This Week in Sports Talk: April 26, 2020

This Week in Sports Talk (TWIST) is our weekly roundup of top headlines and sports news, plus a preview of what’s up next. Heading into the week of April 26, 2020, here’s the top sports news, with a twist. Skim it, and you’ll be good to go all week.

This Week in Sports Talk: April 26, 2020

We begin with some short takes in sports news heading into the week of April 26, 2020.

tennis stars may team up for COVID-19 relief

Novak Djokovic says he spoke with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal about working with the ATP to set up a fund to help lower-ranked tennis players financially affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The goal would be creating a fund of $3 to $4.5 million to distribute, perhaps to players ranked from around 200th or 250th to around 700th. The men’s and women’s professional circuits have been shut down for more than a month because of the COVID-19 outbreak and are suspended at least until mid-July. Djokovic also said that he is against vaccinations – so if a COVID vaccination is developed and becomes a requirement for him to play, he will be conflicted. At this point, we should be so lucky as to have to face that particular dilemma.

Lamar Jackson, cover man

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson will be the cover athlete for the Madden 21 video game. While traditionally, there have been superstitions about the “Madden Curse,” Jackson seems quite sanguine about it.

Considering Patrick Mahomes (last year’s cover athlete) is coming off a Super Bowl win, he’s probably right not to worry.

spotted at the virtual NFL draft

As with any work-related Zoom video conference, this week’s virtual NFL Draft broadcast proved to be more revealing than some might have expected, thanks to the backgrounds visible behind some key personalities. Fans had great fun speculating about the various settings.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones flexed by participating from his $250 million yacht.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was in his study. In an adorable aside, Belichick’s dog was spotted in the chair in front of the computer, leading to speculation that his pet was actually making the picks.

Mike Vrabel clocked in from his basement with three others in the room, including his mullet-wearing son and his friend dressed as Frozone from The Incredibles. And the home decor winner of the night was Klif Kingsbury of the Arizona Cardinals, whose impressive crib featured a magnificent view, lots of natural light and a pool.

“The Match” re-match for COVID-19 relief

As we reported a couple of weeks ago, word was that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson would have a re-match of “The Match” to benefit COVID-19 relief efforts. Now comes confirmation that Tom Brady will team up with Phil Mickelson, and Peyton Manning will team up with Tiger Woods. The competition will go down next month. And of course, the trash talking has already begun. Brady posted a photo on Instagram with Woods wearing a Tiger King shirt – and comparing his Super Bowl rings to Manning’s. It’s on.

TB 12 on the loose

In other Tom Brady news, the quarterback has been the subject of a series of social distancing snafus in Florida. First, on a visit to his Tampa Bay offensive coordinator, to the dismay of the homeowner, Brady walked in the front door of someone else’s house. Apparently that guy was not a football fan. If it was us, we would have asked him to stay and have a beer.

Brady was also found working out in a Tampa Bay area park (with no face mask, natch) and admonished to leave by local law enforcement. That led to a local stadium granting the quarterback access to work out on his own there. No reports on whether or not he’s both tossing and catching the ball by himself, as he’s been known to do in the past.

will the NHL be back in July?

CBS Sports reports that the NHL is considering a return to competition in July. The report also notes that the NHL and NBA are working together to come up with cohesive plans to restart their respective seasons, so basketball could be looking at a similar timeline.

The NHL may reportedly employ “regional arenas” — one NHL arena for each of the four divisions (Carolina, Edmonton and Minnesota are the reported favorites). Commissioner Gary Bettman said there will need to be at least three weeks of training camp before games are played.

Top Sports Headlines heading into the week of April 26, 2020

Now that we’re warmed up, here’s everything else you need to know about sports heading into the week of April 26, 2020:

1. NFL

Must Know:

The NFL’s first-ever virtual draft this week seemed to go very well: there were no significant technical errors, and the broadcast went smoothly.

As expected, Joe Burrow, the reigning Heisman winner, was the No. 1 pick and went to the Cincinnati Bengals. Now the team finally has a franchise quarterback.

Chase Young went No. 2 to the Redskins – many argue that he’s actually the best player in this year’s class. Everyone seems to agree that these two players are top-notch picks. 

All eyes were on former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He was the No. 5 pick, and will join the Miami Dolphins. The Fins had been accused all season of “Tanking for Tua,” and maybe those rumors were accurate. There are question marks after Tagovailoa’s multiple injuries, making this a potentially high-risk, high-reward pick. Before his injuries, Tagovailoa had been considered the best quarterback talent in the class, and the projected No. 1 pick.  Lots of fans are just happy that the promising player will have a chance to make his name in the NFL.

