Lavonte David 'Weathered the Storm' With Buccaneers to Super Bowl LV
It's been a long nine seasons for Lavonte David.
David, 31, has been through his fair shares of ups and downs with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after being selected with their second-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Seven of his career seasons have ended in a losing record. One of the two outliers was a 9-7 season in which the Bucs narrowly missed the playoffs.
This year, David's Bucs are in the Super Bowl, set to host the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium this upcoming Sunday. The longest-tenured member of the team, David - who shared that he is taking a recent hamstring injury "one day at a time" in preparation for the big game- is soaking up every moment while it lasts.
"There was some tough times here. I was able to weather the storm, seen all the good, seen all the bad, and now I'm here," David recalled on Tuesday. "I'm taking this all in right now. I was telling the young guys, 'Don't take this for granted.' Guys who are in their second year, who in their first year, tell them 'Don't take this for granted, because this don't happen often.'"
David serves his mentoring role well, as the Buccaneers defense specifically is littered with young talent that hasn't had to weather the storm with him. David's fellow inside linebacker Devin White is only in his second season. The two are a fearsome tandem in the middle of Tampa Bay's defense, but White has certainly taken David's guidance in order to enhance his game, specifically in coverage.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneers' entire starting secondary remains on its rookie contract. Vita Vea, the team's starting nose tackle, does as well.
"Once you have this foundation, you gotta keep trying to stack on it because it's not easy to get into this position," David continued. "Look at myself for example. it took me nine years to get here, and I don't know if it's going to take me another nine or whatever, but you just definitely got to embrace this moment."
At times, David was one of the few, if not the lone bright spot for Tampa Bay across the entire roster. Exhibiting elite play at the linebacker position, David has recorded over 1,000 total tackles and forced 36 turnovers during his Bucs career, missing just seven games out of 147 )including this postseason).
Tampa Bay has a foundation to run it back in 2021: A young, growing defense paired with the NFL's No. 2 passing offense and quarterback Tom Brady at the helm - a significant upgrade from the quarterbacks David has played with previously in Jameis Winston, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh McCown, Mike Glennon, and Josh Freeman.
David is an impending free agent who has certainly earned an opportunity to help the Bucs repeat as NFC Champions, but his future has yet to be determined. That only emphasizes the meaning of David's message to his younger teammates.
"I've seen some tough times, some times where just be like, 'Man, this is what the league is all about. This is what my career gon' be,' and then I've seen some good times just like this, looking really optimistic," shared David. "But just, weathering the storm man, staying strong, still having the love for the game that I have being in this moment right now, that got me here. Now I have an opportunity to go win a Super Bowl for this program."
