Florida Man Tom Brady ‘cited’ for working out in a closed public park in Tampa Bay

Tom Brady plays football with his sons at the Harvard University Best Buddies event

Tom Brady has already moved from Boston (Brookline, actually) to Tampa Bay, where he signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I assume he’s already moved his family there and they’ve likely been in lockdown in Florida this whole time. We also know that he’s already applied to trademark “Tompa Bay,” which is too f–king cheesy. But I digress. Tom has been in Florida for a matter of weeks, possibly a month, and he’s already turned into Florida Man. He was apparently giving a citation for working out in a public park – a park which has been closed because of the pandemic.

Even winning six Super Bowls and joining the Bucs didn’t help Tom Brady get special treatment. Like the rest of us, the 42-year-old former Patriots quarterback has had trouble finding a place to work out. Brady was spotted at a city park and told to leave by a Tampa Parks and Recreation staffer, according to Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. The city’s parks are closed in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“I got to tell you this story, too. I always tell people, ‘Now I’m not one to gossip so you didn’t hear this from me,’” Castor said during a Facebook live chat with St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman on Monday.

“Our parks are closed down; and so a lot of our parks staff, they patrol around just to make sure that people aren’t doing contact sports and things like that, and saw an individual working out in one of our downtown parks,” Castor said. “And she went over to tell him that it was closed and it was Tom Brady … He has been cited.”

[From Tampa Bay & CNN]

I’m not going to write a defense of Florida Men and their shenanigans, but honestly… I get how Tom made this mistake, or thought the rules didn’t apply to him. Don’t get me wrong, I get why cities are closing down their parks too – if the parks are left open, they become high-traffic areas, which is dangerous even if everything is open-air. But I can also see how Tom was like “it’s fine to work out in isolation in this quiet public park.” So was Tom really “cited”? Did he get a ticket for being a meathead in a public park?

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid.

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27 Responses to “Florida Man Tom Brady ‘cited’ for working out in a closed public park in Tampa Bay”

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  1. Lindy says:

    I mean, he’s kind of always been a Florida man. Maybe now he’s just arrived in his true home. Also, that trademark is the thirstiest, cheesiest thing I’ve heard in awhile.

    • ThEHufflepuffLizLemon says:

      I recently read that the reason Florida gets all the crazy stories is that the laws allow for detailed stories (Florida man rides gator to convenience store for natty light) vs just a basic information (FL man cited for disturbance). So Tompa Bay should be interesting for Tompa Tom.

    • Bebe says:

      Hahha. So true.

    • whatWHAT? says:

      he has, hasn’t he?

      in that picture of him wearing his own shirt (which is another whole issue), he seriously looks part caveman. I think it’s the heavy brow but DAMN, he’s cro-magnon with a side of DERP.

      • hudson girl says:

        The brow bone situation looking different/weirder is because of his BOTOX habit. It’s been several years now. That candy (low sugar candy?) commercial had an extra level of creepy because his face no longer moved the same.

        – A Patriots Fan

  2. Lightpurple says:

    He didn’t get a ticket. The police office used “sighted;” she sighted him or saw him in the park , but cops tend to use language like “sighted” or “was seen” and told him he had to leave. She didn’t write anything up. Given that the Florida governor is opening up beaches and other places, it can be confusing.

    Here in my town north of Boston, all parks are closed except the bike path and that’s open because people use it to commute to Boston but the closings can be confusing because some parks are closed off with police tape if there is any kind of a gate but the bigger ones aren’t. One park nearby has fencing around the tennis courts and the kids’s swing/climbing section. Those areas are taped off but the much bigger area of the park, soccer, baseball fields and just park land isn’t taped off at all because there’s no fence. Just one sign saying “CLOSED”

    • florencia says:

      This makes far more sense. Unless he started arguing with police they are unlikely to do more than give a warning and an order to stop what he’s doing, since it’s quite possible he just wasn’t aware the park was closed. I had something similar happen this weekend. I was walking on a loop track at an open city park — practicing SD, promise! — and it turns out they’ve instituted a one-direction policy which is brand new and I had no idea. A park employee simply notified me and I corrected my actions, no further issues.

  3. Melissa says:

    So many different rules – I’m not defending Brady by any means, just noting the restrictions aren’t always uniform or clear. Here the parks themselves are open, but softball fields, play grounds, volleyball pi’s and bathroom areas are closed. We are being encouraged to use the larger green spaces for exercise…with distancing measures. One large area has been striped with boxes for lawn chairs at appropriate distances for group meetings like AA.

