Tristan Wirfs Talks Impactful Moments
June 30th, 2021
What’s not to like about the Buccaneers’ superstar right tackle?
Joe can’t think of a darn thing.
Second-team All-Pro Tristan Wirfs is even a fun interview. You never quite know where he’s going to go.
Weeks ago he joined old Iowa football friends on the Washed Up Walkons podcast and dropped a few nuggets of interest.
Asked about the coolest person to reach out to him during his Buccaneers days (people not on the Tampa Bay roster), Wirfs went with three-time Pro Bowler Kyle Long responding to him on Instagram before the NFC Championship game. That interaction fired up him even more to maul the Packers, he said.
Wirfs said he used to study Long when he played for the Bears. Ironically, Long unretired and now the Chiefs are hoping he can help fix their subpar O-line.
On learning the NFL is a business, Wirfs said it hit quickly — and hard.
“Your locker buddies with somebody one day and then you come back the next day and their stuff is gone,” Wirfs said, without naming his lost Bucs pal. “It was like the fourth day of camp, I can’t remember but the dude next to me, like all of his stuff was just one. That kind of threw me off.”
As for Wirfs’ growth at the pro level, it’s very real, he said. He’s not just winning physically. His football knowledge “has gone up a ton” along with “situational awareness,” which he explained is night-and-day different between the Bucs and Hawkeyes.
As for following the TB12 method of fitness and diet, Wirfs isn’t going there yet. He said Brady gave players some protein and electrolytes. But overall, Wirfs said “I don’t really take supplements.”
On a more personal note — and Joe publishes this in hopes of saving a life — Wirfs told a story about narrowly avoiding a horrific accident while texting and driving in Iowa before his Bucs days. And the way Wirfs laid out the tale, that came after another instance of getting his vehicle stuck in a ditch on a dangerous road.
Wirfs said he learned from the experiences.
June 30th, 2021 at 2:34 pm
I saw the Man on the road next to me obviously texting in the left hand turn lane. The light turned green, but he just sat there, texting away. Finally, someone blew the horn, and just as I was about to yell at him for texting and driving, I noticed he was wearing a mask, inside an empty Car!
That indicated to me he was a special kind of stupid, and yelling at him would have been ineffective!
June 30th, 2021 at 3:12 pm
lol@Chris. I wd like to see this interview but the link doesn’t seem to go to it directly..
June 30th, 2021 at 3:48 pm
Lol Chris. Good point. Can’t fix stoopid.
June 30th, 2021 at 3:55 pm
he should do a PSA on don’t text and drive as it is deadly–see every day going 80mph on way home from work
June 30th, 2021 at 6:01 pm
Yep, used to drive eating Taco Bell and putting on the sauces as I was barreling down I-4. I would finish lunch and then start reading and responding to emails. I just about rear ended the vehicle in front of me at a high speed. That cured me of those STOOPID habits.
June 30th, 2021 at 6:16 pm
The same people who cry about you not wearing a mask use their phone while driving. God help us.
Looking forward to seeing Wirfs bulldoze quite a few people this year.
June 30th, 2021 at 7:08 pm
A Rookie that only allowed one Sack all year and never missed a SNAP????????
I wish I could do a line from Sho Nuff! from “Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon”
June 30th, 2021 at 10:16 pm
Prototype Right Tackle and many other positions drafted by Licht. And getting Arians to come here bought him time, saved his job…then getting TB12 allowed everyone to shine. You couldn’t write a better story.
July 1st, 2021 at 1:01 pm
I saw the video of Tristan jumping out of waist deep water in his pool, and landing on his feet on the deck.
I went and tried it.
I knew right then and there, that This young man was something beyond special.
That takes monstrous core strength!