Al Powers / ESPN ImagesBy KELLY MCCARTHY, ABC News
(TAMPA, Fla.) — Even a six-time Super Bowl champion who’s new in town can’t get around citywide social-distancing measures amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A Tampa parks employee spotted “an individual working out” and went to let him know that the park was in fact closed, without realizing that the man in question was none other than the city’s newest resident and incoming Buccaneers quarterback, Tom Brady.
Tom Brady may have won six Super Bowls, but like the rest of us, he’s just trying to find a place to work out. Tampa mayor @JaneCastor said in today’s briefing that a @tampaparksrec employee approached a man working out downtown and told him the park was closed. It was @TomBrady. pic.twitter.com/etrPdrrGsN
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) April 20, 2020
Tampa’s mayor Jane Castor relayed the sighting to St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman during a Facebook Live video call on Monday and prefaced with “I’m not one to gossip” but said, “I gotta tell you this story.”
“Our parks are closed down and so a lot of our parks staff they patrol around to make sure that people aren’t doing contact sports and things and saw an individual working out in one of our downtown parks and she went over to tell him that it was closed. And it was Tom Brady,” Castor said. “So he has been sighted.”
The former New England Patriots star quarterback had to call an audible on his workout routine for the afternoon once he was asked to leave.
The city’s parks and recreation department later took to Twitter to clear up any confusion with Castor’s initial retelling of what happened, noting that Brady was “sighted” and not “cited.”
👀 SIGHTED! 👀
To clear up any confusion, @Buccaneers QB @TomBrady was SIGHTED in one of our 194 beautiful parks. He was not cited as some media outlets have reported.We are excited to welcome Tom & everyone back to all of our parks once we have punted COVID-19 downfield! 🏈 pic.twitter.com/EH13MmlAgx
— City of Tampa (@CityofTampa) April 21, 2020
The City of Tampa also tweeted out a message to the football legend who is preparing for the upcoming 2020 NFL season.
“Sorry Tom Brady! Our Tampa Parks Rec team can’t wait to welcome you and our entire community back with even bigger smiles — until then, stay safe and stay home as much as you can to help flatten the curve,” the city said on Twitter.
With so many major sports events impacted by the global pandemic, including the NFL offseason, and with professional workout facilities closed, athletes have had to adjust their training regimen to workout at their homes and come up with temporary alternatives.
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