Lavonte David Downplays Departure Of Tom Brady
August 3rd, 2023
The pattern of Buccaneers acting like Tom Brady leaving the team has made no impact continues.
Perhaps it’s because no impact is being felt.
Iconic Bucs linebacker and longtime team captain Lavonte David jumped on the bandwagon today during an interview with CBS Sports HQ.
Here’s the verbatim exchange:
Pete Prisco: After being here and playing with Tom Brady for the last few years, how different is it with him not being here and now you have a quarterback competition?
Lavonte David: The only difference is, man, just, you know, that the hype died down; I guess. When you bring in Tom Brady, it comes with a lot of hype. You know what I’m saying, a legendary quarterback, a guy who played the game for 23 years at a high level. And to his own right, he deserves all the praise that he gets. But now that he’s gone, we kind of got written off a little bit with the two guys that we do have: Baker [Mayfield] and Kyle Trask … …”
So the greatest quarterback in history walks out of the building and David, like Anthony Nelson before him, says the only difference is less media hype.
That comes on the heels of Carlton Davis lashing out because so many people think the team will be worse without Brady, and Mike Evans telling Ira Kaufman that the 2022 offense “played bad all year.”
Anyone sense a theme?
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:24 pm
What else do you expect him to say?
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:25 pm
Hmmm, Joe … maybe this is just reality asserting itself, i.e. football is 22 guys plus special teams, not just a quarterback.
Maybe it’s too easy to forget that the Bucs defense made the two time MVP quarterback whom many claim to be GOAT II look like a feckless idiot in the Super Bowl a few years ago, when his offensive line cratered due to injury.
Quarterbacks are important, but I’m very weary of hearing people claim the NFL is a “quarterback’s league”. It ain’t and never was. It is a player’s league.
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:34 pm
Duane you are missing a few marbles. Bucs have signed and played 53 men rosters since forever. You contended for 2 seasons. Because of ONE qb. Laundry loyalty shouldn’t make you write ignorant comments on a message board.
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:35 pm
I sense Joe trying to start up unnecessary drama. Aaron Rodgers left and the players were hyping Jordan Love and calling him the best QB ever. This is a non-story
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:35 pm
Brady was great no doubt about it. Probably the greatest ever but…the Bucs were 8-9 last year and Brady, frankly looked old, tired and disinterested. In his defense, he had a lot going on with his personal life AND father time tapping him on the shoulder. I don’t think we will be worse. I’m betting a wad of cash on the over line of 6.5 wins.
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:36 pm
Joe, you sure seem to try to stir things up with your headlines, like ME13 dissing Tom Brady in that other article – which he did not. “Dissing and a backhanded criticism are two different things. Bobody seems to say anything like, “We blew a year with Brady at QB. We weren’t good enough around Tom. We let Tom down. Etc.”–Joe
LD is right, a lot of the eyes on Tampa are gone with Brady gone. And they are a good team. They just had Jameis blowing it before. Where are you going to miss Tom Brady? Depends on how well these QBs perform and when it’s the two minutes or less and you have to go the length of the field and score a TD. Do you have trust that Trask or Baker can get it done? Will the players? Now both of them can earn that trust, but right now, that’s where they are. Two relatively unknown QBs potentially leading a good team. The only real question on offense is the line being able to block for RBs, the RBs quality themselves, and the QBs – can they do it.
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:38 pm
+3500 just to get to the Sb. All Bucs fans run to a sport book quick. You finally rid your team of the old distracted dead weight qb. This website comment section is good stuff.
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:44 pm
Yeah brady was going thru alot of personal issues and his head wasn’t in it and the team knew it.
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:52 pm
@Joshua Porter. The coaches said he came to work everyday and worked hard. He was the same guy. The whole personal life distraction thing is overblown. What’s the excuse for the subpar play of other players? Brady’s personal life played out in the public, but you have no idea what issues players with lesser known names were going through. Maybe Devin White had personal stuff going and that’s why he didn’t play his best. You don’t know! Stop projecting! Brady won a damn SB with his mom suffering from cancer 1,000 miles away. He knows how to block out distractions. I’ll take my money on the guy who’s been through the trenches rather than a team that’s been known to be mentally weak.
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:54 pm
Brady absolutely did win us a few games last year in crunch time I feel like
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:59 pm
During OTAs, wide receiver Romeo Doubs also praised Love. “I think Jordan is a really good quarterback,” Doubs explained. “When you go from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan, Aaron was a really great quarterback, but I believe Jordan can do the same exact thing. So, I don’t really see what’s the big difference.”
This is what a Packers receiver said about the legendary QB Aaron Rodgers leaving the team.
The local media in GB aren’t hyping statements like this as an indictment on Rodgers.
