Sports Agent Buddy Baker recently lost both of his parents to COVID-19.
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00:00NFL agent Buddy Baker recently shared an emotional video encouraging people to stay home and
00:05follow social distancing guidelines as he spoke of the loss of both of his parents to
00:10COVID-19.
00:11But there's more to that story.
00:13SI's Greg Bishop wrote an incredible piece on the love story amidst the horrifying pandemic.
00:18Greg, the fact that both of his parents died within six minutes of each other from COVID-19,
00:24it's kind of reminiscent of that final scene from The Notebook.
00:28What did you learn about the Bakers in writing this piece?
00:31Yeah, that is definitely a fair comparison.
00:33And you know, I think with this story overall, what it says to me is it just it just broke
00:38my heart.
00:39I mean, this is a couple that met when they were teenagers, they were at a sorority party
00:43when they bumped into each other.
00:45You know, Buddy said that his father's friend said that immediately, he, he became enamored
00:50with his mother, Adrienne, that they ended up falling in love quickly that they married.
00:56And they had been married for 51 years, they have two children, they were healthy at the
01:01beginning of March.
01:02And, you know, they both got sick, both deteriorated quickly, both ended up in the hospital.
01:09And eventually, it became so bad that they had to take them both off of ventilators.
01:13And they did it in the same room at the same time.
01:16And so when the ventilators went off, they ended up dying six, six minutes apart.
01:20And so, you know, I think this is the kind of story that really resonates with people,
01:24is I think if you're, you know, if you're living in the world right now, and aware of
01:29what's going on, which I think pretty much everyone is, you're scared for your parents,
01:33you're scared for older people, you're scared for people you know, and, you know, there
01:37is a lot more to their story, and yet it resonates so widely.
01:41Absolutely.
01:42And especially so many people are losing loved ones and unable to go into the hospital to
01:47visit them, the fact that they were able to hold hands.
01:49So that final moment is, is definitely comforting.
01:53Another thing you wrote about Buddy is that he's always told his clients to use your platform,
01:58make a difference.
01:59Him releasing this video is one way in which he's clearly done so.
02:03But does he have other plans to use his platform?
02:05Or how has he seen the effect of this video being a use of it?
02:10Yeah, I'm really glad that you asked that.
02:12Because I think the reason that Buddy is telling the story right now to a few places is that
02:17he really wants people to understand, you know, that COVID-19 is a serious deal, that
02:22we need to follow the precautions that people have laid out, that if we don't listen to
02:26what doctors are telling us, that people are going to die, and it's going to be people
02:30that you know, not people in faraway places, not people in other countries.
02:35This is happening right now in the United States, and everyone is dealing with it.
02:39And you think that it won't happen to you.
02:41Buddy Baker thought that it wouldn't happen to him, and it did.
02:45And I think what he plans to do is the same thing that you just said.
02:48He's always told his clients, hey, listen, you have to use your platform, let's do some
02:52good in the world.
02:53Let's make sure we make a difference.
02:55And he's got a lot of guys that have done that.
02:57You know, the Griffin twins come to mind, Doug Baldwin comes to mind.
03:01You know, these are athletes that have made an impact in the world, partly because Buddy's
03:05their agent.
03:06And so, you know, there's a GoFundMe that set up that can help his family, that will
03:10go toward his parents legacy.
03:14There are ways that you can, you know, that you can honor them by donating.
03:19But there's also, I think, a baseline to this.
03:21And that's just that we are all human beings living in the world right now.
03:25And what Buddy wants to get across to people, what I think is super important about his
03:29parents' story, is that we need to follow the precautions.
03:32We need to do what we have to do so that we slow the spread of this virus.
03:37Nothing is going to stop it or save it until people take it as seriously as many have already.
03:43And so, you know, I commend Buddy for, you know, stepping forward at a very difficult
03:47time for telling the world about his parents and how much they loved each other and how
03:51terribly sad this is.
03:54And you know, I think if there's one person or thousands of people that can take from
03:58that and learn from it and move forward in a way that's safe and healthy, then I think
04:02Buddy Baker is using his platform to make a difference in the world.
04:06Absolutely.
04:07An incredibly heartbreaking story, but you know, one that has a sweet note to it as well.
04:11That's Greg Bishop.
04:12Thank you so much for taking the time.
04:14Thank you for having me.