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      Britt Reid, a Chiefs Assistant Coach, Is Involved in a Car Crash

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Why the Chiefs Will WinTom Brady vs. Patrick MahomesA Super Bowl Trip Is Worth the Risk to Some Fans17 Recipes for Tiny TailgatesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyBritt Reid, a Chiefs Assistant Coach, Is Involved in a Car CrashThe team released a statement confirming that Reid, the son of Kansas City’s head coach, Andy Reid, had been in an accident but provided no other details.Coach Andy Reid with his son Britt, an assistant coach, after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl last year.Credit…Patrick Semansky/Associated PressKen Belson and Feb. 5, 2021Britt Reid, the outside linebackers coach for the Kansas City Chiefs and the son of the head coach, Andy Reid, was in an automobile crash on Thursday night, the team said in a statement Friday.The crash occurred just days before both men were expected to be in Tampa, Fla., for the Super Bowl on Sunday, when the Chiefs, the reigning N.F.L. champions, are scheduled to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Chiefs were planning to fly to Tampa on Saturday, and it was not clear on Friday whether Britt Reid, 35, would make the trip.The team statement provided no details other than confirming that Reid had been involved in a crash.“We are in the process of gathering information, and we will have no further comment at this time,” the statement said.In response to an inquiry about a possible accident involving Britt Reid, a spokesman for the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department said that a crash had occurred on Interstate 435, which is not far from the Chiefs’ training facility. But the spokesman would not provide more details or identify anyone who was involved the crash, citing a Missouri law that prohibits the police from releasing the names of people who have not been charged with a crime.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes: A Battle of the Ages

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Why the Chiefs Will WinTom Brady vs. Patrick MahomesA Super Bowl Trip Is Worth the Risk to Some Fans17 Recipes for Tiny TailgatesCredit…Jamie Squire / Getty Images, Rob Carr / Getty Images, Charlie Riedel / Associated Press and Mike Roemer / Associated PressSkip to contentSkip to site indexTom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes: A Battle of the AgesMuch has been made about the nearly 20-year age difference between the two quarterbacks. But Super Bowl LV will come down to other numbers.Credit…Jamie Squire / Getty Images, Rob Carr / Getty Images, Charlie Riedel / Associated Press and Mike Roemer / Associated PressSupported byContinue reading the main storyFeb. 5, 2021Updated 8:00 p.m. ETTom Brady and Patrick Mahomes function within the same general constructs that have governed the N.F.L. for more than a century — playing on a field measuring 360 by 160 feet, accompanied by 21 other players, trying to gain 10 yards in four downs.Their approaches, though, are a gulf apart, with each quarterback at the pinnacle of styles that define the modern offensive era. Brady, 43, is a pocket passer extraordinaire, an archetype that is waning as teams try to build around dual-threat quarterbacks like Mahomes, 25, who can lead the dynamic offenses that have reimagined how football is played in 2021.Young Quarterbacks Are on the RunRunning the ball is a younger quarterback’s game, as is apparent in the gap between Patrick Mahomes’s rushing yardage (308) and Tom Brady’s (six). Of the top 18 quarterbacks with the most rushing yards, only four were 30 years old or older. More

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      How Does Tampa Host a Super Bowl in a Pandemic?

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Why the Chiefs Will WinTom Brady vs. Patrick MahomesA Super Bowl Trip Is Worth the Risk to Some Fans17 Recipes for Tiny TailgatesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyHow Does a City Host a Super Bowl in a Pandemic?“We’ll make the best of it,” Tampa’s mayor said. Plenty of people are preparing to party, with businesses eager for some tourism.Tampa, Fla., is hosting Sunday’s Super Bowl between the reigning champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Credit…Zack Wittman for The New York TimesAmaris Castillo and Feb. 5, 2021Updated 6:50 p.m. ETTAMPA, Fla. — The big, national party that is Super Bowl Sunday, with families and friends cozying up on the couch and sharing shrimp platters and beers in front of the television, represents a dangerous potential for new coronavirus infections across the country.Try being the host city.That is the unenviable position of Tampa, Fla., which will host this weekend’s showdown between the reigning champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The city faces two seemingly opposite challenges at once: celebrating the home team’s slot in the Super Bowl, a first in National Football League history, while keeping the game from becoming an embarrassing superspreader event.Mayor Jane Castor will have none of the downer talk. “We’ll make the best of it,” she said.The people of Tampa — Tampanians or Tampeños, not Tampans, thank you — seem intent on having a good time.Because the Bucs are playing, only about half the fans are traveling in, which is a benefit for coronavirus control and a downside for businesses.Credit…Zack Wittman for The New York Times“Thank God it’s in Tampa,” Kim Catalone, 51, declared on Wednesday night as she watched a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game with a friend at the Pint and Brew bar downtown. “Thank you, Gov. Ron DeSantis, for having Florida open to tourism and allowing such a wonderful experience to happen.”Yes, bars are open in Florida — and they will be during Sunday’s game. Some of them are advertising watch parties, though thanks to the mild subtropical winter — the low in Tampa is forecast to be 57 degrees on Sunday — at least some of the festivities can be held outdoors. And 22,000 fans, about a third of the usual capacity of Raymond James Stadium, will be gathered in the stands.A lockdown it is not.Kelly Ladd, the general manager of the Pint and Brew, said the craft brewery saw a huge jump in customers last weekend after the opening of the Super Bowl Experience, a fan carnival. For Super Bowl Sunday, Ms. Ladd said, the brewery will be open for reservations only. By Wednesday, most tables had been sold.“We’ve just been ramping up and getting ready to be as busy as possible,” she said. “It’s definitely not as crazy as it would have been, but after 2020 we’re just happy to have as much as possible going on. ”Ms. Castor noted that Tampa had already pulled off a victory parade during the pandemic, after the Lightning won the Stanley Cup in September. The Tampa Bay Rays then made the World Series in October, making Tampa the country’s undisputed sports pinnacle these days.Tampa Bay Lightning fans gathered at the Pint and Brew sports bar to watch a hockey game this week.Credit…Zack Wittman for The New York TimesThe virus did lead Tampa to postpone until April its annual Gasparilla festival, a pirate-themed celebration akin to Mardi Gras that would normally have taken place the last weekend in January.“Of course, you have to have a concern: We’re in the midst of a pandemic, there’s no denying that, and it’s a virus that is easily transferable,” Ms. Castor said of the Super Bowl. “But on the other hand, it can be easily managed if people take the simple steps of wearing masks and separating when possible.”Ahead of the game, she extended the city’s mask order to apply to outdoor areas of town where people are likely to gather.Tampa has hosted Super Bowls in unusual circumstances before, though nothing resembling a pandemic. In 1991, the game here took place right after Operation Desert Storm, when American troops had just helped drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, forcing additional security precautions, said Steve Hayes, president and chief executive of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, one of the Tampa Bay area’s tourism boards. (Tampa Bay is a body of water, not a place; the city of Tampa is on one side of the bay, with its neighbors St. Petersburg and Clearwater on the other.) In 2009, Tampa hosted the Super Bowl after the financial crash.Because the Bucs are in this year’s game, only about half the fans are traveling in, a benefit for virus control and a downside for hotels and restaurants hoping to make up for business lost during shutdowns. With many big-name sponsors and their clients staying away, venues that cater to business executives and the wealthiest fans are also expected to suffer.“This region has always risen up to the challenge of adjusting to make it better,” Mr. Hayes said.Raymond James Stadium will have 22,000 fans in the stands on Sunday, about a third of its usual capacity.Credit…Zack Wittman for The New York TimesMiami hosted the Super Bowl last year in one of the last big, iconic national events before the coronavirus forced the nation to shut down the following month. This weekend’s event in Tampa is thus a milestone of sorts, an indicator of how much the world has changed in a year.While there is no evidence to suggest it, plenty of people in Florida have long wondered whether the virus may have already been circulating at last year’s Super Bowl. Tara Kirk Sell, a senior associate at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, who is an expert in large-scale health events, said that it was not outside the realm of possibility — but that the truth may never be known.There have been a handful of anecdotes from attendees who recalled feeling flulike symptoms in the days afterward, but it was also flu season, and as Dr. Kirk Sell pointed out, no widespread testing for the virus was going on.“We will never know exactly what was happening in the Super Bowl and if the virus was there,” she said.About 7,500 of the people attending Sunday’s game will be vaccinated health care workers invited by the N.F.L. to thank them for a year of arduous work. One of them will be Rebecca Izquierdo, a 41-year-old nurse case manager at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, south of Tampa.“I really feel like my team has risen to the many challenges of this pandemic, and it’s just so special to us that we are going to be able to be a part of history,” she said. “Not only working through this pandemic, but now the history of the Super Bowl: We’re going to see the greatest player of all time, Tom Brady, and the greatest young quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.”(The nickname some attempted to adopt for the region after the Bucs signed Mr. Brady last year was, yes, “Tompa Bay.”)Thousands of people, mostly Buccaneers fans, mingled at the Super Bowl Experience on Wednesday. Credit…Zack Wittman for The New York TimesBut whatever happens Sunday in Tampa, what worries epidemiologists most is not the crowd inside the stadium but the people watching the game in their living rooms — and that concern extends well beyond Florida.Plenty of people may feel an irresistible impulse to gather, munch and celebrate the most American of late-winter celebrations, said Dr. Marissa J. Levine, the director of the Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice at the University of South Florida.“We all need something really positive to look forward to, for our emotional and mental well-being,” Dr. Levine said. “But we need to be with our guard up.”Lauren Adriaansen, 35, a Tampa native who lives near the football stadium — she can usually hear the cannons go off when the Bucs score — said she was happy the team was in the game but concerned about people conglomerating during and after it.“We saw what happened when we won the Stanley Cup,” she said. “There were parades and welcoming the Cup home and everything that involved a lot of people in close proximity to one another for sustained periods of time.”“I think that this looks like most other Super Bowls,” she said. “And as tempting as normalcy is, this isn’t a normal year.”There were certainly crowds at the Super Bowl Experience on Wednesday. Thousands of people, mostly Bucs fans, mingled in Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park. Just inside, a tall poster board listed Covid-19 regulations. Face coverings were required, and they could not have valves or vents. Face shields were not permitted unless accompanied by a face covering. Hand sanitizing stations had been set up throughout the park. Masks could be removed in dedicated concession areas while eating or drinking.Jay Money, 31, who had traveled from the Kansas City area last week, sat alone on Wednesday afternoon drinking a Bud Light at a concession stand. To show his love for the Chiefs, Mr. Money pulled up his right sleeve to reveal an aged tattoo of the team’s logo, which he said he got when he was 13.Watching the Chiefs return to the Super Bowl means everything to him, he said.“It goes, like, my kids being born, and then the Chiefs going to the Super Bowl,” Mr. Money said. “It’s very significant to me.”Amaris Castillo More

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      Behind the Scenes at the Super Bowl Halftime Show

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Why the Chiefs Will WinTom Brady vs. Patrick MahomesA Super Bowl Trip Is Worth the Risk to Some Fans17 Recipes for Tiny TailgatesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyBehind the Weeknd’s Halftime Show: Nasal Swabs and Backup PlansPutting on a Super Bowl halftime show is always a mammoth undertaking. The pandemic introduces many more logistical puzzles.The Weeknd is headlining this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, which has had to adapt to the challenges of mounting a live performance during a pandemic.Credit…Isaac Brekken/Getty ImagesFeb. 5, 2021Updated 2:19 p.m. ETWhen the Weeknd headlines the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, the stage will be in the stands, not on the field, to simplify the transition from game to performance. In the days leading up to the event, workers have visited a tent outside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., to receive nasal swabs for Covid-19 tests. And though a smaller crew is putting on the show this year, the bathroom trailers have been going through three times as much water as usual — because of all that hand-washing.Amid a global pandemic, the gargantuan logistical undertaking that is the halftime show has gotten even more complicated.In a typical year, a massive stage is rolled out in pieces onto the football field, sound and lighting equipment is swiftly set up by hundreds of stagehands working shoulder to shoulder, and fans stream onto the turf to watch the extravaganza. This year, there is a cap on how many people can participate in the production, dense crowds of cheering fans are out of the question. And only about 1,050 people are expected to work to put on the show, a fraction of the work force in most years.The pandemic has halted live performances in much of the country, and many televised spectacles have resorted to pretaped segments to ensure the safety of performers and audiences. The halftime show’s production team, however, was intent on mounting a live performance in the stadium that they hoped would wow television audiences. To fulfill that dream, they would need contingency plans, thousands of KN95 masks and a willingness to break from decades of halftime-show tradition.“It’s going to be a different looking show, but it’s still going to be a live show,” said Jana Fleishman, an executive vice president at Roc Nation, the entertainment company founded by Jay-Z that was tapped by the N.F.L. in 2019 to create performances for marquee games like the Super Bowl. “It’s a whole new way of doing everything.”Last year’s halftime show, starring Jennifer Lopez, above, and Shakira, felt like an exultant, glittery party.Credit…Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesOne of the first logistical puzzles was figuring out how to pick staff members up from the airport and transport them to and from the hotel, said Dave Meyers, the show’s executive in charge of production and the chief operating officer at Diversified Production Services, an event production company based in New Jersey that is working on the halftime show.“Usually you pack everyone into a van, throw the bags into the back, everyone is sitting on each other’s laps,” Meyers said. “That can’t happen.”Instead, they rented more than 300 cars to transport everyone safely.Many of the company’s workers have been in Tampa for weeks, operating out of what they call a “compound” outside of Raymond James Stadium, the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The compound includes 50-foot-long office trailers, which used to fit about 20 employees each but now are limited to six. There are socially distant dining tents where people eat prepackaged food, and a signal for which tables have been sanitized: the ones with chairs tilted against them.Outside the perimeter of the event, there is a tent where halftime-show workers have been getting Covid-19 tests. Staff members have been getting tested every 48 hours, but now that game day is close, key employees, including those who are in proximity to the performers, are getting tested every day, Meyers said. Each day, workers fill out a health screening on their smartphones, and if they’re cleared, they get a color-coded wristband, with a new color each day so no one can wear yesterday’s undetected.It is unclear if this year’s show will mimic the high-budget elements of years past, like Katy Perry riding an animatronic lion.Credit…Christopher Polk/Getty ImagesEach time workers enter the stadium or a new area of the grounds, they scan a credential that hangs from around their necks so that in the event that someone tests positive for Covid-19 or needs to go into quarantine, the N.F.L. will know who else was in their vicinity. And there are contingency plans if workers have to quarantine: crucial employees, including Meyers, have understudies who stand ready to take their places.All of those measures are taken so that the Weeknd can step out onstage Sunday for a 12-minute act that aims to rival years past, when the country was not in the midst of a global health crisis.“Our biggest challenge is to make this show look like it’s not affected by Covid,” Meyers said.The challenge was apparent on Thursday at a news conference about the halftime show. When the Weeknd strode to the microphone, he took in the room and noted, “It’s kind of empty.” His words were perhaps a preview of how the stadium might look to people watching from home. (About 25,000 fans will be present — a little more than a third of its capacity — and they will be joined by thousands of cardboard cutouts.)During the 2017 halftime show, Lady Gaga clasped fans’ hands and embraced one of them, but the Weeknd is performing in an age of social distancing.Credit…Dave Clements/Sipa, via Associated PressBut the Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye), a 30-year-old Canadian pop star who has hits including “Can’t Feel My Face” and “Starboy,” is known for his theatrical flair. His work often has a brooding feel, an avant-garde edge, and even some blood and gore (he promised he would keep the halftime show “PG”).This will be the second Super Bowl halftime show produced in part by Jay-Z and Roc Nation, who were recruited by the N.F.L. at a time when performers were refusing to work with the league, in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice.The N.F.L. and Roc Nation are keeping quiet about the details of the program to build anticipation, so it is unclear whether it will have the usual big-budget effects of halftime shows past, which have featured Jennifer Lopez dancing on a giant revolving pole, Katy Perry riding an animatronic lion and Diana Ross memorably exiting by helicopter.What is clear is that there is unlikely to be anything like the intimate moment Lady Gaga had with a few of her fans during her 2017 performance, when she clasped their hands and embraced one of them before going back onstage for “Bad Romance.” The Weeknd is taking the stage in a much more distanced world.Ken Belson contributed reporting.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Don’t Be Fooled by the Playful, Merry-Making Travis Kelce

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Chiefs Fans’ Generational DivideReconsidering Tom BradySuper Bowl Party TipsThe N.F.L.’s ‘First’ Women Want CompanyAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyDon’t Be Fooled by the Playful, Merry-Making Travis KelceThe Kansas City Chiefs tight end spent his formative football years playing quarterback. In his mind’s eye, he can both throw the ball and catch it.Tight end Travis Kelce plays his position with an understanding of the quarterback’s job.Credit…Doug Murray/Associated PressFeb. 5, 2021, 9:00 a.m. ETOff the field, Travis Kelce’s life is unscripted.Yes, sometimes it may seem as if the always playful Kelce is reading prepared lines so he can play the role of a goofy frat-party boy — the N.F.L.’s Midwestern version of Rob Gronkowski. But Kelce, the five-time All-Pro tight end for the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, insists that is not true.For example, after last season’s A.F.C. championship game, he stole the postgame show by leaning into a CBS microphone to shout: “You’ve got to fight, for your right … to … parrr-tay!”It was a line that might have appeared in character, delivered right on cue.“Nah, it was all instincts,” Kelce said this week.Then, after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, there was Kelce making a memorable appearance at the end of a celebratory parade through downtown Kansas City. Kelce, a bit wobbly and with a World Wrestling Entertainment championship belt thrown over his shoulder, blurted to the crowd: “I’m wearing about half the beers I’ve been trying to drink.”Fun-loving football players carving out a niche in the public consciousness is nothing new. But in Kelce’s case, there is a twist: His cavalier attitude when out of uniform belies a cunning, resourceful and almost scholarly approach to his work on the football field.The frat boy goes to every class and gets straight A’s. He stays on script.After the A.F.C. championship game last year, Kelce let Chiefs fans know they had to fight for their right to party.Credit…Jeff Roberson/Associated PressTake it from the modern tight end archetype. “Travis has transformed our position,” said Gronkowski, whose Tampa Bay Buccaneers will meet the Chiefs in the Super Bowl on Sunday. “Crafty, smart guy.”The defensive coaches who face the Chiefs know as much. They devise illusions in their coverages meant to hoodwink Kelce. Then the opponents line up against him and discover they have been duped.“He’s sneaky and he’s got a lot of tricks,” Kevin Ross, Tampa Bay’s cornerbacks coach, said. “And he uses them very well.”The Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator, Todd Bowles, who has been in the N.F.L. for two decades, noted that even when the perfect pass coverage has been called, Kelce immediately sniffs it out and already has prepared an ingenious counterattack.“You marvel at watching him play, because if there’s a big play to be had, somehow he finds a way to get open,” Bowles said.He added that while Kelce clearly spends many hours studying opponents, it is more important that he knows what to look for. “He’s savvy,” Bowles said, “probably one of the best I’ve seen.”The evolution of Kelce’s aptitude as a tight end, a position that calls for both blocking and receiving skills, goes back to his days as a high school quarterback in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.Kelce, who had yet to fill out his 6-foot-5 frame, chose to attend the University of Cincinnati because it was the rare place that would let him play quarterback and because his older brother, Jason, now a center with the Philadelphia Eagles, was a starter at Cincinnati. Travis remained a quarterback, albeit often one in the wildcat formation, for much of his time at Cincinnati, but tight end was clearly where he belonged, especially as his body matured. By his senior year, that was where he lined up, leading the team in receptions.Selected by Kansas City in the 2013 N.F.L. draft, Kelce was the fifth tight end taken that year, but the Chiefs coaches soon learned that his time spent in quarterback meeting rooms would be vital. “It gave me perspective of what’s going on with the quarterback, the head man on the field — the guy who’s got the keys to the car,” Kelce said this week. “It helped me go from just being an athletic guy running routes to being a playmaker accountable on every single play.