Holy moly! This situations went from ugly to “possible flesh-eating staph infection” – FAST!
On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed Kicker Lawrence Tynes on non-football injury reserve due to the fact that Tynes is suffering from a nasty MRSA infection and will be unable to play for some time. The Bucs agreed to pay Tynes the entirety of this contract, as well.
As a regular gal, this sounded great. It felt like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were admitting to being accountable for the terrible MRSA outbreak in their facilities. But, I guess it was the exact opposite.
By not putting Tynes on the regular Injured Reserve, Tynes will be denied benefits including his salary as long as he stays on the team, an accrued season, full benefits and another season towards his pension.
In an exclusive interview with FOX Sports on Saturday, Tynes got a lot off his chest, and I have to agree with him. He said, “If I drop a 45-pound plate on my foot while lifting weights in the weight room a the facility, it’s IR. So I just don’t understand how my situation is any different. I went to work, I kicked, I practiced, I cold-tubbed, I hot-tubbed, I showered for all those days there. I come up with MRSA and it’s a non-football injury? They’re basically trying to exonerate themselves of this and I’m not going to allow it to happen.”
So, the veteran Kicker filed a grievance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the backing of the NFL Players Association. As far as I can tell, the Bucs knew about the outbreak in their facilities, they had all of the grounds fumigated, so I’m not sure how they can even attempt to not take responsibility for Tynes’ MRSA infection. The Buccaneers Guard, Carl Nicks, also got the infection. It seems pretty obvious to me.
Tynes fighting Bucs over MRSA messThere’s a fight coming between Lawrence Tynes and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it’s going to make his wife Amanda’s tweets seem tame. Lawrence Tynes was informed Saturday he’ll be placed on the non-football-injury list by the Bucs, which is their way of saying he has no proof the MRSA infection that began in his foot was contracted at their facility.
