TAMPA, Fla. — Despite having two players diagnosed with the coronavirus and an assistant coach test positive last week, Tampa Bay Buccaneers players are continuing to hold group workouts at a local high school.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that Tom Brady and several teammates were at Berkeley Prep, working out on Tuesday morning, despite the NFL Players Association advising against such workouts.
Brady was seen practicing Tuesday with Rob Gronkowski, Chris Godwin, Scotty Miller, Jamel Dean, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Mike Edwards, Blaine Gabbert, Ryan Griffin and Ryan Jensen.
The NFLPA’s medical director, Dr. Thom Mayer, said Saturday that players should not “be engaged in practicing together in private workouts.”
The central storyline for the 2020 Chicago Bears revolves around the same question that has haunted the franchise since Hall of Famer Sid Luckman retired 70 years ago.
Can the Bears finally stabilize the quarterback position?
Even though 2017 No. 2 overall draft pick Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, who was acquired this offseason in a trade with Jacksonville, will compete for the starting spot when training camp commences next month, both have a lot to do in order to convince anyone either is the Bears’ long-term answer. In May, the Bears declined Trubisky’s fifth-year option — a forboding sign for someone once deemed the team’s quarterback of the future — and the 31-year-old Foles will be playing for his fifth team in five years.
Thus, at least in the near future, the answer is likely “no.”
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott plans to sign his $31.4 million exclusive franchise tender by Monday, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The two sides still have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal. The Cowboys had placed the franchise tag on Prescott on March 18.
By signing his franchise tender, Prescott will be contractually obligated to report to training camp on time, whether or not he and the Cowboys can figure out a long-term deal.
This offseason, the Cowboys made a long-term offer to Prescott that would put him among the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL, ESPN’s Todd Archer previously reported. Seattle’s Russell Wilson is the highest paid at $35 million per season, followed by Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger at $34 million.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones have repeatedly expressed their belief that Prescott is the team’s quarterback of the future and capable of leading the franchise back to a Super Bowl. Prescott, who turns 27 on July 29, has said on multiple occasions that he never wanted to leave the Cowboys.
The Cowboys had hoped to sign Prescott to an extension last offseason that would have guaranteed him nine figures, but the quarterback bet on himself, willing to play for $2.02 million in 2019.
Prescott completed 388 of 596 passes for 4,902 yards and 30 touchdown passes last season. Despite career highs in yardage and touchdowns, Prescott had his worst record as a starter (8-8) as the Cowboys missed the playoffs. His growth as a passer, however, was obvious as the Cowboys had two 1,000-yard receivers in
The statue of former Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, who was forced to integrate his franchise in the early 1960s, was removed from outside of RFK Stadium on Friday morning.
Events DC, which is in charge of RFK Stadium, removed the statue.
Max Brown, the chairman of the Events DC board of directors, and Greg O’Dell, the president and CEO, released a joint statement explaining the removal.
“This symbol of a person who didn’t believe all men and women were created equal and who actually worked against integration is counter to all that we as people, a city, and nation represent,” the statement read. “We believe that injustice and inequality of all forms is reprehensible and we are firmly committed to confronting unequal treatment and working together toward healing our city and country.”
George Preston Marshall statute at RFK is being taken down this morning. Truck just arrived to haul it away. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/yQduC1eCU0
— Denise Rucker Krepp (@kdrkrepp) June 19, 2020
They also called the removal of the statue an “overdue step on the road to lasting equality and justice.”
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“We recognize that we can do better and act now,” they said. “We’ve heard from many of our stakeholders in the community, and we thank you. Allowing the memorial to remain on the RFK Campus goes against Events DC’s values of inclusion and equality and is a disturbing symbol to many in the city we serve.”
The removal occurred on Juneteenth, which observes the effective end of slavery in the United States. It also follows several weeks of protests following the death of George Floyd.
Marshall owned the franchise from its inception in 1932 until his death in 1969. The team began in Boston as the Braves in 1932 and was renamed the Redskins a year later when it shared Fenway Park with the Red Sox. Marshall moved the franchise to his hometown of Washington, D.C., in 1937.
Before and after. George Preston Marshall has left RFK and Hilleast. pic.twitter.com/nCp2GF7iHA
— Denise Rucker Krepp (@kdrkrepp) June 19, 2020
But Marshall resisted efforts and pressure to integrate his roster, becoming the last NFL owner to do so in 1962. Marshall once said he would sign African American players when the Harlem Globetrotters signed white players. The Redskins were the southernmost franchise, and Marshall had their marching band play “Dixie” on the field for 23 years. The NAACP protested against Marshall at a meeting of league owners in 1957 and once picketed outside his home.
In the spring of 1961, Interior Secretary Stewart Udall started to apply pressure on Marshall to integrate his roster. Because the Redskins were going to begin play at D.C. Stadium on federally owned land that fall, Udall told Marshall that a 30-year lease would be revoked unless he added a black player. NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle later got involved in trying to persuade Marshall to relent. That December, Marshall drafted black running back and Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis with the first pick.
However, it was later learned that Marshall had traded the selection to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for running back/wide receiver Bobby Mitchell, who became Washington’s first black player in 1962.
D.C. Stadium was later renamed RFK Stadium; the Redskins moved to FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, in 1997.
Marshall was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. He is also part of the Redskins’ Ring of Fame, and his name is adorned, along with other members’ names, inside the stadium. A section of seating at FedEx Field is named after Marshall. He is also included on their history wall, which is outside the locker room at their practice facility.
“Once elected, nothing in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s bylaws allows for the removal of a Hall member,” the institution said in a statement.
Marshall was considered an innovative owner in other matters, proposing along with Chicago Bears owner George Halas that forward passing be allowed anywhere beyond the line of scrimmage. Marshall also embraced television in the 1950s, helping build the Redskins’ brand in the South far beyond Washington.
The franchise’s nickname remains a point of controversy, with renewed pressure for it to be changed. The city would like the Redskins to build a new stadium in the District, but Mayor Muriel Bowser has said she wants the team to change its name.
“It’s an obstacle for us locally, but it’s also an obstacle for the federal government who leases the land to us,” Bowser told Team 980 in a recent radio interview.
The Redskins did not comment on the removal of Marshall’s statue, citing the fact that RFK is no longer under their control. Owner Dan Snyder gave all his employees the day off Friday in honor of Juneteenth.