Brady, Manning Team Up With Woods and Mickelson, Patriots Donate 1.2 Million Masks
Everyday TheStreet and Sports Illustrated team up to deliver the three biggest stories in the world of sports and business. Here are those three stories for Thursday, April 2nd.
Tom Brady and Peyton Manning Renew Rivalry
Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning was one of the greatest rivalries in NFL history. The two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks met 17 times in their careers, five in the playoffs. Brady had the edge in their regular season meetings with an 11-6 head-to-head record against Manning. During the playoffs, Manning narrowly had more wins over Brady, beating the Patriots in three of those five bouts. The two passers represented the AFC in 13 Super Bowls and accounted for eight Lombardi Trophies (six of which were won by Brady.)
Now that rivalry will continue, but in a totally different sport, and they are pairing up with two other popular athletes known for their battles.
Brady and Manning are teaming up with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson for a golf foursome. Woods and Michelson faced off in what was known as “The Match” in 2018 in a made-for-TV event. Michelson won the $9 million prize, a portion of which was donated to charity. For the rematch, Woods would be paired up with Manning and Brady will join Mickelson. The PGA, which is pro golf’s governing body, still needs to approve the event which is scheduled to be televised in May on TNT without a live audience.
Patriots, Pepsi Step up to Fight Coronavirus
The New England Patriots are the latest sports organization to assist in helping with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Patriots own two private planes and sent one of them to China to pick up 1.2 million N95 masks. Patriots owner Robert Kraft said there was a lot of red tape and obstacles in making this a possibility, but added it all came together thanks to the help of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Barker and international relationships.
The Patriots flight crew had to get a special waiver to avoid a 14-day quarantine in China upon their arrival. Kraft paid around $2 million for the masks. New York, which has the highest amount of COVID-19 cases in America, will receive 300,000 of the masks with the rest of the masks being distributed to medical facilities across the country.
And then there’s PepsiCo (PEP) - Get Report. The company, which trades under the ticker PEP, announced Thursday morning that it plans to put $45 million to work to help communities that have been ravaged by the impact of the coronavirus. In a release emailed to TheStreet, Pepsi said that $15.8 of the $45 million will go to North America, which has been hit the hardest by the coronavirus.
PepsiCo’s efforts focus primarily on increasing access to nutrition for out-of-school children in the U.S.—22 million of whom receive low-cost or free meals via the country’s National School Lunch program every day. The company is also funding protective gear for healthcare workers in the U.S., investing in testing and screening services, and providing financial support for U.S. restaurant workers who are experiencing joblessness,” the statement outlined.
Coronavirus and Jobless Claims
And then there’s the coronavirus. There are now nearly one million cases of the coronavirus worldwide, with more than 50,000 deaths. The U.S., Italy and Spain all have the highest amount of cases, with the U.S. case count over 230,000. Italy and Spain have 115,000 and 110,000, respectively. Italy and Spain, however, are the two countries with the highest death tolls in the world. Italy has more than 13,000 deaths and Spain has more than 10,000. The U.S. is third, with more than 5,000 deaths.
Now, focusing in on the economy, there were more than 6.6 million jobless claims reported Thursday morning. That is the highest amount of jobless claims ever reported in the U.S. Adding in last week’s 3.3 million claims, nearly 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past two weeks.
