The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are among the NFL teams that have instituted a wristband system to designate whether a player is vaccinated or not. A red wristband is supposed to signal that the player has been vaccinated while yellow wristbands mean unvaccinated.
The Bucs started training camp a few days ago, and some reporters were already on the lookout for the wristbands. But it was quickly noticed that many players weren’t wearing wristbands at all (like Tom Brady) while some (like Mike Evans) were indeed wearing red.
There was the suggestion that the Bucs were violating their own COVID protocols just days into camp.
On Tuesday, Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians took issue with that notion and blasted the report because players don’t need to wear the wristbands at all during outdoor practices. He also cursed a lot because he’s Bruce Arians, and that’s what he does.
Bucs coach Bruce Arians has words about red and yellow bands…”If you’re gonna report sh—, make sure it’s f—-ing right.” pic.twitter.com/O3pbjavkoW
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) July 27, 2021
Arians said via ESPN:
“If I give you some information, at least know the (expletive) rules before you put it in the press. Red and yellow bands — they don’t have to wear them at practice. That’s for indoors. I’ve gotta read (expletive) that we should be fined for red and yellow bands because they ain’t got them on at practice. That’s bull(expletive). If you’re gonna report (expletive), make sure it’s (expletive) right.”
In addition to the Bucs, the Steelers and Jaguars are also requiring wristbands for vaccination status.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Monday that 83.6 percent of NFL players have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Ten teams have reached the 90-percent threshold while every team has reached at least 60 percent vaccinated among players.
