Tampa Bay Buccaneers players will face heavy restrictions during the NFL season.
Following news of kicker Ryan Succop ending up testing positive for coronavirus following a dinner with some Titans players, head coach Bruce Arians made it clear players aren’t allowed to leave the team hotel for just about any reason imaginable. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
According to a team source, so far none of the #Titans players that went to dinner with #Bucs K Ryan Succop have tested positive for Covid. They’ve gone through two days of testing, no positives.
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) August 25, 2021
“There’s league rules and then there’s my rules…They’re not going anywhere. We’re going the same as last year. I don’t give a crap if they’re vaccinated or not. They ain’t going anywhere,” Arians told the media in a video from the Tampa Bay Times when talking about rules at the hotel.
On COVID protocols: “I don’t give a crap if they’re vaccinated or not. They ain’t going anywhere.” pic.twitter.com/yDJA7688mX
— Sports by Tampa Bay Times (@TBTimes_Sports) August 25, 2021
This honestly sounds absolutely terrible. NFL teams already had to deal with these protocols in 2020, and the Bucs are keeping them this season as well.
I guess you can learn to stomach it when you’re making a ton of money, but that doesn’t make it any more fun.
Coach Bruce Arians announced that PK Ryan Succop went out to dinner with some Titans friends last week and tested positive for COVID-19 today and is out for Saturday’s game at Houston. pic.twitter.com/5XnTgHCEas
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) August 24, 2021
It’s also mind-boggling to me how badly bungled the messaging on the vaccine has been. We were all told that if you got the vaccine, you could return to normal.
That’s clearly no longer the case and some NFL teams have no interest in returning to normal.
“Tennesee coming and going out to dinner, they found out the hard way. And so did Ryan [Succop].” #Titans https://t.co/OpfOl8Dr6w
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) August 25, 2021
In the end, it’ll all be worth it for another Super Bowl ring, but I don’t envy guys having to give up their personal lives for the entire season.