While filming a commercial for Points Bet, Drew Brees was struck by lightning. It looks to be the case by the way. Details surrounding the video are scarce right now. But here is the original video that is being shared on social media today.
This looks like the real deal. This could obviously be a stunt, but it looked pretty real. Hopefully nobody was hurt here. If this is just a stunt, there will be a ton of backlash. Drew Brees tweeted on November 29th the following. "Excited to be flying to atop-secret location later this week to shoot the new promotional video for @PointsBetUSA". Turns out that top secret location was Venezuela. I pulled up the weather report from Vargas Venezuela last night. It rained yesterday afternoon around 3pm. However this video was clearly shot at night.
So was Drew Brees struck by lightning. He has not tweeted out since November 30th. It would make sense either way for him to have not tweeted in the last few days. Hopefully Drew and everyone else on set is okay. But that was a pretty scary video.
So far Drew Brees post-playing career has not been a rousing success. He was nothing short of bad while doing one season with Football Night in America on NBC. He stepped away saying he might not be done with the TV gig, but he is just putting it on hold. I haven't seen any of his Point Bets ads. So I don't know how that is going. But this seems like a pretty serious deal.
EDIT: It has been revealed that the 'lightning strike' was a staged promotional stunt.
PACKERS DONE WITH RODGERS
Father Time is undefeated and it is time for the Packers to be done with Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers is hurt, he is expensive and the Packers stink. Plus Jordan Love looks ready. Why hang on to a 50 million dollar a year QB at this point?
However, ditching Rodgers is complicated. The 38 year old held the team hostage with his brooding and passive aggressiveness after they drafted QB Jordan Love and failed to draft more immediate offensive help. Plus they let Davante Adams slip away to the Raiders. (The fact that Adams wanted to leave should speak volumes).
MVP AWARDS CONVOLUTED THINGS
While it felt like Rodgers' tenure in Green Bay was winding down and the team wanted to give the offensive reigns to Love, Rodgers bounced back with back-to-back league MVP awards. Last March, GM Brian Gutekunst had no choice but to give Rodges a 3 year/ $150 million extension.
The deal pacified Rodgers. But make no mistake about it, it was a horrible contract for the Packers. And for every year Rodgers hangs around, that's another year the Packers must postpone their inevitable rebuild.
Rodgers could make things easy on the Packers and just retire next season.
However he is guaranteed $100 million dollars the next two seasons. Nobody walks away from 100 million.
The Packers could cut Rodgers but they'd face a brutal cap hit of $50 million dollars. However, they'd be in great shape cap-wise the following season in 2024. The Packers could also trade him and his lofty salary to another team desperate for a veteran QB. The Packers would have to eat some of his salary to entice another team and word on the street is they wouldn't get a Matthew Stafford type haul of multiple first round picks like the Lions got. In fact, his street value may only be a mid-round draft pick.
Another bothersome fact about Rodgers is how he complains about his young receivers, yet he skipped all of the team's off- season workouts. That left Love all the snaps at practice to build chemistry with Christian Watson, which was briefly on display when Love entered the Eagles game last week.
WHAT'S NEXT?
In addition to Rodgers being prickly, injured and less effective (he has as many interceptions as he's had the last two seasons combined) Jordan Love looks ready. Granted it is a small sample size, but he came into the Eagles' game cold and faced a defense that knew he was going to throw. He clearly has command of the offense. His decision making is quick and his passes are accurate all over the field. He only made one misread on a ball he should have thrown into the end zone. In fairness, he was also under duress and could have used an extra half second. But such is life in the NFL.
Life in the NFL is always about the next big thing. Always move forward. So it is time for the Packers to move forward. It's time for the Packers to be done with Rodgers.
