Tom Brady certainly has a reputation as one of the most health conscious players in the National Football League. Being a 44-year-old quarterback still performing at a high level will help you get that rep. But things weren’t ideal for him in the offseason according to a new interview he did ahead of the 2021-22 season with the Buccaneers.
In an interview with Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Brady revealed that he contracted coronavirus in the weeks after Tampa’s Super Bowl win. Brady discussed the impact coronavirus may have on this upcoming NFL season, even though the article made it clear that the Bucs are one of the few squads in the league to be fully vaccinated.
Which means that Brady does, indeed, have the jab.
“You guys beat COVID last year. It’s still around. You’ve had it?” I asked him.
“Yeah,” Brady said.
“And I think it’s going to be challenging this year,” he continued. “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.
“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.”
In the piece, it’s revealed that one of the last people on the team to get vaccinated was running back Leonard Fournette. And while it isn’t specific, it sure sounds like Brady was encouraging his teammates to get vaccinated and protect the locker room from any possible disease-related disaster. And Brady’s point about unvaccinated fans and staff being in NFL stadiums is certainly an interesting point as well: despite the advantage of having vaccines available, anti-vax sentiments have complicated so much of what could happen this year.
It shouldn’t be news that NFL players are doing everything they possibly can to stay healthy and keep themselves on the field. So much of the NFL mindset is exactly that, even if it means practices considered medically dangerous outside of football. But as we’ve seen with players like Cole Beasley, not every athlete sees the vaccine as a competitive edge in the age of personal freedoms and owning the libs.
We know by now that breakthrough cases are still possible even after vaccination, but it’s now clear that the Bucs are gearing up for a potential repeat with another edge many of their competitors simply won’t have this year: a fully vaccinated locker room.
[via Tampa Bay Times]
