Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ Tom Brady revealed on Sunday that he contracted COVID-19 shortly after his team’s boat parade in February, early this year. His team had won the Super Bowl LV championship with a victory over Kansas City Chiefs. This revelation comes as the National Football League‘s (NFL) COVID-19 vaccination rate is witnessing a rise in its numbers.

He spoke about his bout with COVID-19 during a recent interview with Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

Brady, one of the biggest names in the NFL, said that this year’s NFL will be a challenge and also shared a message of caution for the teams regarding the challenges that they might face in dealing with the virus.

“I think it’s going to be challenging this year. I actually think it’s going to play more of a factor this year than last year, just because of the way what we’re doing now and what the stadium is going to look like and what the travel is going to look like and the people in the building and the fans,” Brady said.

“It’s not like last year, although we’re getting tested like last year. It’s going to be, I definitely think guys are going to be out at different points and we’ve just got to deal with it,” Brady further added.

Ahead of Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season opener against the Cowboys, the team has listed three players on the reserve/COVID-19 list: Defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, offensive linemen Nick Leverett and Earl Watson.

Last week on Thursday, Bucs coach Bruse Arians said that everyone in their organisation has been vaccinated and encouraged the other teams in the league to continue and/or increase their vaccination numbers.

This comes in the backdrop of the NFL and NFLPA agreeing to COVID protocols for the season.

To date, only Tampa Bay and the Atlanta Falcons have announced 100% vaccination status.