Covid-19 Tempered Landing Raiders Beat

Tashan Reed of The Athletic Had Three Family Members Test Positive, One Died

By Tom LaMarre

Tashan Reed was covering Florida State football for The Athletic when he got the exciting news in March from the company’s chief legal officer, David Wortenberg, that he was moving west to cover the Las Vegas Raiders.

Then, the Coronavirus got in the way.

The 24-year-old Reed immediately called his father, Kenneth Sr., to give him the news, and soon after his dad flew to Tallahassee for a visit and to celebrate his new beat after starting his career by covering the Seminoles.

“I was elated,” Tashan Reed said. “Although I thoroughly enjoyed covering the Seminoles for two seasons, my goal was always to cover a professional beat. I couldn’t have fathomed it would happen less than two years after I graduated from Missouri.”
When Kenneth flew home, the trouble started.

After attending the funeral of an uncle who died of a heart attack, Kenneth Reed started to feel nauseous and developed a fever. Around the same time, another uncle who attended the funeral, started to have similar symptoms that were more severe.

Both test positive for Covid-19.

On April 24, Reed’s uncle, Carlos Reed, was admitted to DePaul Hospital and put on a ventilator, while his father’s symptoms were not as severe, so he was allowed to recover at home.

“(Carlos Reed) was very, very sick, which is why he was in the hospital,” Tashan Reed said. “He ultimately ended up passing away (on April 2) due to complications with diabetes.

“When they’re in that state, nobody can go visit them. He had a ventilator, so he couldn’t talk on the phone or anything of that nature. You can’t text, and you can’t Facebook message. I knew what he was doing because the doctors were updating us every day, but I couldn’t communicate with him.

“ … It’s definitely awkward not being able to go to a funeral.”

Reed, who self-quarantined for two weeks since he spent time with his father days before he was diagnosed, said his uncle's passing increased his concern for his father, whose symptoms worsened.

However, Kenneth Reed remained at home, so father and son were able to communicate.

“My uncle was 60, and my dad is 72,” Reed said. “He doesn’t have diabetes, but he’s in that target range of being most at-risk.

“I would call them twice a day and exchange constant messages with my stepmom, who was there with him. I was always texting her, getting updates, so it was easier with his situation just because I had that access.”

On April 16, a few days after he stopped showing symptoms, Reed's father was cleared from his Covid-19 diagnosis.

However, Reed’s grandmother who lives in a nursing home in the St. Louis area, also was diagnosed with Covid-19 along with other residents.

“So far, she’s symptom-free, so I think she’ll be fine,” Reed said.

In the meantime, Reed has started covering the Raiders even though he remains in Florida. He can’t wait to get to Las Vegas, with a stop in St. Louis on the way.