‘Florida is going to kill us all.’ Watch fans pack the streets to celebrate Super Bowl
Having a Super Bowl in your town is exciting.
We get it. Super Bowl 54 (aka LIV) was at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens last year.
But our NFL extravaganza went on in the Before Times — when some of us may have heard of the coronavirus, but never thought it would hit our shores.
That was then. This is now.
That’s why videos and pictures of people celebrating in Tampa, shoulder to shoulder, many of them maskless, had some observers shaking their heads.
In one video, you can see folks milling around historic Ybor City Saturday night, before the big game. Dozens of football fans, some with masks hanging around their chins, walk around outside a bunch of bars, looking as if a global pandemic were happening on a different planet.
Journalist Molly Jong-Fast retweeted the footage after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ big win Sunday night with the caption, “Florida is going to kill us all.”
Before the Super Bowl, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor ordered residents and visitors to wear masks (which were available for free) in popular outdoor areas through Feb. 13, with fines up to $500. But apparently, very few got the memo.
“We’re hoping people will just kind of work with us when it comes to the mask compliance,” Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan, who recently recovered from the coronavirus himself, told The Tampa Bay Times last week. “The police department’s role is we’re going to be educating and reminding. We don’t want to be the mask police, so to speak.”
More footage of happy sports aficionados wildly celebrating the 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs outside the iconic Rivergate Tower, about 10 miles from Raymond James Stadium, emerged Sunday night, with most ignoring CDC coronavirus guidelines.
“It is a little frustrating because we have worked so hard,” Mayor Castor said at a Monday morning press conference with the Super Bowl Host Committee. “At this point in dealing with COVID-19, there is a level of frustration when you see that.”
It is unclear Monday how many citations for non-mask compliance were issued, if any.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 2:11 PM.
