Tampa, Florida – As Hurricane Ian moves over the west coast of Florida from Wednesday through Thursday, the Tampa Bay Pirates will temporarily move into southern Florida, the team announced Monday night.
The Bucs will be leaving Tampa on Tuesday and will spend the week training at the Miami Dolphins Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens through the weekend, if necessary. The Bucs previously hosted the Dolphins for two days of joint training before their first pre-season game.
A tornado warning was issued for the Tampa Bay area Monday night. Forecasters say the area will start seeing the effects of the storm as early as Tuesday afternoon, with the worst effects coming Thursday. Ian is currently considered a Category 2 storm but is expected to gain strength as it hovers off the coast.
“I don’t think anyone is really ready for this. I know I’ve been getting ready all morning and getting all my stuff outside, trying to put it in, trying to bring all the stuff on the floor a little higher,” Bucs quarterback Tom Brady On Monday he said in his country “Let’s go!” Audio notation. “I’m here on the bay, so they’re talking about really heavy storms and it’s scary. I’ll say it’s scary when it really hits your doorstep.”
The NFL continues to monitor the situation, but as of Monday evening, the plan is still in place to host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium. Should the Bucs not be able to host the game, the NFL is unlikely to use Miami as a new location for the game, league sources said to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, although the Dolphins — who play in Cincinnati Thursday night — will not. They use their playground on Sunday.
According to sources, the NFL does not want to risk taking state resources to host a game in Miami that could be better used in Tampa in the aftermath of the hurricane.
If Sunday’s game had to be moved, the Bucs and Chiefs would likely play in a neutral location in the Midwest, such as Minneapolis (the Vikings play the New Orleans Saints in London in Week 4). These plans remain fluid given the storm’s unknown path.
