The Final Chapter: Tom Brady's Legacy as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer
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With the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII last night, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are officially two seasons removed from reaching the pinnacle of success in the NFL.
And the reality is, it could be quite a while before the Buccaneers and their fans have a chance to make it back.
At this point in time, we're also now 12 days removed from the greatest football player of all time, Tom Brady, officially announcing his retirement from the National Football League.
The last couple of weeks have represented a strange period in time for Bucs fans. Some are relieved. Some have spent this time mourning the fact that Tom Brady is no longer the quarterback of their favorite team. Some have spent this time celebrating the fact that he was at all.
Meanwhile, as a result of kicking money down the line in order to preserve the quality of their roster while Brady was with the team, the Buccaneers franchise is now faced with the financial burden of those decisions.
But there will be plenty of time to discuss and dissect the Buccaneers' plans for the future.
First, I want to take one final trip down memory lane.
As the football world officially moves on from the Tom Brady era — while Patrick Mahomes continues to fast-track his own pursuit of greatness — now is as good of a time as any to look back on the final chapter of Tom Brady's storied NFL career: the one where he became the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It was March of 2020 when the Bucs made the decision to officially cut ties with their former first overall pick, the one who often went viral for all the wrong reasons, their highly contentious quarterback, Jameis Winston.
Meanwhile, when free agency opened, it finally became clear to the world that Tom Brady may actually be moving on from the familiar confines of Gillette Stadium. Despite winning six Super Bowls during his time there, Brady was more or less written off by Bill Belichick. The greatest head coach in the history of Football clearly believed that his once-prized possession no longer had the tools required for the job. Belichick wanted to focus on the future, and it became obvious that the future he envisioned for the New England Patriots no longer involved Tom Brady as his quarterback.
It wasn’t just Bill Belichick though. A lot of the football world felt that way. So when Tom Brady found himself considering his options when he hit free agency following the 2019 season, he was for the first time in his career actually considering the opportunities available to him outside of New England.
In doing so, he came to the shocking conclusion that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the losingest franchise in the history of professional sports, offered the most appealing destination for him, the winningest player in the history of football, to continue his NFL playing career.
The decision was made official on March 20th, 2020, when Tom Brady signed a contract to become the newest [oldest] member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The ripple effects of this decision were as profound and impactful as any that can be referenced in the history of the franchise. They were significant for Tom Brady’s legacy, and they were significant for the legacy and reputation of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise.
Tom Brady’s accomplishments in New England deserve more credit than what can be expressed through a combination of words and numbers on a page. His thirteen Conference Championship appearances, nine Super Bowl appearances, six Lombardi trophies, four Super Bowl MVP awards, and three NFL MVP awards speak for themselves.
His success was unprecedented and his greatness undisputed when it comes to his twenty seasons as the quarterback of the New England Patriots.
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What was disputed, however, was what the future had in store for Brady as a forty-three-year-old quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A team that hadn’t tasted the postseason in thirteen years. Throw in a talented-yet-unproven roster, a global pandemic, an entirely new offense, coaching staff and terminology, a restricted offseason, and a fanbase more familiar with NFL draft prospects than recent playoff teams, and you have a grim outlook for what looked like Brady’s curtain call in the NFL.
For the first time in his career, a winning record, assumed playoff berth, and the adulation of football pundits and peers were far from guaranteed.
As to be expected, things got off to a rocky start in Brady’s first game as a Buccaneer. His debut performance in pewter and red resulted in a double-digit loss at the hands of Tampa’s most despised divisional foe, the New Orleans Saints. It was a game that saw Brady throw two interceptions, including a pick-six to Janoris Jenkins.
It would take some time for Brady to develop chemistry with his new offensive coaches, as well as his teammates. That being said, the Bucs managed to reel off wins in six of their next seven games - until of course, it was time to face the Saints for a second time. In their week 9 rematch, Tampa was absolutely throttled by the Saints (38-3) at home. It was an unfortunate but very familiar feeling for Bucs fans. They went on to lose three of four games during that stretch of the season and the Bucs ended up with a 7-5 record by their Week 13 bye week. The prevailing thought amongst fans at the time was that the Bucs weren’t likely to hit their stride until the following season.
They needed more time to figure things out. Improved chemistry, potentially a playoff berth, but minimal expectations for Super Bowl contention seemed to be the prevailing expectation for the team amongst its fans –at least those with a realistic perspective of the big picture.
Not so fast.
