Tristan Wirfs Has Strong Defense Of Lavonte David
February 21st, 2025
All-Pro teammate has his back.
All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs didn’t just go to bat for a valued teammate. Wirfs belted one out of the park.
Appearing on Ari Meirov’s podcast in New Orleans during Super Bowl week for The33rdTeam, Wirfs was asked why the NFL community always seems to give Bucs icon Lavonte David the short end of the stick.
Wirfs, in so many words, suggested those in the NFL world who don’t give David his just due are criminals.
“I don’t know,” Wirfs answered Meirov of David getting stiffed annually for honors and awards. “You talk about greats — [David] is criminally underrated and criminally under-recognized for what he’s done and been doing for a long time.
“It’s a shame, it is. “Lavonte is an incredible human being, an incredible football player. He has been doing it for 13 seasons now. But I don’t know why. I don’t know if it’s because of a small market. It can’t be that small of a market, it’s Tampa.
“I don’t know what it is but Lavonte David is gonna have a gold jacket one day.”
Just to reinforce Wirfs’ point about market size, per Nielsen Media Research ratings, which is the television industry standard for researching TV ratings and TV markets, Tampa Bay is the No. 11 market in the United States, just below San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose and just above Phoenix.
Tampa Bay is a bigger TV market than Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami and Cleveland.
Yet if David played for the 49ers, Lions, Vikings, Dolphins or Browns, you think he’d get shafted year after year like he does with the Bucs? Hell, no!
There’s not much more to add about Wirfs defending David. He was spot on.
And Joe hopes Wirfs is correct, that some day David is wearing a gold jacket.
February 21st, 2025 at 7:25 am
I do believe two of the reasons that the Bucs have always been kind of ignored by the national media is that while the Tampa market has had some very iconic journalists giving shout outs for Tampa teams such as the late great Tom McEwan, Ira, the Joes, Steve Duemig, etc, there has also been local media who never really supported the local teams and instead blasted them in the almost defunct local fish wraps such as a guy named Tom J. and a few others. The fact that the Bucs were extremely bad in the decade of depression (the 2010s) as well as during all but 2 or 3 of the creamsicle years under Hugh C also has also worked against the Bucs getting any good press over the years and this feeling seems to linger with the national talking heads.
Even when the Bucs were the media darling in 2020 and 2021, all the credit has gone to TB12, while guys like Lavonte David have been continuously ignored. Mike Evans is the exception to this rule, though even the greatest all time Buc on offense is still overlooked by some in the national press. This has always been an issue. Heck if it was not for the brilliant and persuasive Ira Kaufman, there is a good chance that a couple of the Bucs wearing gold jackets in Canton might still be waiting for their turn. It is true that Tampa/St Pete/Sarasota is a huge media market but the national media still treats this area like a small market; kind of like how the Rays have been lumped in with Oakland, Miami, Pittsburgh and KC for always being ranked in the bottom 5 for attendance and also as low in player salary each year.
February 21st, 2025 at 7:38 am
It’s just a popularity contest, which is a shame
Dudes a Hall of famer for sure, his highlight tapes are awesome to watch, he slices through offensive lines better than running backs do
I bet this is his last year and I’m going to soak it up and enjoy it, Top 5 Buc for sure
February 21st, 2025 at 7:39 am
It’s just a popularity contest, which is a shame
Dudes a Hall of famer for sure, his highlight tapes are awesome to watch, he slices through offensive lines better than running backs do
I bet this is his last year and I’m going to soak it up and enjoy it, Top 5 Buc for sure
February 21st, 2025 at 7:51 am
David is not boisterous. He just makes play after play after play, then gets up and does it again. It’s beyond me why his greatness is not globally acknowledged.
February 21st, 2025 at 7:55 am
It’s just a popularity contest, which is a shame
February 21st, 2025 at 8:06 am
Wirfs was one hell of a pick
February 21st, 2025 at 8:35 am
It’s not like they’re ignoring Tampa. Just LVD. Always has great season. Pro Bowl seasons. Maybe someone behind the scenes?
February 21st, 2025 at 8:36 am
David was one hell of a pick.
February 21st, 2025 at 8:59 am
Ha, Wirfs is slowly becoming the strong voice of the franchise. We all know he is dead on about David. I ,as many have watched him play over the years and have seen him take over games with impacting plays. Yes, he is slowing down ,but at his age still quite the player. Yes, had the Bucs teams of the past been better, maybe their would be a different opinion. However, David played during the lost decadeI believe it has been called. We all know only a few players on the Bucs stood out , while the team then could not buy a win. Yes, criminal if David is not one day in the HOF. ,
February 21st, 2025 at 9:07 am
It’s not the market size, it’s how much of that market is fans of the team in that market.
