SPORTS
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020:: LATIMES.COM/SPORTS
D
I
t’s a game of deception and disguise, and Tom
Brady plays it well. As free agency ap-
proaches, the presnap hints and clues of the
NFL’s greatest quarterback have the rest of
the football world on a hair trigger. Everyone
is trying to predict what the New England Patriots
star will do next.
Brady is selling his mansion in Boston. He’s
gone.
He mugs for a photo at a Syracuse basketball
game with Julian Edelman, who proclaims Brady
will continue to be a teammate. He’s staying.
He’s captured, at the same game, on a FaceTime
call with Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel, a
former teammate. Gone.
He opened a big new TB12 store on BoylstonStreet in the Back Bay area of Boston. Staying.
Brady, 42, one season removed from winning his
sixth Super Bowl, is seeking a multiyear deal that
would enable him to play until 45.
He knows only winning. Just twice in the last 19
seasons have the Patriots failed to win a division
title, and one of those seasons Brady sat out with a
shredded knee.
Few athletes have been more emblematic of a
team or city than Brady is of Boston. So in Bean-
town it was as welcome as a nor’easter when, in a
recent live chat on Instagram, Brady’s supermodel
wife, Gisele Bundchen, told her 15.7 million follow-
ers: “Well, I would love to know where I’m going to
be living this year, but I don’t know yet. But hope-
fully somewhere nice, andFUTURE HALL OF FAMEquarterback Tom Brady wants a new multiyear contract, one that would enable him to play until age 45.
Maddie MeyerGetty ImagesSAM FARMER ON THE NFLTOM BRADY’S
NEXT BIG PLAY
NFL free agency begins in less than two weeks.
Is there a path to L.A. for the NFL’s greatest quarterback?
Or someplace more mind-blowing, like, say...
[SeeFarmer, D6]
Muncy values
his opportunity
Dodgers slugger takes
nothing for granted
even after signing
lucrative contract. D2James gets a
long-range feel
Lakers star has a
knack for knowing
when to shoot from
beyond 30 feet. D4Chargers trade
lineman Okung
Two-time Pro Bowl
tackle is sent to
Carolina in exchange
for Trai Turner. D5DODGERSconfident
Max Muncy will re-
main hungry.Ralph FresoGetty ImagesMuch of the sports world
is already dealing with a new
reality: life amid the co-
ronavirus outbreak.
Major competitions have
been postponed, moved or
canceled throughout Asia.
In Italy, government officials
announced that no fans may
attend sporting events, in-
cluding big-time soccer
matches, for at least a
month.
Could the same thing
happen closer to home?
Los Angeles County de-
clared a health emergency
Wednesday, with officials
discussing the possibility of
banning spectators from
stadiums and arenas across
the region. In other parts of
the U.S., the NBA and Major
League Baseball have issued
safety recommendations
and at least two colleges are
skipping games.
All of this comes as
crowds are expected to flock
to spring training baseball
and the upcoming NCAA
men’s and women’s basket-
ball tournaments.
“If at any point we think
that there’s good reason for
us to be worried about ex-
tensive, extensivecommuni-
ty transmission ... we may
ask for modifications at
large public events,” L.A.
County health director Bar-
bara Ferrer said. “This could
be that games are played but
there are no spectators. This
could be that there are limits
to how people are going to
gather at public events.”
As Dodgers President
Stan Kasten said: “None of it
is great news, but they have
stressed also that this is not
a time to be panicking.”
The current version of
the coronavirus, COVID-19,
has infected more than
95,000 people and killed
more than 3,200 worldwide
since it was first detected in
China late last year.
There have been 157 re-
ported cases and 11 deaths in
16 U.S. states, according to
the COVID-19 database of
Johns Hopkins. California
reported its first death — an
elderly adult with underly-
[SeeVirus, D5]Sports
world
faces
virus
threat
Leagues and event
organizers in U.S.
confront possibility of
games without fans.
By David Wharton