“I tell young guys that if you want to be great, you have to be able to play that chess match with the defensive coordinator out there. You can’t be a one-trick pony.”Kelce’s advanced understanding of how to attack defenses, plus his adaptability, has allowed the Chiefs’ brain trust to move him all over the offensive formation and to run precise, but dicey, timing plays. One example: the underhand toss that Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw to Kelce that resulted in a crucial touchdown in the Chiefs’ A.F.C. championship game victory over Buffalo last month.Travis Kelce making a move against Buffalo Bills linebacker Matt Milano in the A.F.C. championship game.Credit…Jeff Roberson/Associated PressMahomes appreciates that Kelce still thinks like the quarterback he once was.“The quarterbacking in his history definitely gives him that understanding of how to run routes,” Mahomes said. “He’s able to read coverages on the move and knows how to get himself, and others, open. It’s what makes him so special.”Kelce and Mahomes have enriched their rich kinship off the field as well, going on couples vacations and double dates that include Kelce’s girlfriend, Kayla Nicole, and Mahomes’s fiancée, Brittany Matthews.This week, however, the two sparred a bit at the Super Bowl media gathering, after Mahomes was asked to choose animals that would best represent himself and Kelce. Mahomes said he would like to be a wolf. “Kind of run around with my pack and being able to be a leader,” he said.For Kelce, Mahomes said the animal would have to be “something funny,” then decided on a giraffe.“He’s kind of just out there, grazing around the field, trying to make something happen,” Mahomes said.Told of Mahomes’s choice, Kelce looked a little wounded but laughed.“He threw me to the wolves,” Kelce said. Then, perhaps recalling that Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill once said that Mahomes talked like Kermit the Frog, Kelce suggested a different animal for his quarterback.“He’s already got the voice of a frog,” Kelce said.A little repartee in the frat house.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      How the Seattle Seahawks Stayed Covid-Free

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesSee Your Local RiskVaccine InformationWuhan, One Year LaterAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe N.F.L. Had Over 700 Coronavirus Positives. The Seahawks Had None.The only team to play the entire season without any confirmed positive cases did so with innovative thinking, vigilance to protocols and some Pete Carroll-style competition.The N.F.L. rolled out a grand experiment to play a not-at-all socially distanced sport in a pandemic. The Times went behind the scenes with the Seattle Seahawks and the Cleveland Browns to understand how the science and the upheaval played out.CreditCredit…Pool photo by Ted S. WarrenFeb. 5, 2021Updated 6:00 a.m. ETOn the N.F.L.’s march to complete a 269-game schedule amid a pandemic, more than 700 players, coaches and other team personnel tested positive for the coronavirus. It upended rosters, with the Denver Broncos starting a game without any of their three quarterbacks and the Cleveland Browns once fielding a team with nearly all of their receivers out, and it postponed games, with some outbreaks pushing them into midweek or to a bye week.Through it all, only one of the league’s 32 teams remained untouched by the virus: the Seattle Seahawks. And how they made it through the long season virus-free, in Washington State, where the United States’ first positive case was reported, is a testament to innovative thinking and procedures. The team’s devotion to following health guidelines became a guidepost for the N.F.L. and other leagues grappling with how to proceed as the deadly virus continued to grip the country.“They invented a playbook for a safe practice environment at a time when the future was deeply uncertain and people were questioning the wisdom of pro sports starting up,” said Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist who has helped organizations respond to the coronavirus and informally advised the Seahawks. “You have to be willing to absorb some costs, and you need leaders who can communicate in a crisis.”In late July, the league and its players’ union rolled the dice by deciding to play a full season without creating a closed community, or a bubble, which the N.B.A., the W.N.B.A. and the N.H.L. used in 2020. That meant thousands of team and staff members would go their separate ways each night, vastly increasing their potential exposure to the virus.The Seahawks faced perhaps the most arduous circumstances in the N.F.L. Their 2020 schedule included five cross-country flights, which meant they would log more miles than any other N.F.L. team. And when they were home, the Seahawks trained not far from Kirkland, Wash., the nation’s first coronavirus “hot spot.”This made the Seahawks witnesses to the pandemic well before the season kicked off, and its grim toll made them question whether football could be played safely. Sam Ramsden, the team’s director of player health and performance, cared for his wife, Lisa, in March, when, doctors believe, she had Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.Sam Ramsden, the Seahawks’ director of player health and performance, became the team’s point person for infection control.Credit…Nicole Boliaux for The New York Times“I didn’t really imagine the N.F.L. being able to have a full season,” Ramsden said. “I wasn’t a Debbie Downer about it, I was just trying to be realistic.”Starting in late spring, after the N.F.L. began plowing ahead with plans for the 2020 season, Ramsden, Coach Pete Carroll and other team leaders used a combination of pragmatism, flexibility and gamesmanship to duck, bob and weave through the pandemic.With training camps, the first in-person football activities of the season, set to open in late July, each team appointed an infection control officer to coordinate efforts to reopen its facilities. Ramsden, who has worked for the Seahawks for 22 years, took on the role rather than giving it to the head athletic trainer, who he felt would be too busy handling injuries.Ramsden has an easygoing patter that belies his attention to detail, and his quiet intensity is a counterpoint to that of Carroll, a hands-on coach known for out-of-the-box ideas. Throughout the pandemic, Carroll pushed Ramsden for answers to problems. At other times, he deferred to his expertise. Carroll also did his own research, and floated ideas to Ramsden and others about minimizing exposure.Like other teams, the Seahawks installed dividers in the showers and between lockers. To avoid crowding, two auxiliary locker rooms were added, and large rooms and practice fields were turned into meeting spaces. Ventilation systems were upgraded. Tents were set up outside for safer dining. Carroll had windows that could open installed in his office to increase air flow.People in the organization took on extra tasks. The team’s football operations department created a schedule for who would be tested and when. (Almost 36,000 tests were ultimately given.) Each morning, trainers and others handed out sensors made by a German company, Kinexon, that tracked how close players, coaches and staff members were to one another and for how long. The hospitality staff members who usually managed corporate and internal events collected health questionnaires from people arriving at the facility. The travel coordinator made sure the team’s drivers were tested and buses were disinfected. On the road, a total of 139 players, coaches and staff rode to and from games and airports in seven buses instead of the usual four.“It was like a band of brothers,” said Ramsden, who wore a T-shirt a few days each week that read, “Stay Negative or Stay Home.”To keep people moving when they were inside the team facility, Ramsden had the building’s intercom chime every 12 minutes as a reminder.Credit…Nicole Boliaux for The New York TimesWhen they were at their team facility, the Seahawks ordered food with the Notemeal app on their phones, rather than stand in line in the cafeteria (where congregating unmasked led to transmissions on other teams). On road trips, the team asked hotel kitchens to use the app as well, something other teams adopted.Ramsden expected to be replaced in his new role by a medical professional. Instead, his bosses asked him to remain in charge because of his ability to genially cajole players, who needed to be prodded to consistently wear their masks and tracking devices. The players were accustomed to spending hours together in weight rooms and hot tubs, but Ramsden reminded them to keep it moving.The Coronavirus Outbreak More

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      Super Bowl Means Snacking, Even Without Parties

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Chiefs Fans’ Generational DivideReconsidering Tom BradySuper Bowl Party TipsThe N.F.L.’s ‘First’ Women Want CompanyA Super Bowl party means an all-out spread. A Super Bowl in a pandemic means chips and takeout. Snack companies and delivery apps are ready.Credit…Justin J Wee for The New York TimesSuper Bowl Means Snacking, Even Without PartiesThe likes of Frito-Lay and food delivery services are expecting a busy Sunday, as more viewers stay home rather than gather in large groups.A Super Bowl party means an all-out spread. A Super Bowl in a pandemic means chips and takeout. Snack companies and delivery apps are ready.Credit…Justin J Wee for The New York TimesSupported byContinue reading the main storyFeb. 5, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ETCarolyn Blocka does not mess around with her annual Super Bowl party.Last year, as 15 of her friends crowded into her Toronto apartment, she assembled a spread that included chili, pulled pork, Hawaiian meatballs, chips and guacamole, pizza, chicken wings and the obligatory “healthy” salad. For dessert, Ms. Blocka made cookies and bought doughnuts decorated with the logos for the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.The pandemic has canceled this year’s party, however. Instead, Ms. Blocka, a rabid Los Angeles Chargers fan, will watch Sunday’s Super Bowl with one friend, sitting on fold-up chairs in her garage, with the door open and the temperature outside expected to be around 20 degrees Fahrenheit at kickoff.“It’s weird, but I miss making all of the preparations for the party,” said Ms. Blocka, a law clerk. She and her friend are going to order a restaurant’s takeout package — a Chicago-style pizza, wings and some craft beers for $50. “I’m still going to get some doughnuts, though.”In the interest of preventing the Super Bowl from turning into a superspreader event, public health authorities are pleading for viewers to be like Ms. Blocka and watch this year’s game with family or only a small group of friends. And while Sunday may be a little less lively at home without a raucous crowd, snack companies and delivery services are expecting the socially distanced circumstances to be a boon for sales.Snack companies, whose sales have soared as consumers nibble their way through the pandemic, know that Americans traditionally load up on guilty pleasures for the Super Bowl. But PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division, for instance, was making slightly more snacks than it did in last year’s run-up — nearly 70 million pounds this week, enough to fill 7,000 trucks — based on the expectation that smaller gatherings will result in increased purchases of chips.