I think he
really was on the Masked Singer.
What happened, really?
- In March, he unretired.
- In May, he signed a half a billion dollar deal with Fox (home of the Masked Singer).
- He was at training camp and everything was fine, no reports of marital strife.
- He left for undisclosed reasons--but the initial report from the Bucs was that it was planned, just no idea when he would be back.
- A (seemingly) organic reddit thread popped up where someone figured out that the amount of time he was gone coincided exactly with the production schedule of the Masked Singer.
- Within 24 hours that was "debunked" by national media--which is remarkable that they would address internet rumors so quickly.
- And then within a week, you get this press blitz that he left because him and Gisele are struggling.
If you look at that timeline and you think about a fight with Gisele:
- How could it have been planned? That doesn't fit in.
- What would taking 11 days off do? If he's willing to leave the team for 11 days to address his marriage, why not leave for more? Why come back at all?
If you look at it and think about being on the Masked Singer:
- He hasn't "lied" about anything, thus protecting his image. In fact, he hasn't said anything at all--"I'm old man. shyt happens." The only thing that's happening on this front is gossip rags saying they're going through a "rough patch."
- A media deal of that size would likely have promotional tie in and brand ambassador clauses, so it would make sense that Fox may even stipulate that he (massive celebrity) has to go on their show (massive show).
- Rarely do media companies address internet rumors. It makes no sense why there would be denials issued that he was on the Masked Singer to quash an internet rumor.
- The only way to make the Masked Singer theory go away is to float an even bigger story. This satisfies that.
Just trying to connect the dots on this one, but I think he's gonna be ripping off some stupid zombie-pirate (buccaneer) mask on stage in 6 months.