Nice to Know:

But for the draft, all the big news in the NFL is coming out of Tampa Bay. A week ago, the chatter was mostly about who the team would draft to shore up their offensive line to protect their new star quarterback Tom Brady. They ultimately picked No. 13 former Iowa offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs.

But the big news? On Tuesday, Tampa Bay traded a fourth-round pick for Rob Gronkowski. What??? Regular readers of this column will recall that a week a ago we mentioned this as a distant possibility. In a whirlwind of activity, now it’s real.

Gronk, who had “retired” a year ago, was approached by Tampa Bay. Then he approached the New England Patriots – who still had a year to run on his contract – to ask to be traded to the Buccaneers. Head coach Bill Belichick agreed, and got a couple draft picks in exchange. 

Gronk’s immediate interest in teaming up with Brady once he left the Pats has fueled speculation that the real reason he “retired” in the first place was to get out from under Belichick’s humorless leadership style. Gronk just says he is ready to play again after a year off.

The moves this week immediately catapult Tampa Bay to the front of the line in terms of teams to watch and talk about. Their offense now has two of the league’s best wide receivers, a Hall of Fame tight end, and Tom Brady. The Buccaneers are now No. 5 in the Vegas line odds to win the Super Bowl. The top four? Kansas City, Baltimore, San Francisco and Dallas.

Extra Credit:

It’s possible that the unhappiest man in all of the NFL right now is Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. In arguably the biggest shock of the first round, the Packers traded up with Houston in order to select No. 26 quarterback Jordan Love to back up Rodgers, without informing him first.

It was reminiscent of the episode 15 years ago when Rodgers was selected to back up Brett Favre. Favre was still in his prime, and wasn’t happy with that pick. Similarly, Rodgers has previously said he wants to play until he’s 40. It’s unlikely that he’s pleased that the team went with a potential replacement for him, rather than drafting talent  that can help him win now. Our Sports Desk notes that the Packers passed on 27 wide receivers in the draft – which is surely fueling Rodgers’ frustration.

Which has led to this intriguing possibility: Former running back Reggie Bush took to Twitter with a prediction. “I will bet that Aaron Rogers ends up in New England”. Now wouldn’t that be something? We’re going to try to interview Bill Belichick’s dog to see what he has to say about it.

bonus round:

In other NFL Draft news, the New York Jets and New York Giants selected offense linemen with their first-round picks to protect their young quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones.

There’s inevitably second-guessing with draft picks, and the Raiders are currently in the spotlight. They picked a wide receiver from Alabama ahead of two other wide receivers rated as the top two in the class: Crimson Tide alum Jerry Jeudy and Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb. Juedy went to the Broncos, and the Cowboys have picked up a powerful support for quarterback Dak Prescott with Lamb.

2. MLB

Must Know:

In what may be the last chapter of the sign-stealing scandal that rocked Major League Baseball, the league has concluded its investigation of the 2018 Boston Red Sox. The findings are that the Red Sox illegally stole signs during the 2018 season, when they eventually won the World Series in five games over the Dodgers. “At least some [Red Sox] players visited the video replay room during games to learn the sign sequence opponents were using.”

The team has received what many perceive as a minimal punishment. MLB has determined that the team’s replay official is primarily to blame. Boston will lose its 2nd-round draft pick in 2020. The light sentence has caused some to question the team’s hasty termination of manager Alex Cora after the investigation of the Houston Astros (he was in management there before joining the Red Sox).

Nice to Know: 

Rumor has it that A-Rod and J-Lo are negotiating to buy the Mets, in the aftermath of a failed agreement to sell the team to hedge fund mogul Steve Cohen. He had a deal to pay $2.6 billion for 80 percent of the team, but it collapsed with no public statement about the cause.

The Wilpon family is still shopping the team, and our Sports Desk is really stoked about this possibility. We heard enthusiastic shouts from their area of the newsroom: bring on the J-Rod Mets!

The New York Post reports that the key money player in the arrangement being put together by investment bankers at JPMorgan appeared to be Miami billionaire Jorge Mas, who tried to buy the Miami Marlins in 2017 but lost out to a group fronted by A-Rod’s former Yankees teammate and longtime frenemy Derek Jeter.

This Week in Sports News April 26, 2020

That’s it. You’re good to go with the top headlines and coming attractions heading into the week of April 26, 2020. Have a good one, and see you next week.

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