“We saw that play out in the holidays, which is why we’re investing in more capacity and more delivery around the Super Bowl in retail,” said Mike Del Pozzo, the chief customer officer for Frito-Lay North America. “We anticipate that week will be massive.”Restaurants that specialize in football-friendly foods like pizza, chicken wings, mozzarella sticks and tacos are also bracing for a busy night.Carolyn Blocka, host to 15 friends a year ago, plans to watch the game on Sunday with just one. In a garage. In subfreezing Toronto.Credit…Angela Lewis for The New York Times“The Super Bowl is a huge night for us,” said Lyle Tick, the president of Buffalo Wild Wings. “It’s one of our biggest nights of the year.”Last year, the restaurant chain sold more than 11 million wings on Super Bowl Sunday. This year, Mr. Tick said, he expects to meet or exceed that number even with his 1,200 restaurants around the country facing varying dine-in restrictions.“We expect to see similar total demand, but an increase in off-premise ordering and, if I was a betting person, more parties of smaller size, so smaller order size as well,” he said.For millions of people, whether football fans or not, the Super Bowl has long been an excuse to gather at a bar or restaurant or in someone’s living room to party, eat food that is not remotely healthy, throw back some beer or cocktails and laugh at the commercials. Some even pay attention to the game.“It’s somebody’s job to bring the wings,” said Krista Millard, a self-described football fanatic who is an office manager at an architectural firm in Pittsboro, N.C. “Somebody else brings the beer. Somebody brings the kids’ food. Somebody is grilling out. There’s some North Carolina barbecue, of course, and a lot of people hanging out, but really, only four or five of us are actually watching the game.”The pandemic has upended that ritual. David Jenkins, a pastor in Los Angeles who goes by D.J., is heeding the advice of health professionals this year. The watch party he attended the past few years, which typically draws 50 people, has been canceled. Instead he’ll watch the game from his couch, with his wife and 6-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter.“We’ll make some sort of Velveeta cheese dip thing — a splurge food I don’t normally have — and then I’ll balance it with some celery sticks,” he said.Mark Ridley-Thomas, a member of the Los Angeles City Council, planned on ordering his food well in advance. For the last five years, he hosted a Super Bowl viewing party for about 300 people as a fund-raiser for homelessness and emancipated foster children. This year, he’ll watch the game from his living room couch and order wings from Hotville Chicken.“If the pre-order doesn’t work, I will show up at the restaurant at 6 in the morning and camp out until someone hands me some wings,” Mr. Ridley-Thomas said with a laugh.Snack companies and restaurants with takeout menus aren’t the only ones girding for a rush of orders just ahead of kickoff.Photos from Ms. Blocka’s Super Bowl parties over the last six years, featuring friends, a buffet and team-logo doughnuts from a local bakery. Credit…Carolyn BlockaFor weeks, a group of analytics and finance teams inside DoorDash have been creating algorithmic models to predict hour-by-hour demand on game day. The forecasts are based partly on past Super Bowls, but also on data that has been collected and analyzed for holidays during the pandemic, including New Year’s Eve, Cinco de Mayo and Father’s Day, said Jessica Lachs, a vice president of analytics at DoorDash.Figuring out when orders for nachos and ribs are going to skyrocket, and when the company needs to offer peak pay or other incentives for “Dashers” to hit the roads and make deliveries, involves a complex calculus.Viewers on the East Coast, for instance, will begin putting in their orders in the late afternoon and through the first quarter of the game, which has a 6:30 start time. On the West Coast, a wave of orders will come in toward the end of the game and after it’s over. Then, the East Coast may see a second ordering wave — fueled by that “I’ve had four beers and now I’m hungry” feeling — that will again require an army of delivery personnel.Although the Super Bowl ends the football season, it is just one of several big events for the snack companies and takeout restaurants, including one coming up next week.Turns out Valentine’s Day is one of the five biggest sales days for the aviation-themed chicken-wing chain Wingstop. As Charlie Morrison, its chief executive, said in an email, with people planning to stay in this Valentine’s Day, “Wingstop will be the romantic meal they’re looking for.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Why the Chiefs Will Beat the Buccaneers: Super Bowl 2021 Prediction

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Super Bowl 2021Chiefs Fans’ Generational DivideReconsidering Tom BradySuper Bowl Party TipsThe N.F.L.’s ‘First’ Women Want CompanyAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySuper Bowl LV Prediction: Why the Chiefs Will Beat the BuccaneersNo one has won more Super Bowls than Tom Brady, but in a high-scoring game, Patrick Mahomes has a slight advantage.In his four-year N.F.L. career, Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs is 38-8 in the regular season — including a 27-24 win over Tampa Bay in Week 12 of this season — and 6-1 in the postseason.Credit…Kim Klement/USA Today Sports, via ReutersFeb. 5, 2021, 12:01 a.m. ETAfter last season’s magical run, nearly everyone expected the Kansas City Chiefs to be back in the Super Bowl this year. An appearance by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coming off a 7-9 season in 2019 but given new life by a 43-year-old quarterback, came as more of a surprise.Florida turned out to be a fountain of youth for Tom Brady, and his team’s late-season surge has continued into the postseason, setting up a clash of quarterbacks some people call the GOAT (Brady) and the Baby GOAT (Patrick Mahomes), as in “greatest of all time.”The quarterbacks did not get to the championship game on Sunday by themselves. Both teams finished in the N.F.L.’s top 10 in most points scored and fewest points allowed, and while this game may end up having a high score, there are likely to be big defensive plays along the way.Here is a look at how the game should play out.Kansas City Chiefs