Tampa Bay defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh will be on the field this Sunday, trying to win his Buccaneers a championship. Off the field, Suh has been quietly building a business empire that has nothing to do with sacks or touchdown dances.
Axios Re:Cap speaks to Suh about the trend of pro athletes forming non-sports careers well before retirement, his thoughts about the big game and his favorite NFL quarterback to hit.
On the eve of Super Bowl weekend, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote President Biden to tell him that each of the league's 32 teams "will make its stadium available for mass vaccinations of the general public."
Driving the news: Goodell wrote in the letter, dated Thursday, that this can be done swiftly "because many of our clubs have offered their facilities previously as COVID testing centers as well as election sites over the past several months."
Indoor and outdoor mask mandates, hand-washing stations and strict checks on local businesses are in store for Super Bowl visitors to Tampa, Mayor Jane Castor (D) said Thursday at an Axios virtual event.
The state of play: Tampa ordered an indoor mask mandate early in the pandemic, but Castor further imposed an outdoor mask mandate last month for "areas that we expect there will be large crowds [that] will congregate."
President Biden's executive order prohibiting LGBTQ discrimination in federally funded athletics represents a significant step forward for transgender women athletes.
What it says:The order — which targets discrimination in all areas, not just sports — states that schools receiving federal funding must allow transgender girls onto girls' sports teams or face federal action.
One COVID-19 case contracted at a Melbourne quarantine hotel has caused 507 tennis players and staff to go into isolation until they return a negative test result, four days out from the Australian Open beginning.
Why it matters: The first community case in the state of Victoria for 28 days has resulted in new restrictions implemented and the cancelation of all of Thursday's scheduled warm-up games.
