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BY IRA KAUFMAN

Fifteen Super Bowl champions have tried and failed to repeat since Tom Brady turned the trick with the 2004 Patriots.

The old sports adage that it’s harder to stay at the top than get there has proven to be true in the NFL as Brady returns to lead the 2021 Bucs in their historical quest. Tampa Bay brings back the same 22 starters, but will the hunger be the same this fall?

On paper, this is the most balanced and talented roster in the league. Now, the Bucs must prove they are not paper champions.

The list of repeat champs during the Super Bowl era is impressive: the 1967 Packers, the ’73 Dolphins, the 1975 Steelers, the ’79 Steelers, the 1989 49ers, the ’93 Cowboys, the 1998 Broncos and those ’04 Pats, guided by Mr. Brady. Looking for a common denominator?

Each of those clubs was led by a Hall of Fame quarterback — Bart Starr, Bob Griese, Terry Bradshaw (twice), Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, John Elway and Brady, who will enter Canton five years after retirement.

These Bucs appear to be in great shape to join this noble group of repeat champs. The starters are back and the core of the coaching staff remains intact. Age isn’t a major issue … primarily because Brady is ageless.

Pete Carroll weighs in

Yet there are NFL sharks in the waters surrounding Tampa Bay.

“It’s just historically an enormous challenge for teams to come back, and there’s a lot of obvious reasons why,” says Seattle coach Pete Carroll.

Carroll almost pulled it off, but the 2014 Seahawks fell just short when New England’s Malcolm Butler intercepted a Russell Wilson pass at the goal line in the final seconds.

“You get everybody’s best shot,” says Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, who played on Denver’s back-to-back title teams. “Maybe they aren’t going to the playoffs, but if they beat you, they feel good, real good. Some teams are just going to measure their season by if they can beat the defending Super Bowl champions. People don’t look past you. They look to you, they look for you.”

The three biggest stumbling blocks for defending Super Bowl champs are easy to identify.

First and foremost are key injuries. In Tampa Bay’s case, keeping Brady healthy is Job 1. With all due respect to Bruce Arians, Blaine Gabbert is not the league’s most underrated player. He’s a 31-year-old journeyman with a 13-35 career record.

If he’s forced into an extended starting role, the Bucs are in big trouble.

If either Shaq Barrett or Jason Pierre-Paul are sidelined for a long period, Tampa Bay’s pass rush off the edges would face a major challenge. Devin White’s blitzing skills are no longer a surprise to offensive coordinators.

There’s also the issue of complacency creeping in. According to Simeon Rice, too many members of the 2003 Bucs were still thinking about the Super Bowl confetti coming down at Qualcomm Stadium.

Still thirsty for Cam Newton’s Gatorade?

Players like Barrett and Chris Godwin were shown the big money. Let’s see how the hunger games play out.

“You think, we won one year; why wouldn’t you win the next year, too?,” Carroll says. “It’s almost easier to get there and win it than it is to come back and do it the second time around. It’s because of the shift that takes place once you win, and all that goes on through those months of the offseason and the buildup and then the anticipation going through the start of the year, all of the stories and the storylines and the scenarios and all of that, and the mentality of the players and what they’ve just accomplished.”

Another potential obstacle is grousing about playing time, especially after you’ve just contributed to a championship run.

Leonard Fournette was exceptional in the playoffs, but he needed a stern lecture from Arians during the regular season to get his mind right because Ronald Jones was clearly the No. 1 back. Who knows whether Antonio Brown can keep it together if he doesn’t get enough targets as part of a deep receiving corps?

So much can go wrong for a defending champion, but Brady has already proven he has the chops to repeat. His commanding presence alone can steer this pirate ship through choppy waters.

“I know that winning a Super Bowl is a big deal and all that,” says Carroll, “but winning two is really cool.”

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