-Bucs players are stepping up to help in COVID-19 relief. Last week, both quarterback Tom Brady and wide receiver Mike Evans made significant donations to help the Tampa Bay community. Brady and his wife, Gisele, donated 750,000 meals to Feeding Tampa Bay. Brady also participated in a charity Poker Tournament over the weekend that helped to benefit Feeding America. Brady was joined by celebrities like Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Adam Sandler on Twitch. The effort raised over $1 million before the tournament even kicked off.
Evans pledged a total of $100,000 to go towards COVID-19 relief, both here and in his hometown of Galveston, Texas. His donation included $50,000 for the United Way Suncoast and will help over 31,000 Bay Area families with things like childcare, aiding in foster care and helping homeless youth.
-Because of the current climate where everyone is working remotely and social distancing precautions are in place, Bucs General Manager Jason Licht and his staff have had to make some adjustments to the now all-digital draft coming up next week.
During a Zoom call with local media on Thursday, Licht went into detail on the real MVP of this draft: IT Director Spencer Dille, who is leading his department in converting everything from the Big Board to the phone that the Bucs will call their pick in on to a remote solution. Licht, as well as Head Coach Bruce Arians, will be conducting the draft from their houses and will each have an IT person in their homes to help troubleshoot any issues. There are also backup plans already being worked out should technology fail in any way.
"We are currently going through a lot of scenarios with that," Licht said. "We're working through a of different platforms in terms of being able to have some video conferences and talk to one another. We're going to find the best one [and] the most secure one. We'll have some mock situations of our own. Sometimes you can get a little over-technical in these situations. You want to make sure you have a hardline phone. You want to make sure you have several phones available to you – cell phones or what have you. But sometimes it comes down to the old-fashioned picking up the phone and calling the league office and saying, 'We are going to pick this player.' We'll have all of our scenarios done when the draft starts in terms of where I would trade up, where I would trade back, what we'd be looking for, what we'd be wanting, what players we're going to take in order [and] those types of things. In terms of the technical part, we're still working through it a little bit, but I feel very confident. We have a great IT department led by Spencer Dille. We have a lot of different avenues that we can work through."
Licht even joked around about the differences in celebrations and strategy between picks. Working from his home will be different than the War Room at AdventHealth Training Center.
"It's going to be a little different," Licht laughed. "Probably in between picks instead of high-fiving and doing those types of things, I'll probably have to take out the trash and empty the dishwasher, but it's going to be a little bit different. My kids will be in the house. They've already been told that they have to give me some space, but it's going to be different. It's going to be fun. It's going to be something that we'll probably remember for the rest of our lives."
-As part of the new uniform unveiling, the Bucs surprised some celebrity fans with their very own jerseys. Here are a few of the best celebrity uniform reactions:
