Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks knew what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers players were feeling when they won last month's Super Bowl 54 in blowout fashion -- after all, he accomplished the same feat as a leader of the franchise nearly 20 years ago, back in Super Bowl 37.
But what Brooks' championship team didn't have was the greatest quarterback of all-time in Tom Brady, who seemingly brought his winning culture from New England to Tampa and then shared it with the city's other professional teams.
"We definitely are feeling the 'Champa Bay' motto right now," Brooks told the Tiki and Tierney show on Wednesday. "The Tampa Bay Lightning kicked it off last fall, winning the Stanley Cup. The Rays fell two games short of a World Series championship. And the Bucs picked it up in the fall. We're definitely feeling that atmosphere here.
"And I must tell you, it is the Tom Brady effect that has gone over this area. Just the confidence that he brought to this team... I saw it happen and transform all season long. You saw players start to take themselves to that other level of accountability that was required to have a championship attitude. You saw that happen, and I think you saw it happen because you had someone in that locker room who had all the collateral to command that. And that was Tom..."
Brooks, naturally loyal to his defensive roots, doesn't believe that team leadership must always come from the quarterback position. But it's no secret that Brady's presence, both on and off the field, was exactly what the Buccaneers needed to become a championship-caliber franchise once again.
"I just think in this particular case, [quarterback leadership] mattered because Tom had the opportunity to lead a team and be himself, very different than what he had previously because of the personality of the head coach," Brooks said. "We saw a very different Tom Brady in certain aspects, but when it mattered most, we saw the Tom Brady who was raised in this league under those New England traits.
"Those things came to matter when you talk about the Devin White situation or other matters that I can't discuss on-air. You saw that part of Tom and that collateral that he earned throughout this league show up on this football team, where in years past, it did not, and they did not fulfill that potential. But they did this year. So, I would say it was a combination of Tom being embraced with this new opportunity, and this young football team willing to accept that."
Tiki and Tierney's entire conversation with Brooks can be accessed in the audio player above.
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