Traina Thoughts: Bucs' WR Bernard Reedy should be one of your new favorite NFL players
The best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina.
1. The negative always sells, especially these days. But we're going to end the week on a positive note. Most of you have probably never heard of Buccaneers wide receiver Bernard Reedy. He was on the Buccaneers practice squad last season and didn't get promoted to the main roster until last December. The 25-year-old was active for the final two regular season games, but did not have a catch.
Reedy is now spending his offseason making $11 an hour as a driver for Care Ride, a Tampa-area company that provides wheelchair and ambulatory transport. In an excellent ESPN.com feature story on his second job, Reedy said, "I could still see me doing this [after football]. I'm financially stable enough now that I could be OK if I didn't do this, but why sit home after you're done working out, going over your plays and stuff? Why sit home when you can come out and make you some more money and help people on top of that? And I'm talking about really helping people, helping people who can't help themselves."
Here's hoping karma comes through and Bernard Reedy gets some playing time with the Bucs in 2017.
2. Speaking of NFL players who deserve applause, here's Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett on ESPN's Stephen A. Smith and their recent war of words about Colin Kaepernick.
3. Yet another feel-good story. Kobe Bryant came through for a high school class that was trying to get out of taking their final exam.
4. Tim Tebow is playing baseball, but he gave us a flashback earlier this week to his errant-throwing football days when he nailed a spectator in the stands right in the twig and berries with one of his heaves. Tebow, being Tebow, though, made the situation all good by autographing the ball that hit the gentleman in the sensitive area.
5. As you know, there are very bad feelings these days between the Braves and Blue Jays. There just-completed series featured bat flips, benches clearing and verbal barbs. That led to this moment Thursday night when Atlanta infielder Jace Peterson autographed a Photoshopped picture that a fan made, which featured Peterson in the role of Rougned Odor punching Jose Bautista.
6. It should surprise nobody that Alex Rodriguez's debut as an in-game analyst did not go smoothly.
7. I'm a big fan of the NFL Network's Good Morning Football show that airs weekdays from 7-10 a.m. ET. They don't do fake debates and they don't start fights with athletes just to get attention. They also do a nice mix of football and non-football content. And since I'm one of the weird people in the world who hates the summer, I had to plug the show and post this great rant by Kyle Brandt on why these next few months will absolutely suck for New Yorkers.
8. Mike Francesa does not do sympathy (or know the difference between "couldn't care less" and "could care less.") When a caller Thursday told the Sports Pope, that he recently suffered an elbow injury, Francesa hung up on him and said, "I could care less."
9. THE DAILY ROCK: The Rock discussed the possibility of running for President with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday. He was careful not to say anything negative about his would-be opponent, but managed to drop in a clever, "more poise, less noise" line.
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