August 3rd, 2023 at 4:59 pm
Note the utmost respect offered to TB12 by LVD prior to saying it’s just noise and lowered expectations
He isn’t going to disrespect Tom or Todd, he is a PROs PRO
Anyone with eyes could see the OLine issues, the crazy coaching decisions and the complete lack of energy or sense of urgency this team played with last year as compared to the prior two
The difference was the HC not Tom but LVD can’t say that – just like he has never bad mouthed any poor coach he has ever had – Schiano/Dirk/Lovie as examples
The Brady effect was drowned by toilet Bowles last year and thus it’s no big deal this year
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:04 pm
“One hundred percent, but that’s cool,” Clark said. “I like it that way. This has been one of the first offseasons where we ain’t really been getting the credit, getting the love. Everybody says Aaron determines whether we win or lose, so we love it. We’re going to embrace it. When it comes to Week 1, when the season gets here, we’ll see how everything stacks up. We’re excited about it.”
This is what DL Kenny Clark said about legendary QB Aaron Rodgers’ departure.
You sense a theme? Teams move on. They still have respect for the player, but they move. Once again, I didn’t see the media making some big deal about Clark’s statement.
Brady was only with us for three years
Without knowing the question asked, it’s really hard to comment. Sounds like Clark was asked about whether he realizes how underestimated the team is minus Rodgers. That’s a very different question than the one given to David and Nelson.–Joe
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:16 pm
@Busfan13: “Brady was only with us for three years!” Seemed more like 2.5 years. He checked out early last year.
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:16 pm
Levonte David is an idiot. There I said it.
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:17 pm
Absolutely, bye Brady, time to move on. He hurt us more than helped us last year. Of course there’s the Lewftwich travesty. Who even let that happen?
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:27 pm
This messianic worship of Brady despite his last year is comical. Yeah, he’s the GOAT, but he was average at best last year.
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:28 pm
@LT Dan. How was he checked out? I’ve seen checked out many times with players on this team over the years. A checked out player doesn’t have comebacks after the offense stalled a game. A checked out player doesn’t care! They just give up. He didn’t give up in games. A checked out player also doesn’t seethe on the sideline because he was pulled by the coach who didn’t see any value in winning the last game.
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:37 pm
He checked out because he was afraid to get hit . Just because he threw a tantrum on the sidelines doesn’t mean he cared . He was frustrated and blamed everyone else and took no responsibility.
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:41 pm
There are 53 players……22 starters……it’s perfectly natural and normal for players to believe one player makes all the difference…..sure, much of it….but not all.
Same as with an injury…..next man up.
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:42 pm
If Brady led the team deep into the playoffs, he’d still be in Tampa and the hype would live on.
But he played like an older guy at the end of his career, the offense stank, and the team laid a nasty egg in the first playoff game…at home.
There should be no hype, and the team needs a new mindset.
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:51 pm
@Mike. When did he place blame on others, he took full responsibility in his press conferences. He’s never thrown anyone under the bus. Yeah, the Stan culture is bad of a player, but the derangement hate of one is also bad.
August 3rd, 2023 at 5:57 pm
I love hype. I love big expectations. A winning mentality of a team should want that pressure. Wanting to stay under the radar is so lame. My expectation for this team is a SB. I’ll give us two years. I won’t just be happy improving on a 8-9 record or improving an anemic offense from last year. That’s a very low bar. The standard that’s been set is a SB. Carlton Davis better back up his words.
August 3rd, 2023 at 6:03 pm
@bucfan13 derangement hate? No, I’m not talking about him, I’m talking about the people that hero worship him even when he had a really bad year.
August 3rd, 2023 at 6:04 pm
The coaches have to convince the players that they can win without Brady so they play like they can still have shot at being a contender. The message has been received.
August 3rd, 2023 at 6:25 pm
There will be over a third of the team that never met Brady. Can we stop talking about Brady?
August 3rd, 2023 at 6:48 pm
No more Br**y articles. Old news. Living in the past. Not relevant.
August 3rd, 2023 at 7:03 pm
LVD plays defense. It’s no different for him … except he still gets questions about TB12
August 3rd, 2023 at 7:09 pm
Bucs better cool it with all the Brady slander. It took Robert Kraft a lot of begging to get him back in good graces again. I think Brady really loves Bucs and their fans. I think he really wants the team to do good
August 3rd, 2023 at 7:17 pm
“So the greatest quarterback in history walks out of the building and David, like Anthony Nelson before him, says the only difference is less media hype.”
That’s not exactly what he said.
He said that the team has been written off because of the two guys they have. That the hype for Brady is gone…because why would it still be there without him here?
The media doesn’t think the two guys we have are good enough. That’s what he is saying. That speaks to a huge downgrade at the position, so…there’s your other difference.
