The Washington Post - 18.03.2020

the Washington Post’s selections for the

best of the best from the high school season. D5

Winter All-Met

KLMNO

SPORTS

WEDNESDAy, MARCH 18 , 2020. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS su D

BY RICK MAESE

AND SIMON DENYER

As n ovel coronavirus fears have
essentially shut down daily life in
many areas and forced sports
leagues around the globe to can-
cel play and suspend operations,
the International olympic Com-
mittee has been resolute in its
insistence that this summer’s To-
kyo olympics will be held on
schedule. But even as IoC Presi-
dent Thomas Bach continues to
state his confidence for a July-Au-
gust schedule, those familiar with
the process of planning and stag-
ing an olympic Games say the
IoC surely is exploring alterna-
tives — and is probably well-
aware that no perfect solutions

exist.

A cancellation is the least desir-

able option, and staging a sum-

mer Games with no spectators

seems increasingly impractical.

That makes a postponement, by

either a few months or even a full

year, the most likely scenario if

efforts to contain the spread of

the coronavirus don’t show signs

of progress soon — but even that

is rife with complications.

“This is all frightening new

territory for the IoC,” said ed

Hula, editor and founder of

Around the Rings, who has been

covering the olympic movement

and the business of the Games for

nearly three decades.

on Tuesday, the same day a top

Japanese olympic official said he

tested positive for the virus, the

IoC had planned telephone calls

with national olympic Commit-

tees and other stakeholders, reaf-

firming the organization’s inten-

tion to proceed on schedule. The

governing body issued a state-

see olympIcs on d4

For Olympic organizers,

there is no right answer

No schedule change yet,

but IOC faces a quandary

over the Tokyo Games

BY SAM FORTIER

AND LES CARPENTER

Free agency started slowly for

the Redskins. As other nFL teams

burst into the initial hours of the

open negotiating window Mon-

day, Washington i nstead a greed to

terms on a handful o f modest s ign-

ings.

That isn’t to say the Redskins

were simply watching from afar;

the team came close to reaching

an agreement with star wide re-

ceiver Amari Cooper, according to

multiple people with knowledge

of the situation, before he agreed

to r e-sign with t he D allas C owboys

for a reported five years and

$100 million.

not long after Cooper said no,

Washington agreed to a four-year

deal with cornerback Kendall

Fuller on Monday night. The ver-

satile defensive back played the

first two years of his career with

Washington before being traded

to the Kansas City Chiefs in the

2018 deal for quarterback Alex

smith. Multiple reports said Full-

er’s c ontract w ill be w orth $ 40 mil-

lion.

The Redskins had come to

agreements with two other play-

ers earlier Monday, bringing back

linebacker Jon Bostic on a two-

year, $6.6 million contract and

reaching a three-year agreement

with Atlanta guard Wes sch-

weitzer, multiple people with

knowledge o f the situation said.

on Tuesday, they added line-

backers. Former longtime Caroli-

na Panthers outside linebacker

Thomas Davis announced on Ins-

tagram that he will join the Red-

skins. The 38-year-old Davis

played l ast year with the L os Ange-

les Chargers, starting 16 games,

but i t’s his r elationship with Coach

Ron R ivera from the Carolina days

that might be most valuable to

Washington. Rivera has indicated

that he wants to bring in players

who understand the culture he

wants to infuse inside the Red-

skins’ locker room.

Washington also reached an

agreement with Kevin Pierre-Lou-

is, a person with knowledge of the

situation said. Pierre-Louis, who

has started four games over six

seasons with the seattle sea-

hawks, Chiefs, new York Jets and

Chicago Bears, adds versatility as

Rivera reshapes the Redskins’ de-

fense.

And there seemed to be the

possibility of more to come, with

the Redskins continuing to let left

tackle Trent Williams look for a

trade and the Panthers announc-

ing they are letting quarterback

Cam newton seek a trade.

see redsKIns on d2

F uller

reaches

deal to

return

Versatile defensive back

agrees to four-year pact

to rejoin Redskins

In s ports, the g reat ones die alone. There are f ew

poetic send-offs with strolls i nto t he sunset. T he end

cannot be a fairy t ale b ecause the journey r equires

too m uch persistence, too m uch stubbornness. The

truest of legends w ould rather abandon bliss than

stay c omfortable a nd fade away.

