 season, which featured Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Brady will have the likes of Gronkowski, OJ Howard, Cameron Brate, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Scotty Miller to throw to.
There’s been no shortage of excitement surrounding the Buccaneers this summer, as Brady has brought the national spotlight on Tampa Bay with the high expectations now at hand. Many are predicting not only a playoff berth for the Buccaneers, but a deep postseason run that could include reaching the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is slated to take place in Tampa, FL in February, 2021.