I live in Buffalo, it is very rare to find someone who is not a Bills fan. People don’t move to Buffalo for better weather or retirement so there are very few transplant fans. However, I know many people who have moved to Tampa and they’re still Bills fans. The same can probably be said for Cleveland, Detroit, and Minnesota.
When I watch Tampa home games, the crowd noise is loud for many of the visitors. I’m assuming there are a lot of transplants down there who still hold their original allegiances.
February 21st, 2025 at 9:52 am
LVD is the man
February 21st, 2025 at 9:57 am
If he returns for one more year, he’ll have better stats that the biggest names in the sport. His entrance to Canton will be secured.
February 21st, 2025 at 10:02 am
Stickinup4Centers … You made some great points about our fanbase here, but the HOF is not a popularity contest. It is about accomplishments over the course of a career, and Lavonte has a boatload of accomplishments. I see no reason why he’d be denied entry into the HOF.
A total of 11 Buccaneers have been elected to the HOF: 9 players & 2 coaches/GMs (Tony Dungy & Ron Wolf). Of the 9 players, only 5 were ‘home-grown’ who spent their whole career as Bucs: Lee Roy Selmon, Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, John Lynch & Ronde Barber. The other 4 (Steve Young, Randall McDaniel, Tim Brown & Darrelle Revis) only spent 1-2 seasons as Bucs.
Looks like there are already 34 LBs in the HOF. Of those, 11 have been selected since 2014, the year that Derrick Brooks was elected. LVD has already played in 198 regular season games, far more than all but 3 of those 11. If he decides to play 2 more years, he’ll have more games than all but 1 (Junior Seau) of any of those 11 LBs. And I’d say that his accomplishments would stack up favorably with any of those who’ve already made it.
February 21st, 2025 at 10:04 am
Hopefully he comes back, the Bucs get a ring, and the rest of the world takes notice!
February 21st, 2025 at 10:16 am
It is a shame. It is just a popularity contest.
StickinUp4Centers – Absolutely right and it’s frustrating. We have had that conversation before about Tampa fans still cheering for their homegrown team. Many on here are diehard Buc fans and we didn’t grow up here.
February 21st, 2025 at 10:38 am
Defense Rules, I’ve got a plan. For our defense. Let’s just get 5 guys like those 5 homegrown Bucs that you named. Keep LaVonte another year and then get another Suh and JPP. Add Winfield to that and then Vea and Kancey- that’s 11. Then we’ll just work on depth and we oughta be good. These Front Office guys make pretty’s good money, you think they could have figured that out by now. Geez!
February 21st, 2025 at 11:00 am
Just enjoying the moment. Wirfs looks like the same high caliber human that LVD is and that’s a very high bar. We can worry about the merits of complementary football and its impact on time of possession and the turnover battle later.
Good on ya, Tristan.
LVD for HIF.
February 21st, 2025 at 11:16 am
Kenton … That about defines the defense that we fielded in our 2020 Super Bowl year. In the SB itself we started Suh, RNR, JPP, Shaq, LVD, White, Dean, Davis, SMB, Whitehead & Winfield. Then we brought in Vea for Depth. Wow.
Didn’t have a huge amount of rotation either. LVD, White, Winfield all played 100% snaps. Davis & SMB played 97% snaps. JPP, Shaq & Dean played 83-89% snaps. Suh & Whitehead played 64-68% snaps. Vea (41%), McClendon (31%) and RNR (17%) filled the NT slot. The rest had to pretty much fight for scraps. And oh ya, everyone was firing on all cylinders (well, except maybe Whitehead who was hurt). The rest were animals.
We’ve got a ways to go to get back to THAT defense (Mahomes didn’t have a chance). But we’ve got some great building blocks, and with a couple of good FA signings & a solid draft we can field a Top-10 defense I’m convinced. Time to git er done.
February 21st, 2025 at 12:44 pm
Aqualung … ‘We can worry about the merits of complementary football and its impact on time of possession and the turnover battle later.’
I’m hurt. But then again, anyone who’s promoting ‘LVD for HIF’ doesn’t really concern me THAT much.
BTW, just out of curiosity, why’d you change your handle?
February 21st, 2025 at 1:28 pm
Tampa TV Market and Tampa TV Market of Actual Tampa Bay Fans are 2 very different things unfortunately.
February 21st, 2025 at 5:53 pm
LVD shall have a Gold Jacket.
Love Lavonte David. We need #54 Next Year
February 22nd, 2025 at 10:27 am
Lavonte is gonna look great in gold.