Earlier today, a report came out claiming that Antonio Brown had faked his vaccination status. The report cited a former chef of Brown’s named Steven Ruiz, who claims that Brown had offered to pay the chef $500 to obtain a fake vaccine card. The chef was unable to get one, and as Ruiz explained, AB got one himself and eventually gave it to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This story was a big deal as it meant that AB could have been potentially skirting the NFL’s strict health and safety protocols that have been levied against the unvaccinated. Now, however, the Buccaneers are refuting the story as they put out a statement today claiming that they did a thorough check on all vaccine cards and that every single player on the team followed the rules. Needless to say, the Buccaneers put out the statement to proclaim AB’s innocence.
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Per Buccaneers:
“We received completed vaccination cards from all Tampa Bay Buccaneers players and submitted the required information to the NFL through the established process in accordance with league policy. All vaccination cards were reviewed by Buccaneers personnel and no irregularities were observed.”
It remains to be seen what the NFL will do with this story, although an investigation is probably in the works. After all, the league is taking COVID-19 seriously, and they don’t want another Aaron Rodgers case on their hands.