Lavonte David Says Antonio Brown May Have Cost Buccaneers Another Super Bowl

An interesting take from now-retired Tampa Bay Buccaneer Lavonte David.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David (54) Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

It wasn't all that long ago that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were contending with Super Bowls in mind, but that came on the heels of almost a decade-long drought before Tom Brady came to the organization to save the day.

The Buccaneers had reached the playoffs for five straight seasons before missing out on them in 2025, with the 2020 and 2021 seasons being their most successful.

The Bucs were able to become the first team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl in their home stadium in 2020. They were on the path to once again reach a Super Bowl the following year before being upset by the eventual Super Bowl LVI Champions, the Los Angeles Rams.

Tampa Bay was almost destined to go back-to-back, but things had shifted in the clubhouse. And when detailing Antonio Brown's exit from the team against the New York Jets during an appearance on Bussin' With the Boys, recently retired linebacker Lavonte David partially blamed AB for the Bucs not being able to go back-to-back.

LVD Places Partial Blame on AB

"I tell you this, bro, leading up to that, you saw it stirring up, you saw it brewing. He came one day, like we were in there or whatever," David said. "We were in the locker room, we were chilling in the locker room. He came in there, he was complaining about how I think he didn't score a touchdown or whatever, and I'm like, bro, you had over 100 yards, what're you talking about? He [was] just like, pissed off. You can see that he might snap soon... To be honest with you, man, AB kind of messed up our chances of going to that second Super Bowl."

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown (81) Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

David went into some pretty crazy detail about the events that led up to Brown walking out of MetLife Stadium back in 2022. From his interactions in the locker room with practice and coaches, David's experiences add up to why Brown decided to do what he did.

Brown's actions that day likely cost him the rest of any career that he had, but they also clearly had an impact on how the Bucs operated that season.

The Buccaneers were likely one stop on Cooper Kupp away from reaching the Super Bowl, in which they likely would have won, but unfortunately were unable to overcome the deficit to the Rams in the NFC Championship game.

Maybe if Brown were still on the roster at that point, it would have made things a bit easier going, but ultimately, it is a team game, and one player will not be the deciding factor. Brown's actions likely had a bigger impact on the mentality and locker room than anything else, but with him gone, they lost the talent despite getting a win by losing all the extra stuff that came with him.

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