at Tampa Bay BuccaneersSunday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, CBS | Line: Chiefs -3 | Total: 56What to Expect:When Tampa Bay Has the BallWhen Kansas City Has the BallHow It Will Play OutWhen Tampa Bay Has the BallAfter a few years of making things work in New England with a mediocre group of wide receivers, Tom Brady is surrounded by talent at Tampa Bay.Credit…Doug Murray/Associated PressIt is not hard to figure out why Tom Brady wanted to play with the Buccaneers.After struggling to get anything going with a mediocre group of wide receivers in his last few seasons with New England, Brady saw limitless opportunities in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. But if he was going to roll the dice with a new team, Brady didn’t want to stop with two Pro Bowl wide receivers, so he persuaded his old pal Rob Gronkowski, a tight end, to come out of retirement as well.When Tampa Bay’s season began with inconsistency and injuries, Brady lobbied the team to add wide receiver Antonio Brown, vouching for him as someone whose productivity would outweigh his troubles.There were flashes of brilliance and moments of frustration for the first three-quarters of the season. But after a loss to Kansas City in Week 12, the Buccaneers came out of their Week 13 bye looking like a new team. Over the next four weeks, Tampa Bay was 4-0 and averaged 37 points a game.That barrage has kept up in the postseason, with the Buccaneers scoring at least 30 points in each of their three road wins. They have a chance on Sunday to become the first N.F.L. team to have four 30-point games in a single postseason.While Tampa Bay can run effectively behind Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette, the expectation on Sunday is for Brady to move the ball downfield with short and medium throws to his four elite pass catchers, relying on them to gain yardage after the catch.The Chiefs will counter with a pass rush spearheaded by defensive tackle Chris Jones and a secondary largely controlled by safety Tyrann Mathieu, a run stopper and takeaway machine. Bashaud Breeland, the Chiefs’ top defensive back in terms of pass coverage, will have his hands full trying to stop Evans, Godwin and Brown.Brady is likely to put up quite a few passing yards, but Kansas City has a bend-don’t-break defense. It may not be as intimidating as some units — Tampa Bay’s included — but it has allowed the 10th fewest points in the N.F.L. this season. So while a 300-yard game from Brady may be expected, a continuation of Tampa Bay’s 30-point streak, which is at seven games over all, is less likely.When Kansas City Has the BallTight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill make sensational plays seem routine.Credit…Jack Dempsey/Associated PressMahomes isn’t fair. He uses speed and footwork to avoid sacks the way Aaron Rodgers does. He turns busted plays into huge runs the way Russell Wilson does, and he can zip an accurate pass to a receiver with a flick of the wrist the way Dan Marino used to. While it all plays out like a tightrope act, with Mahomes frequently drawing defenders in close before releasing the ball, he almost never panics, showing a precision in everything he does that belies the apparent improvisation.While it’s easy enough to explain his effectiveness by pointing to his 4,740 yards passing or his 38 touchdown passes this season, the two most significant statistics for Mahomes are probably his N.F.L.-best 1 percent interception rate and his 3.6 percent sack rate. You can let your eyes convince you that he is being reckless, but you would be emphatically wrong — as so many defenses have been.The Chiefs’ challenge was making sure they put players around Mahomes who could capitalize on his greatness, and they have two of the best in tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Kelce set a record for receiving yards by a tight end this season (1,416), and would probably have topped 1,500 had Kansas City not rested its starters in Week 17. Hill is a touchdown threat on every play, with his speed sometimes overshadowing his elusiveness, strength and ability to make difficult catches and break tackles.Speed is everywhere on Kansas City’s offense — Mahomes, Kelce and Hill have it, too — and the rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire added a threat to the running game that had been expected to be missing when Damien Williams opted out of the season.Considering Kansas City’s tendency to play its best when it is challenged most, this game seems to tilt in the Chiefs’ favor, with the biggest caveat being the team’s poor health on its offensive line. Kansas City is expected to be without its two starting tackles and multiple guards, leaving it short-handed against a Tampa Bay pass rush that has an extreme interior push from defensive tackles Vita Vea and Ndamukong Suh and elite edge rushing from Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul.If Kansas City’s offensive line turns into a sieve — a possibility because it is essentially playing a backup at every spot — Mahomes will face a lot of pressure and his scrambling ability will be extremely tested. That, theoretically, could lead to a mistake or two on throws downfield — though relying on Mahomes to make mistakes is typically a fool’s errand.How It Will Play OutMahomes is in a place in his career where it is almost impossible to doubt him — something that should be familiar for Brady, who was once at the same peak with New England. It is easy to see the Buccaneers having a good day offensively, but even if they were to run up a significant lead, they should never feel safe, as the Chiefs have fallen behind by at least 9 points in four of their last five playoff games — including last year’s Super Bowl — and have won anyway.Mahomes has years of accomplishments ahead of him before his career can accurately be stacked up against Brady’s, but it seems like a safe bet that he will do something on Sunday that no quarterback has done since Brady: win back-to-back Super Bowls.Predicted Score: Chiefs 31, Buccaneers 26AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More