When Tom Brady signed a two-year deal worth $50 million with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a 20-year stay with the New England Patriots, many fans turned their backs on him as they didn’t expect the quarterback to leave New England. Actor Matt Damon is not of them, as he admitted during Bill Simmons’ podcast “The Ringer” that he remained a Brady fan despite his decision to shift from the Patriots to the Buccaneers. When Damon admitted that he watched every Buccaneers’ game last season, Simmons asked him if he jumped on the bandwagon, per Luke Easterling of USA Today.
“It’s not even a bandwagon. I love Tom. I love him. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime athlete for all of us who were lucky enough to be able to follow his entire career,” said Damon, who is a die-hard fan of the Patriots as he was born in Cambridge Massachusetts, per transcription of the show’s video posted on Twitter.
Damon says he’s all in on Brady
The actor added that he’s riding it all the way to end with Brady, saying he’s all in on the quarterback. Damon clarified that he’s not turning his back on his hometown team, but he’s simply following Brady and his latest career path with the Buccaneers. The actor said he’s also amazed by Brady’s accomplishment of leading the Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl title since 2002 with a torn MCL.
“It’s like, it’s just awesome. It’s such a great story,” he said. Damon also believed that Brady was more instrumental in the Patriots’ six Super Bowl wins than head coach Bill Belichick. “Yeah, because he’s on the field playing the game,” Damon pointed out. While he’s hurt by Brady’s decision to leave the Patriots, Damon said he’s over it midway through the season.
“They could have kept him,” Damon said of the Patriots’ decision not to pursue Brady and sign him to another deal. The Patriots replaced Brady with 2015 Most Valuable Player Cam Newton, but they didn’t make the playoffs for the first time since 2008 as they finished with a 7-9 mark. The Buccaneers, for their part, will try to go for back-to-back Super Bowl wins in the upcoming season.
Damon will have to play neutral when the Buccaneers visit the Patriots in Week 4 in the most highly-anticipated game of the upcoming season.
Huge fines for players breaking COVID-19 protocols
The Buccaneers will severely deal with unvaccinated players who will break COVID-19 protocols laid down by the NFL. Per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said the team would fine any unvaccinated player $14,000 on the spot if they break COVID-19 rules, such as wearing face masks where they are supposed to be. The NFL said unvaccinated players will be tested every day while vaccinated team members will be only tested once every other week. Arians is confident that his team will have 85 percent of its players vaccinated, while he believes that those unvaccinated will follow the NFL COVID-19 rules, which were already in place last year.
