Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach, Todd Bowles, has been all over the news this week. Bowles has been seen taking in the NFL combine, partaking in interviews and press conferences with reporters.
Bowles has been asked a wide variety of questions, from his thoughts on players the Buccaneers could be interested in drafting to if he feels the 'tush push' should be banned from the NFL. As a member of the NFL Competition Committee, Bowles made his thoughts perfectly clear on the latter, saying the league shouldn't ban a play simply because defense's haven't found a way to stop it.
As for Bowles' presence over the past few days, he went inconspicuously missing from the combine on Friday. On Saturday, the reason Bowles left the combine was revealed:
As per Jenna Laine, who covers the Buccaneers for ESPN, Bowles flew home to Tampa from the combine on Friday in order to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees-Astros spring training game on Saturday. Bowles, who grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, is known to be a Yankees fan, and it is said this was a big honor for the former New York Jets head coach.
This may have been a cool moment for Bowles, however, he has received some harsh criticism for leaving in the middle of the combine:
One member on social media, @That GuyLarryJ posted on X, "Why are we not at the combine?"
Another member of social media, @SpritualFitness on X, seems to be more upset about Bowles wearing a Yankees jersey posting, "Should have repped a Rays jersey!"
With the combine scheduled to run through Sunday, March 2, there's still time for Bowles to make it back to the combine, but he may be met with criticism from his players for "skipping that one to the plate", as the Yankees' broadcast suggested on the YES Network.