Despite (or possibly because of) their struggles early on, The Bucs had quietly established some key ingredients for success. Brady had earned the respect of his teammates as their undisputed leader. Not just from his resume, but from his performance in his new uniform. His intelligence, his fiery competitiveness, his willingness to call people out, his obsessive work ethic, and of course, his surgical precision throwing the football, all created a trickle-down effect on the rest of the roster. At the very least, Brady’s young Buccaneer teammates now truly understood the magnitude of their mission – having seen firsthand the type of tireless commitment required to complete it – they were ready to follow suit.
The Bucs came storming out of the gate after their bye week, and never looked back.
In the Wild Card round they knocked off the Washington Football Team on the road in what was their first, and least impressive victory of the postseason.
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Next, they traveled to the Superdome in New Orleans to face off with the Saints in the Divisional Round, the third matchup of the season between the two teams. It was a tremendous all-around effort for the Bucs defined by big plays and timely turnovers, all of which were forced by promising young players on the defense. Although the job was far from finished, the Bucs exacting revenge on the Saints was a triumphant moment for Bucs fans to celebrate. Not only did they finally conquer Drew Brees and the rest of Who Dat Nation, but they did so on a national stage, with Tom Brady as their quarterback. This was the biggest moment for Bucs fans in well over a decade – but it was a moment that wouldn’t hold that title for long.
Next, the Buccaneers would be faced with the challenge of traveling to Lambeau Field in January to face off against a first-place Packers team that went 13-3 during the regular season and was led by league MVP, Aaron Rodgers. With a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, the Bucs were quick to set the tempo and did not back down, keeping that same energy until the final whistle – no small feat on the road against a powerhouse Packers squad led by a bonafide superstar in Rodgers.
The defining moment of this frigid game in Wisconsin, and probably my favorite Tom Brady moment during his tenure as a Buccaneer, came in the closing seconds of the first half after a Sean Murphy-Bunting interception put the Bucs near midfield with thirty seconds on the clock.
The Bucs were already leading by four, and with what felt like a free possession, it was a scenario that would have led more conventional thinkers to play for a field goal in order to secure a seven-point lead heading into halftime on the road in the playoffs. After converting a fourth down, with only seven seconds left in the half, and the ball at the Packers' 40-yard line, the Bucs called a timeout. Their initial intention was to follow that conventional train of thought and send out the field goal unit, but Bruce Arians quickly changed course, and instead opted to send the offense back onto the field. Within the blink of an eye, the ball was snapped and Brady, lined up in shotgun, took an incredibly casual 3 step drop before unleashing a picture-perfect rainbow pass, that after traveling fifty-three yards in the air (and what felt like an eternity in slow motion), landed squarely into its pot of gold (or in this case, the arms of Scotty Miller) with just one-second remaining. Instead of taking a modest seven-point lead into halftime, the Bucs opted to instead “risk it for the biscuit”, and in turn, secured a 21-10 lead on the road heading into the half. Just as important though, they took every ounce of air out of the stadium, while simultaneously stealing all of the momentum that was up for grabs.
To start the 2nd half, Jordan Whitehead laid a vicious hit on Aaron Jones that resulted in a fumble recovered by Devin White. The Bucs capitalized immediately, with Tom Brady hitting Cameron Brate in the middle of the end zone for a touchdown on the very next play. The Bucs led 28-10 at that point but were unable to sustain that momentum for the rest of the game, as the Packers managed to close the gap to five points before the final frame. A couple of interceptions thrown by Brady paired with a couple of touchdown passes thrown by Rodgers, and this game was destined to go right down to the wire. The Packers found themselves facing a fourth and goal on the Bucs' eight-yard line with 2:09 left in the game, trailing by eight points. Instead of trying to tie the game, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur opted to kick a field goal in hopes that his defense could force a stop on Tom Brady to give themselves another chance.
Big mistake.
As if he were a polar bear being challenged to a battle by an injured baby seal on the frozen tundra of Antarctica, Brady was unfazed. He was calm. He was cool. He was hungry. So with the poise that he had demonstrated hundreds of times over the course of his career, Tom Brady orchestrated a flawless drive that would shatter the hopes of Packers fans around the world, and abruptly slam the door shut on their Super Bowl aspirations. The scoreboard read 31-26 as the final seconds ticked off the game clock. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by Tom Brady as their quarterback, were returning to the Super Bowl for the first time in seventeen seasons.