  4. grabbyhands says:

    Jesus – this spoiled moron probably has a huge gym in his own f*cking mansion. There is zero need for him to go to a CLOSED park during a pandemic and flout rules when he knows there will be no consequences for doing so.

    Great example.

    I can’t believe people stan this idiot.

  5. Erinn says:

    Do we KNOW that it wasn’t clearly marked as closed? Are we just assuming it wasn’t?

    I mean, it’s a new area for him so I get cutting him SOME slack. But you’d think that if you’re moving into a new city, you’d, I don’t know, take a quick google to see what’s closed and what’s open? There’s a certain amount of responsibility for him to learn what the current guidelines are in the area that he moved to. But I’m willing to give him a pass if the entrances weren’t clearly marked.

    Still not as bad as JLo and A-Rod going to that gym, though. This was a pretty minor thing, and I saw their parks and rec department tweet out that they’re excited to welcome Tom and everyone else back as soon as they’re allowed to reopen – which was a really cute thing to do.

    • whatWHAT? says:

      “Still not as bad as JLo and A-Rod going to that gym, though.”

      yeah, not even close. I’m no Brady fan but I’m betting it was just his overall cluelessness about anything that’s not football related. he was probably like “hey, this park is empty! I can’t believe I’m the only one who noticed that! guess I’ll work out here since I don’t have to social distance….DUH…”

      • Erinn says:

        LOL That’s what I think probably happened. He doesn’t strike me as an especially smart guy lol. He was probably excited that it was so empty.

  6. Dhavynia says:

    I’m sorry, I live in Florida and while I do not defend the stupid things and the crappy government that come out of this state, you have to live under a rock to not know the parks are closed considering there are signs and it’s all over the news, plus is common sense considering the state of the entire country. He doesn’t get a pass, he’s not above anyone.

  7. KBeth says:

    “Tompa Bay”? Seriously?
    He’s such a cheeseball.

  8. Jem says:

    This headline is the best.

  9. Madi says:

    So, Florida has opened its beaches and thousands can crowd onto them, but Tom Brady can’t workout in a park?

    Okay….

    • peach says:

      “Florida” has not opened the beaches. That’s only in Jacksonville, which is in northeast Florida. Tampa’s mayor has not opened the beaches and has kept Tampa on more strict lock-down than other areas of the state.

    • Corrine says:

      Idk where in FL has actually open beaches. My sister lives in south Florida and says their beaches are closed but there’s no enforcement of that. My mom lives on the beach in Cocoa Beach and all public parking is closed. You’re allowed to be in motion on the beach, but not to sit and chill and no big groups and there’s a lot of enforcement 🤷🏻‍♀️ I live in north central Florida, no beaches, and all our nature spots are closed.

  10. Michael says:

    I don’t think there be is anything in his head except football and Gisele. Probably doesn’t even know there is a pandemic going on

  11. Veronica S. says:

    I mean, anywhere else, I’d probably call him a douchenozzle, but it’s not Florida’s management has approached this outbreak with any common sense, so I guess I can let slide the confusion here. I suppose at least he wasn’t in a group or something. So….semi-douchey but not the absolute douchiest thing out there. Entitled, yes.

    • BeanieBean says:

      It’s got to be confusing not having statewide orders, but rather county by county or city by city.

  12. Feedmechips says:

    Poor guy probably doesn’t have a yard at his mansion.

  13. Grey says:

    I hope you guys monitor these comments, because honestly +100 for the best article title I have read in a long time.

  14. I’m a native Floridian, and I am glad that the person above cleared up why we have so many crazy stuff reported from our state. The “Sunshine Law” gives complete transparency to every crime and complete gory details. Of course, there are many freaky people who do live here, but I like to think of them as the “Snowbirds”. Someone mentioned that Tom Brady should have a gym in his home. And, I would imagine that he would have something like that, since he’s renting a house that belongs to Derek Jeter and his backyard is the beach. I guess they’re friends and Jeter owns a baseball team in Miami, so he offered to rent the furnished home to the Brady family. I hope he does well with the Tampa team, even though I can’t figure out why he just doesn’t retire from football. Also, I would be pissed if I were him and they let me go, after winning so many Super Bowls. Loyalty is a lost art, I suppose. Anyway, Go Gators! 😎