Tom Brady Is Already Trying To Cheat The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Into The NFL Elite

Tom Brady has spent less than four months with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it hasn't mattered. He resembles the same guy who bent NFL rules over the past two decades like crazy with the New England Patriots.

Author:
Terence Moore
Updated:
Jun 30, 2020 10:03 PM EDT
Original:
Jun 29, 2020

During Tom Brady's 20 years in the NFL with the New England Patriots, he got away with everything.

SpyGate. DeflateGate.

Any "Gate" you can name.

So this makes sense.

Soon after Brady spent the offseason signing a two-year contract as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he became, well, um, Tom Brady.

That's splendid news if you're into the Bucs.

Not so much for everybody else.

Here's the latest chapter in the hefty Brady book called, "Advanced Cheating For Those Who Don't Need It, But Why Not Do It If You Can Get Away With It?"

Courtesy of COVID-19, state and local authorities around Brady's world in Tampa forbid public gatherings of more than 10 people. So the future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback has spent at least the last couple of weeks at a Tampa-area high school doing passing drills with (ahem) several of his teammates.

Are we talking about 10 or less players?

Maybe. Then again, it depends on whether you count folks more than once during some of these Brady-led sessions. This nearly 43-year-old master of finding loopholes in NFL rules is trying to get a jump on his peers.

Actually, Patriots coach Bill Belichick was the master along these lines and Brady was the mentee.

Whatever the case, Brady has transferred what he learned from his Patriots days to Tampa in ways beyond just his latest team workouts.

Barely a month after Brady signed with the Bucs, a city worker discovered the guy throwing passes with somebody in a Tampa park, when such places were closed at the time due to the coronavirus.

Then there was the time Brady visited with Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich before the start of Organized Team Activities (OTAs), which wasn't allowed by NFL rules.

The penalty for Brady after each of those things?

Nothing.

He's Tom Brady.