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BY IRA KAUFMAN

Before Tom Brady came along, the Bucs were a franchise for the ages.

The Dark Ages.

It wasn’t very long ago when this team was in the midst of a 12-year playoff drought, encompassing all or part of the regimes of Jon Gruden, Raheem Morris, Greg Schiano, Lovie Smith, Dirk Koetter and Bruce Arians.

Tampa Bay was an afterthought on the NFL map. Even before the schedule would come out in April, it was a safe bet you’d find most Buc games on Sunday afternoons, 1 p.m. kickoff.

You could set your watch by it. The Bucs would come on right after FOX’s pre-game show with Howie, Terry and the gang. Good luck getting a mention as the panel spun around the NFC.

In the 10 years before Brady arrived in 2020, Tampa Bay averaged 11 starts per season at 1 p.m. The Bucs made only 14 appearances on prime time during that span and Raymond James Stadium was hardly considered a tough ticket on fall Sundays.

That’s the way it was.

Head coaches would come and go, along with quarterbacks, coordinators and draft busts. The Bucs had a lease in the NFC South basement and national talk show hosts had nothing good to say about this club — when they mentioned the Bucs at all.

Then it all changed in the stroke of a pen. Brady was a Buc and suddenly those 1 p.m. starts were limited to an average of seven games per season. In the past three years, the Bucs made 14 appearances in prime time — matching their total from the entire previous decade.

It’s certainly been a marvelous ride, filled with success and relevance. The Glazers found themselves all-in because how could you not be with No. 12 under center? The Bucs spent a lot of money and Jason Licht cashed in at draft time with studs like Tristan Wirfs and Antoine Winfield Jr.

Add in some smart free-agent signings and you had the ingredients for a championship club. Now, the calculus has to be different.

An even tougher coaching job lies ahead for Todd Bowles.

Brady is delving into other ventures and Todd Bowles will greet a younger team in training camp, a faster club with a coaching staff entirely of his choosing. He won’t have Brady to set the tone, but he also won’t have the expectations that come with No. 12.

The Bucs are returning to the NFL shadows, at least for a while.

This will be a necessary reset, necessary because bills have come due and the only quarterback under contract has attempted all of nine passes as a pro.

GM Jason Licht shouldn’t need a three-year plan to compete, writes Ira Kaufman.

This reboot doesn’t have to last long. If the Bucs do this right and get a little fortunate, those prime-time games could return quickly, with Brady commenting on former teammates from the FOX broadcast booth.

You start at the quarterback position because that’s what history dictates. Find an elite quarterback and you’re relevant. Find an elite quarterback and you’re interesting. Find an elite quarterback and you’re competitive.

If he’s young, even better.

Tampa Bay fans know what it’s like to root for teams whose playoff dreams are shattered by Thanksgiving Day. That’s when you start thinking about a draft that’s five months away. This community is on a first-name basis with obscurity and we don’t want to return to the days of bore.

Sunday kickoffs at 1 p.m. are convenient for traffic patterns and getting back home in time for dinner, But it also means you’re an NFL dud, stuck in the mud with the Bears, Commanders, Cardinals and the rest of your compatriots in the NFC South.

Prepare for obscurity. Use it as motivation. Jobs and ticket sales are on the line.

We’ve seen the good times and we certainly know the bad times.

Find a quarterback to build around and all this apprehension will disappear — along with those dreaded 1 p.m. starts.

Yes, that warranty includes USED vehicles!
Ira drives a 2020 Ford Escape (cherry red).