Acclaimed filmmaker Woody Allen once s aid: “I

am not a fraid of death. I just don’t w ant to be there

when it happens.” Tom Brady d oesn’t w ant to be

there, e ither. neither d id Michael Jordan or Joe Montana o r Brett

Favre. LeBron James k eeps r unning f rom n ew b eginning t o new

beginning as Father Time huffs after him. They a ll bow to t he

undisputed G oAT of sports: competitiveness.

Competition reigns, forever. It f orces the m ost stable s uperstars t o

be transient. on Tuesday, i t made Brady and the new england

Patriots e nd their own dynasty. History may refer t o Derrick Henry

and the Te nnessee Titans a s the ones who finished them, with

cornerback Logan Ryan intercepting Brady’s f inal pass and

returning it for a touchdown at t he end of a first-round playoff game

two months ago. That w as when, after years of speculation, f inality

see brewer on d3

What made Patriots great

is what made partnership end

Jerry

Brewer

End of an era As Brady says goodbye to the Patriots, New englanders will be entering a brave new world. D3

KLMNO

Winter All-Met

PRO FOOTBAll

Philip rivers lands

with colts; drew Brees

returns to saints. D2

HORSE RACINg

Kentucky derby

gets shifted to the start

of september. D2

mAtt slocum/AssocIAted Press

Quarterback tom brady announced tuesday morning that he would be leaving new england. by tuesday night, he had a deal “ essentially” in place with tampa bay.

Brady set to join Bucs

BY MARK MASKE

AND CINDY BOREN

To m Brady wasted no time finding his next nFL home.

The six-time super Bowl-winning quarterback was poised

Tuesday night to sign with the Ta mpa Bay Buccaneers, with the

process moving rapidly toward a conclusion just hours after Brady

announced he would be leaving the new england Patriots.

The signing cannot be official until Wednesday at 4 p.m., when

the nFL’s free agent market formally opens. But a person familiar

with the negotiations said Tuesday night that it was “looking

promising” that Brady would complete a deal with the Buccaneers

worth at least $30 million per season. That person later said a

contract agreement “essentially” was in place.

Brady, 42, said via social media Tuesday morning he would leave

new england after teaming with Patriots Coach Bill Belichick for 17

playoff trips and nine super Bowl appearances over two dynastic

decades. He wrote on Twitter that “it is time for me to open a new

stage for my life and career.”

He added that he didn’t know what his “football future holds.”

see brAdy on d3

QB leaves New England

for a fresh start elsewhere

edge of the situation confirmed

Durant’s positive test to The

Washington Post, speaking anon-

ymously so as to freely discuss the

private medical situation.

“everyone be careful, take care

of yourself and quarantine. We’re

going to get through this,” D urant

told the Athletic, which first re-

ported his diagnosis and that he

was asymptomatic.

The four nets players join three

players — R udy Gobert and Dono-

van Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, and

Christian Wood of the Detroit

Pistons — who previously tested

positive for the coronavirus.

G obert’s positive test last week

led the nBA to suspend the

s eason.

In a statement posted to social

media, Gobert said he was “under

great care and will fully recover.”

Mitchell said in an interview with

ABC’s “Good Morning America”

that he was “doing well” and

asymptomatic. Wood has also

been asymptomatic.

see dUrAnt on d9

BY BEN GOLLIVER

The number of nBA players

with confirmed cases of the novel

coronavirus rose to seven Tues-

day when the Brooklyn nets an-

nounced that four of their players

had tested positive. superstar for-

ward Kevin Durant was one of the

four.

According to the nets, only one

of the four players, who were not

identified by the team, has exhib-

ited symptoms. The nets have

advised all players and members

of their traveling party t o “remain

isolated, closely monitor their

health and maintain constant

communication” with medical

staff, according to a statement.

A person with direct knowl-

Durant, teammates test

positive for coronavirus

Brooklyn’s four cases

bring the known total

for NBA players to seven