Whitlock: I’d love to know what Tom Brady thinks of NFL COVID protocols

An experimental medical procedure is being forced upon some of the healthiest people on the planet, and America's corporate media are reluctant to talk honestly about the chaotic ramifications.

COVID chaos is sweeping the sports world. COVID chaos' impact on sports dwarfs Colin Kaepernick's knee and Megan Rapinoe's self-aggrandizement. COVID chaos will likely define this NFL season.

COVID chaos is the most underreported story in sports.

Oh, sure, corporate media reports the headlines: Jaguars coach Urban Meyer admitted the obvious — vaccination status played a role in roster decisions.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick claimed Cam Newton's[C1] vax status played no role in the quarterback's departure.

Baseball executive Bob Boone refused to comply with the Washington Nationals' vaccine mandate and resigned.

UFC broadcaster and popular podcaster Joe Rogan contracted COVID and announced he'd taken ivermectin and other drugs to slay the virus.

Unvaccinated Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins spent time in the protocol.

Corporate media are feeding us a steady diet of headlines, news stories with little depth, and a consistent narrative that un-vaxxed athletes (and people) are selfish, irresponsible Trump supporters.

Like everything else in this country, COVID chaos is an outgrowth of our political polarization, corporate media's partnership with the Democratic Party, and the media's pervasive fear of being on the wrong side of Big Tech censorship.

There's one approved opinion on COVID. That opinion is that experimental vaccines are the only responsible way to combat the virus.

You'll never convince me Tom Brady believes that. Never.

Remember back in early August, when Brady blasted the NFL Players Association over social media? He claimed he was upset about the reduction in the salary cap. He stated: "NFL players better wake up @NFLPA. NFL players are IGNORANT. The salary cap dropped by 20%, and the new media deals were announced AFTER 2021 salary cap was set."

The most important football player of all time nuked the players' union. The story came and went without a great deal of conversation. Brady has never been a professional athlete chasing every dime. I'm sure he cares about money, but he has much stronger passions than the pursuit of wealth.

One of those passions is health. He's a health nut. He's meticulous about what he puts into his body. In 2013, he started a performance and nutrition company, TB12.

At the same time Brady ripped the NFLPA, veteran NFL players reached out to me complaining about the COVID protocols the NFLPA agreed to with the NFL. The players believe DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the union, agreed to the protocols without properly informing members of the union. The players, even the ones who have taken the vaccine, are irate. They feel betrayed by their union and voiceless. They say they've reached out to traditional NFL journalists and have been told their story and concerns are untouchable.

One player told me Brady criticized the union over the salary cap as a way of complaining about the COVID protocols DeMaurice Smith shoved past the players. I don't know Brady's vaccination status. I couldn't find a specific story on the topic. That seems odd given his stature and reputation regarding health. No one is asking the Benjamin Button of professional sports about the vaccine? Interesting.

Another player alleged he is aware of several NFL players who obtained fake vaccination cards during the off-season and provided them as proof of vaccination to their teams. I'm not mentioning that to suggest that's what Brady did. I'm saying it because I could see how and why many NFL players would.

Young people naturally feel invincible. Consider the physical conditioning of a typical professional athlete and then ask yourself how many football, basketball, baseball, and hockey players believe they need to take an experimental vaccine for a virus that kills less than 1 percent of its victims.

COVID chaos is the most divisive thing ever to hit professional sports. The people in least need of the vaccine are being forced to take it. Teams are operating separating dining rooms and separate rules for the vaxxed and the unvaxxed.

If an NFL team is forced to forfeit a game and paychecks over positive tests, don't be surprised when the players rise up and overthrow DeMaurice Smith, the worst union head in the history of professional sports.

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