Tom Brady’s Summer Team Meeting
January 25th, 2021
Tommy’s team.
Dirk Koetter once said it. Father Dungy said it. Even Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians said it when he got to Tampa Bay.
And it got to the point that Joe just wanted to scream “Shut up!”
Year after year we kept hearing how the Bucs had talent to not just win, but enough to make it to the playoffs without getting destroyed. And year after year the Bucs kept losing.
As Bucs fans woke up this morning with their heads and hearts both pounding, who knows why the Bucs kept losing? Was it rotten coaching? Was it cancers in the locker room?
For whatever reason, Joe is convinced the difference in the Bucs losing and suddenly winning is because of a 43-year old man, Mr. Six Rings who took over as Bucs quarterback.
That would be park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, handshake-stiffing, jet-ski-losing, biscuit-baking Bucs quarterback Tom Brady.
And even Brady saw the Bucs had talent.
Via a great piece of reporting by Albert Breer of SI.com, during this past summer’s training camp, Brady was not satisfied with the way a practice went. So Brady told all of his teammates to stay behind after a team meeting with coaches.
There, Brady had his own meeting with his new teammates. And Brady told them in very strong terms that the team was too talented to dog it in practice and that the Bucs would never realize their potential by half-arsing it.
Instead, Brady told his teammates, you have to ball out in practice.
I was at Buccaneers training camp on Aug. 24 and was told the day before that the new quarterback had kept his teammates behind after coaches left a meeting. He wasn’t pleased with how a practice had gone, and it needed to be addressed. It wasn’t a reading of the Riot Act, but it was firm.
“He just said, Hey, there’s too much talent in here for this,” Bruce Arians explained to me when I asked him about it then. “We didn’t have a great practice. It was probably the worst practice we’ve had. And it was still a really good practice, I thought. We just dropped some balls. And it was just reinforcement. Hey, there’s too much talent in here. We’ve gotta pick it up, we don’t have that much time left.”
Really, this was the message that was coming through: Make my habits yours, and hold yourself to a higher standard, because you’re capable of more.
Of course, the Bucs had many young players and only a handful that had ever experienced success in the NFL (Jason Pierre-Paul, Ryan Jensen, Shaq Barrett, Ndamukong Suh and Shady McCoy — Antonio Brown and Leonard Fournette were not yet on the team). And they soaked in each of Brady’s words and took them to heart.
That day, writes Breer, was a big come-to-Jesus moment for the Bucs that things had to change and change right now if the team hoped to be playing meaningful football in January.
Joe also has to think the wow factor of Brady helped. For at least a few days, many players couldn’t believe their eyes that they were playing with a quarterback they watched on TV that damn near made the Super Bowl his part-time job.
If young players idolized Brady that much — and they did — then surely when Brady spoke brimstone and fire, they soaked in every syllable. After all, Brady’s been there; done that.
The street cred of six rings will do that for you.
(By the way, who rolled into work this morning like Gronk in the video below?)
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) January 25, 2021
January 25th, 2021 at 10:58 am
Go Bucs!!
January 25th, 2021 at 10:59 am
Culture has finally changed. Soon where going to be stealing the “Patriot Way” and make it the “Buccaneer way”
January 25th, 2021 at 10:59 am
That vid. No words. Says all it needs to.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:01 am
Leadership!
January 25th, 2021 at 11:07 am
Guess he could have just gathered them in a circle and ate his fingers.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:07 am
Love how after being here many times before he still has that goody grin he can’t seem to suppress. I’m feeling on cloud #9 this morning msyelf. Hard to focus on work
January 25th, 2021 at 11:09 am
Welcome to the new Title Town baby! Home of the MFs!
January 25th, 2021 at 11:13 am
We ain’t goin nowhere, we playin the Super Bowl in Raymond J Stadium tonight!!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 11:18 am
Thats awesome!
January 25th, 2021 at 11:19 am
@JMarkBuc. Freakin hilarious…
January 25th, 2021 at 11:22 am
I also like the high school practice field where Scotty Miller worked with Brady
January 25th, 2021 at 11:26 am
CAN YOU IMAGINE?!!
You’re M13, LVD, Marpet, even Fournette:
>You’ve been a NFL bottom dweller forever.
>TB12 comes to town. You’re playing with a living legend.
>You go 11-5
>You win the NFC Championship beating Saints and GB
In the blink of an eye you’re in the Super Bowl. Just wild!
January 25th, 2021 at 11:28 am
If only TB had worn his SB rings and starting eating W’s in front of the team. That would have been leadership!
January 25th, 2021 at 11:30 am
Gronk in the background there…. lol THATS WHATS UP!!
January 25th, 2021 at 11:47 am
YES SIR!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 11:48 am
brady and player development got us here…
now lets win it!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 11:53 am
The Super Bowl will come down to a battle of veteran leadership and WANT… in a battle with young cocky extremely talented offensive players
I think our prayers will be able to handle adversity should it come in the game better than the Chiefs.