August 3rd, 2023 at 8:00 pm
By that standard, then no more Sapp, Lynch, Brooks, Barber… you do know you don’t have to read a story if you’re that triggered by it? Right?
August 3rd, 2023 at 8:02 pm
Not a dig at Brady but these guys have egos too and if people say the only reason we won the superbowl despite all the talent then yeah everyone on the squad is trying to prove they has something to do with that also. Smart attitude to be fair
August 3rd, 2023 at 8:31 pm
Brady’s the GOAT but can we please stop saying he was average last year. He was nowhere close to average. And if you go.strictly by his first three quarters of games, he was abysmal. Three and outs were the norm with him.audibling to smoke screens and checking everything else down… the only thing he did right was not turn the ball over.
August 3rd, 2023 at 8:33 pm
Nelson – you are missing the marbles … Brady signed with the Bucs only because of the great players already on the roster, and the promise that he could bring in a few players of his own choosing. He was important but no quarterback is an NFL team. You ignored the example I pointed out. That the MVP quarterback of the Chiefs absolutely sucked in our Super Bowl win in 2021 – he never made it to the end zone even once in that game, all due to a horrible offensive line, while the Bucs offensive line, and receivers and tight ends and running backs and defense, won that game for the Bucs. With teammates like that at least half the quarterbacks in the league would also have won that game.
Not to take anything away from Tom Brady, but that was clearly a Bucs win and a beat down of the Chiefs, despite their MVP quarterback, who had a better season than Tom Brady did.
August 3rd, 2023 at 8:57 pm
Joe Says:
August 3rd, 2023 at 8:00 pm
Nope. The difference is that we’re not already inundated with articles on the aforementioned Bucs legends. Also, those guys paid the price, suffering through the lean years and becoming the core of a winning tradition. On the other hand, the table was already set for Brady when he arrived. He was a hired gun. And the continued worship of him serves neither the team nor the fans. You’re basically just pushing out football-TMZ… celebrity nonsense.
August 3rd, 2023 at 9:35 pm
Brady gave us two INCREDIBLE years and one pretty good year. He will always be a huge part of BUCS lore. His departure is the fuel behind all talking head cases peeing down our backs and telling us it’s raining. I cannot control what well paid idiots blabber. I believe we will win our division and win at least one playoff game. Anything beyond that is gravy. I love gravy.
August 3rd, 2023 at 9:58 pm
Joe is milking Tom Brady again and making mountains out of ant hills for more money. Nothing to see here folks. I’m sure Belichick and the Patriots said similar things after Tom Brady left their organization even though they are trash without him.
But this just proves how important and rare great Quarterbacks in the NFL and why they get paid more than everyone else on the team ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
August 3rd, 2023 at 10:33 pm
Look, TB12 was a blessing and a curse. He brought us a mindset change and a SB victory. Forever grateful for that. But all of them know that last year, Tom was limited. The OL injuries and changes made him jittery and he couldn’t scramble, no naked bootlegs/misdirection plays, no standing in the pocket and rifling a ball absorbing the hit for a TD.
Don’t get me wrong, I DO NOT BLAME TB12. He was old and didn’t want to be a vegetable once he retired. So….I agree w/ the players. We are under the radar and we have an unpredictable offense with more QB movement. It could surprise the league. Limited national TV games, etc. Let the young players contribute outside of the pressure and hopefully we win the division. Once that happens, who knows….
August 3rd, 2023 at 10:42 pm
I mostly LOVE JBF’s headlines as they generally describe the content about which they advertise, unlike many other sites that try to come up with a click-type headline and then is followed
by an insipid, inappropriate article. “Downplaying” was an excellent word for David’s comments. He did not diss Tom in any way. It really means something to me that the guys who caught Tom’s “game-winning” passes and those who allowed someone to get open to catch them seem to get no acknowledgment in these discussions.
August 4th, 2023 at 3:21 am
Joe, LVD rightly is woried about the here and now and his own play and that of his current team mates. The rest is just media hype and noise. I imagine there are alot of guys who are fed up with the media circus. Especially all the questions about a guy who aint here! Not to mention all the loser predictions from most of them. I am really kind of surprised that none have gone off on Prisco and the rest of them.
What they are really looking for is for one of them to say something negative about Brady. It is sadly what the media is about these days. Build em up and knock em down.
Go Bucs!
August 4th, 2023 at 8:51 am
What is the guy supposed to say “The GOAT left and now we’re doomed” ?!?
You have to keep it positive and you have to believe.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:02 am
Brady comes back to Tampa? Instantly this team. no one gives a chance in hell of even a winning record, becomes part of the Superbowl conversation. As a player, Lavonte has to say what he is saying but there’s no excuse for any sentient human being to agree with him.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:51 am
This is a 4 win team without Brady.
Pretty soon it will become a reality for some of you people.