The Bucs would be faced with yet another daunting task, as they would next matchup against the defending Super Bowl champions, the team with the seemingly unstoppable offense, the team with whom many felt was the best quarterback in the world, and the team that had already embarrassed the Bucs in the regular season: The Kansas City Chiefs. The Bucs, however, would be writing their own narrative, doing so on their own terms, and for the first time in history, looking to hoist a Lombardi trophy on their home field, at Raymond James Stadium.
The Chiefs scored first in Super Bowl 55, but only after 10 minutes and multiple drives by each team. A thirty-nine-yard field goal by Harrison Butker with four minutes left in the opening quarter seemed to serve as more of an alarm clock for the Bucs' offense than anything else. On the following series, Brady led a highly-efficient offensive drive which resulted in a seven-yard touchdown strike to Rob Gronkowski. 7-3 Bucs.
The Bucs' defense did not require any such wakeup call, as every player on that side of the ball executed Todd Bowles’ masterful scheme to perfection from the moment they stepped on the field.
After several costly penalties by the Chiefs, and another Brady touchdown pass to Gronk, the Bucs led 14-3 halfway through the second quarter. Following another Chiefs field goal to counter, Brady had less than one minute to drive the field before halftime. He wouldn’t need that much time. Brady manufactured a full-field drive in under 50 seconds that resulted in his third touchdown pass of the first half, this one to Antonio Brown on a nifty out-and-in route that completely shook Tyrann Matheu. The Bucs led 21-6 at halftime of SuperBowl 55.
The Chiefs' first drive of the second half resulted in yet another Harrison Butker field goal. Spoiler alert, those three points would be the last points the Kansas City Chiefs would score all season. Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Devin White, and Ndamukong Suh absolutely dominated the Chiefs’ banged-up offensive line all night. Lavonte David was masterful in coverage against the most dominant pass-catching tight end in the sport, Travis Kelce. The entire Bucs secondary was disciplined yet aggressive in their execution of Bowles’ game plan. Andy Reid’s offense vs Todd Bowles’ defense was the game within the game. It was a heavy talking point in the thirteen days leading up to the event, and if it were to be described as a chess match, then Todd Bowles came away as the grandmaster.
Offensively, the Bucs did everything they needed to win the game, and then some. Similar to his defensive counterpart Bowles, the Bucs’ OC Byron Leftwich called a tremendous game. He mixed the run with the pass beautifully, threw on first downs, used play action, pre-snap motion, and generally displayed great variety in his playcalling. It was a full team effort.
As for the tools around Brady, it’s worth mentioning that despite a modest stat line, Mike Evans put significant pressure on the Chiefs' defensive backs all game long, drawing a number of flags that set the Buccaneers up with great field position throughout the contest.
Godwin was his reliable self, regularly finding cracks in the defense to settle into, making tough catches in traffic, and generating extra yards when there didn’t seem much opportunity for them to be had.
Fournette blocked and ran with anger and determination all game – just like he had in each game the Bucs won to get to that point of the season.
Gronk was a mismatch no matter who was covering him. The entire offensive line played fiercely while still operating in unison with one another. But as is the case in most football games, it all comes back to the guy under center. And thankfully for the Buccaneers, they had the greatest quarterback in the history of the sport to fill that role.
Brady was surgical in Super Bowl 55 — operating with calm feet, keen eyes, and pinpoint accuracy — he was able to pick apart the Chiefs' defense with great effectiveness throughout the game. He did it in the same way he had to the previous eight opponents the Buccaneers faced, with his team arising victorious in each of those games. But the game played on February 7th, 2020 was obviously different from the wins that preceded it. This was the day that Tom Brady led the Buccaneers franchise to glory again. This was the day that Tom Brady led this version of the Buccaneers into the biggest battle they had ever been a part of, and conquered the defending Super Bowl Champions at home, in front of their fans, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
As we all know, Brady's tenure in Tampa Bay continued for another two seasons following that victory in Super Bowl LV.
2021 ended with a loss in the divisional round playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion, Los Angeles Rams. A rocky 2022 campaign concluded with a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys.
In the end, Brady's time as a Buccaneer contained plenty of success, disappointment, moments we'll always remember, and some we'd rather forget. But Tom Brady's legacy in Tampa won't be remembered for how it ended. It will be remembered for how it began.
And to the fans, and all members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers community, never forget... You will forever have a special place in Tom Brady’s story: The final chapter. Where a 43-year-old quarterback led the lowly Buccaneers to their second-ever Super Bowl victory.
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