Gonna be a great match of different styles
Duran vs Leonard.. of course most readers won’t get the comparison
I once stood 5’ from Duran after a workout in the ring and looked into is eyes as he passed by wondering who the F is that guy
January 25th, 2021 at 11:55 am
Legacies are built on coming through in big games. Bucs have beat 2 great teams and 2 great qbs on the road in a row. Arians decision for the bomb at the end of the 1st have was brilliant- kudos to him for no risk it no biscuit montra.
January 25th, 2021 at 11:58 am
lord of the rings and gronkzilla
January 25th, 2021 at 12:04 pm
Also, kudos to licht. I have watched the bucs take a goal and build and capitalize on it (1 more to go). All the building pieces have come together. I was wrong on cappa , all the dbs they took and rojo- I thought they were busts. Brady was the cherry on top. Very satisfying to build something and it comes to fruition.
January 25th, 2021 at 12:06 pm
Also, BIG kudos to the o line and the kicker. His money kick was BIG!
January 25th, 2021 at 12:13 pm
What a night!!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 12:14 pm
Feel bad for Rodgers and Brees but I am always interested how people perform in the biggest moments. Some people are great with no pressure. Others like Brady and Jordan live for the biggest moments. I remember Charles Barkley saying he saw people getting so tight at the end of a game shooting for the winning free throws you couldn’t stick a pin up their ass
January 25th, 2021 at 12:14 pm
Love it!
January 25th, 2021 at 12:19 pm
Awesome,these 2 could have their own comedy show. Superbowl ,baby!
January 25th, 2021 at 12:27 pm
That video is so COLD BLOODED! OUCH!
Calling all experts! How do you like me now!
WOW! Perfect tune for video!
LMAO!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 12:32 pm
Good stuff here joe. Bruce thought they had a pretty good practice but Brady didn’t think so, that right there tells you that the goat is more important than any Coach.
January 25th, 2021 at 12:38 pm
Agree. That video is funny as hell.
January 25th, 2021 at 12:39 pm
Cant wait
January 25th, 2021 at 12:42 pm
The problem with drops hasn’t seem to have faded. It is all about concentration, not physical talent. We absolutely cannot continue to have all of these dropped balls and beat KC.
January 25th, 2021 at 1:51 pm
Did you all see Roger’s hand shake with Brady after the game? As far as sincerity I would compare it toTrump shaking Bidens hand at his inauguration. Let’s see Bucs sent Brees and possibly Roger’s into retirement. That’s what called good defense.
January 25th, 2021 at 1:54 pm
You mean it never happened?
January 25th, 2021 at 2:17 pm
I’ve said this many times….in the NFL real recognizes real. All these guys have egos so to be the top dog, you have to go into the fight and come out victorious. You have to be a guy the fellas believe can deliver……that was never the case with Winston. It was the polar opposite. To hear these guys rave about how Brady makes other future HOF’ers step up…..That’s awesome.
January 25th, 2021 at 2:19 pm
I also wouldn’t discount Gronks impact…..He’s the ultimate team player, doing whatever is needed to get the W. The dude has made the playoffs every single year of his career and has a few rings. He is a great example of being a pros pro.
January 25th, 2021 at 2:36 pm
Where is NDog!
January 25th, 2021 at 2:47 pm
Swaaaaaag!
January 25th, 2021 at 3:21 pm
Ndog is dragging his itchy butt up and down Dale Mabry !
January 25th, 2021 at 4:53 pm
OBF Says:
January 25th, 2021 at 3:21 pm
Ndog is dragging his itchy butt up and down Dale Mabry !
LMAO!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
January 25th, 2021 at 5:09 pm
The Methuselah12 love is getting to be a bit much. Several teams went after TB when he threw his hat into the ring, leaving New England. He picked the Bucs cos of all the talent on the team. I don’t care 4 the guy, but he was right. Lord knows I spent plenty of time screaming in frustration while listening to Bucs radio. These 3 wins are a TOTAL TEAM effort. Now, on to the SB in Tampa. This is the way NFL championship games were played, before the BS stupid bowl crap. The team with the best overall record got the home field advantage. Go Mighty Bucs!!
January 25th, 2021 at 6:15 pm
Joe what I meant was if Trump shook hands with Biden at his inauguration he would have the same facial expression Roger’s did while shaking Brady’s hand, looked like he was drinking donkey piss.
January 25th, 2021 at 7:22 pm
Tampa Bay didn’t just get a quarterback. They got a player to inspire and transform their team and their organisation. And there was only one of those around. Cheers!
January 25th, 2021 at 8:01 pm
Just awesome!! Swag baby! Go Bucs and so happy for my fellow Bucs brothers!
January 25th, 2021 at 8:02 pm
AND THANK YOU JOES FOR THIS INCREDIBLE SITE AND OUTSTANDING ARTICLES! Love being able to share this with my bros!
January 25th, 2021 at 9:33 pm
I’ve been fortunate to have been a Patriots fan for 20 years and having Tom Brady as our quarterback i was shocked when he wasn’t going to be playing for the Pat’s when he signed with TB i had the feeling that TB with the talent they have now have the missing piece i rooted for Brady this year as i have rooted for him for the last 20 and as usual he did not disappoint he has the best talent he’s ever had and it shows and they have the best quarterback to ever play the game im looking forward to the SB and hopig that the Bucks will send KC packing and give their fans what they deserve the championships