Getty Tom Brady's absence from the Buccaneers remains a mystery.
Amid the growing uncertainty of Tom Brady‘s future with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, NFL fantasy football analyst Kendall Valenzuela has a theory.
“He’s not with the Bucs, they can’t say why. The team did say that they knew this was going to be happening. I think Tom Brady right now cannot tell anyone where he is and the team can’t because … he is a contestant on ‘The Masked Singer’,” Valenzuela said in her video.
Where in the world is Tom Brady? We have a theory 🔍
Valenzuela highlighted that the celebrity-driven musical performance show has included NFL personalities over the years. That includes Brady’s longtime teammate and friend Rob Gronkowski plus ex-teammate Antonio Brown.
“That’s the kicker for me,” Valenzuela said about Gronkowski’s past participation in the show.
Fox analyst and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw has also appeared on the show, Valenzuela noted. She also tied in that “The Masked Singer” originated on Fox, the station Brady signed a massive deal with earlier this year to broadcast NFL games after his playing career.
“Sure, Tom Brady does not work for Fox, but he did sign that mega deal with Fox back in May of this year,” Valenzuela added. “So it could be something, or it could be absolutely nothing.”
“Maybe there’s something else going on, but I have found it odd that they cannot say where he is, what he’s doing. Obviously hope for full health and that nothing else is going on,” Valenzuela concluded.
“The Masked Singer” takes about a month to record according to Vox’s Emily St. James. The next series of “The Masked Singer” airs on September 21.
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Suspicion Surrounding Brady’s Silence
Brady notably has been silent on social media throughout his absence thus far, but that could be for any number of reasons. His silence and the Bucs’ mixed messages only peak the curiosities of fans, NFL analyst Mike Florio noted.
“When someone fully and completely embraces a public life, there really are no personal issues,” Florio wrote. Brady, who has fully embraced and cultivated a platform that has resulted in the aggressive pursuit of multiple business interests, has had his football career plunge into mystery with an unprecedented training-camp hiatus.”
Bucs’ Latest Mixed Message
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles‘ comments after practice on Thursday, August 18, left only more questions than answers, Florio noted.
“We’ll see. We’ll talk about it next week,” Bowles told the media on Thursday. “I’m not concerned about it right now. We’re trying to practice against Tennessee and play a game. I said sometime after Tennessee. There’s no definitive date for me. We’ll check on it, we’ll keep in touch and find out.”
Bowles and Bucs general manager Jason Licht both said on August 11 Brady will miss time for “personal” reasons until after the second preseason game on Saturday, August 20. Bowles and Licht also maintained the pre-planned nature of Brady’s absence and expressed their not being concerned about Brady’s absence.
Bucs linebacker Devin White had a different-sounding message with the statement “he’s got personal problems going on” in an August 11 press conference. Since, Bucs players haven’t talked about Brady in subsequent press conferences.
Whether or not Brady is addressing personal issues or getting ready for a TV series, Bowles not providing a return date for Brady leads to more speculation, as Florio noted.
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