A year ago at this time, the Buccaneers were figuring out how they could better a 7-9 team that had the third-best offense in football, but turned the ball over a league-high 41 turnovers, to go along with the No. 1 ranked run defense.
And it was pretty obvious what would take them over the top — a good quarterback. More specifically, Tom Brady.
At the NFL Combine last February, Bruce Arians was asked for an example of a quarterback that he would inquire about over the next month.
“Tom Brady,” he said. “Philip [Rivers] is another guy. We’ll see.”
Arians and the Bucs knew what they needed and they went out and got it, agreeing on a two-year contract with the free agent the following month.
Did Arians and the Buccaneers franchise envision the team winning a Super Bowl in Brady’s first year with the franchise? Probably not, but they knew his winning attitude and experience would be exactly what was needed for a team that hadn’t won a playoff game in 17 years prior to his arrival.
Brady’s impact truly went beyond just his play on the field, as his presence gave the team a belief they could win, including the week of the Super Bowl.
“It felt great. Just knowing his resume and understand why he wins. All week he made us believe we were going to win," running back Leonard Fournette said after the 31-9 win over the Chiefs. "He was texting us at 11 o’clock at night, ‘We will win this game.’ We believed in him.”
While everyone is fully aware of how the Buccaneers needed Brady, the quarterback equally needed them.
After 20 years in New England, it was clear Brady wanted out and a fresh start. For as successful as the Patriots were, he wasn’t happy the last few seasons. The QB even acknowledged during the 2019 season he was the most miserable 8-0 quarterback in NFL history. Brady had grown tired of the Bill Belichick culture and at age 42, as well as being the greatest quarterback in the history of the league, he wanted things to be more the way he wanted.
All Brady needed was a team that would give him all that, as well as a chance to win.
The quarterback had just two teams truly interested, yes, only two — the Chargers and Bucs — but it didn’t really matter because Tampa Bay was all he needed.
Brady desired an offense with a ton of playmakers to reenergize himself. He needed some input into how the team was structured, And he needed a relaxed atmosphere.
Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, Cameron Brate, Ronald Jones -- check. Convincing the organization to go after Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown -- check. Playing for Bruce Arians -- check.
It appeared not only just during Super Bowl week, but for the majority of the season, Brady was the most relaxed he’s ever been playing the game.
No longer was he going home after a long day at the Gillette Stadium facility complaining to his wife Gisele Bundchen. Instead, he was getting more time at home with his wife and kids, and he was likely saying what a great day of work he had. It probably didn’t hurt that the warm Atlantic Ocean was in his backyard instead of a snow-covered golf course in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Without any of this in place, it’s hard to imagine Brady’s career marching on.
Why would Brady want to play into his 40s with everything that he’s accomplished not with certain things in place? Clearly, he wasn’t going to get any of that in New England and needed to find somewhere that he would. If Brady didn’t find a team willing to work with him on what he wanted, it would have been a lot easier to hang up his cleats for good.
Taking the risk to play for a team other than the Patriots likely extended his career a few years.
So, for as much as everyone is discussing how important Brady was to the Bucs’ success, the team and setup was just as important for Brady to keep playing the game he’s so damn good at.
