We’ve seen this before. Manning in the Orange the Crush, Favre in a Vikings uniform, Unitas in a Chargers uniform, Montana in Chiefs and the list goes on; so why does this one feel different? For 20 years, Tom Brady has laced it up in the Red, White and Blue and was highly successful in those threads. 219 regular-season wins, 30 postseason wins, 6 Super Bowl Championships with 4 Super Bowl MVP Crowns and a nine-time AFC Postseason Champ.
All of the success, all of the accolades, and all of the incredible memories (come-from-behind wins, clutch play and destroying the AFC East religiously) has led to Tom Brady going to Tampa Bay? Not likely, but dating back to two seasons ago, Brady was quietly pushing his chips to the table trying to receive a contract worthy of his accolades and “The Patriot Way,” (notoriously trading/releasing or not paying their top players only to have no-names come in and excel in the system) wouldn’t allow even their best player in team history that exception.
Now the 42-year-old is heading to Tampa Bay on a two-year-deal worth $50 million and Quarterback-Whisperer Bruce Arians couldn’t be happier. The Bucs have been one of the worst professional teams in America’s history with a career .347% winning percentage. Tampa Bay has just 13 winning seasons in 43 seasons as a franchise with their lone bright spot being coach Jon Gruden taking a Tony-Dung-Lead team to the Super Bowl and winning it over the Raiders in 2003. So why would the G-O-A-T (Greatest-of-all-Time) want to sign with the Bucs? Football (like most sports) is all about relationships.
Flashback to 1999 where Jason Litch was a college scout for the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick was relatively new in his position as the head coach of the Patriots and Litch brings Belichick some tape of an unathletic goofy-looking backup quarterback from Michigan and says this guy is special. Boy, what I would’ve loved to be a fly on that wall but what Litch, Belichick and owner Robert Craft saw you couldn’t teach: intangibles. Leadership, competitive fire and the hunger for greatness that would rival the likes of NFL greats. His combine wasn’t eye-popping, his college-stats weren’t mind-bottling and that’s likely why he was selected with the 199th pick by the Patriots in 1999 but he stayed ready for his moment.
His moment came during the 2001 season when (then) starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe suffered internal injuries coming from a brutal hit from Jets linebacker Mo Lewis during a scramble play. Enter: Tom Brady who came in and one short season later won the 2002 Super Bowl over, “The Greatest Show on Turf,” St. Louis Rams, 20-17.
Fast forward to 2020 free agency where for the first time in Brady’s career he is an unrestricted free-agent. Reports indicated many suitors including the Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Bucs to name a few. Mr. Litch is now Tampa Bay’s General Manager and through their instrumental decade-long connection he along with coach Bruce Arians’ ability to coach quarterbacks (Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer and Big Ben) lured Tom to walk away from the winningest franchise the past decade.
Location also helps as Brady and his family wanted closer proximity to New York as to further elevate the TB12 brand and newly created production group Pick 1999 on both sides of the Country (LA and New York). This move ultimately shows Brady’s hunger and excitement as shared through his latest Instagram post of him signing and for good reason.
The Bucs have a pair of young ascending wide receivers in Mike Evans (1,157 yards and 8 touchdowns) and Chris Goodwin (1,333 yards and 9 touchdowns) to pair with two promising tight ends in Cameron Brate (4 touchdowns) and O.J. Howard (459 yards). Tampa Bay (with the help of Brady) has the ability to be a potent offense and their defense (while still having plenty of moving parts) showed flashes of greatness near the end of the season (a top ten defense during the last portion of the season).
As for Brady, 2019 wasn’t his best season finishing with a career-low in accuracy (60%), yards-per-attempt (6.6) and a below average QBR (Quarterback Rating) with a 53.7 (out of 100) but neither was the Bucs starting quarterback Jameis Winston finishing with 30 touchdowns and a league-worse 30 interceptions. With eight of their games decided by 9 points or less during a 7-9 season, Tamp Bay feels like, with the help of Brady, they can reach the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and for the first time in 17 years have a legitimate chance to reach the Super Bowl in a season where Tampa Bay is the host city. So when Brady takes the field for the first time in Red, Bay Orange and Silver, it will (aesthetically) feel different, but as NFL history has shown us, in some ways it won’t.
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