Lavonte David Talks Tom Brady Lesson
July 17th, 2023
Quarterback Baker Mayfield should be a player very aware that every snap could be his last.
But per iconic Bucs linebacker Lavonte David, Mayfield will have a lot of company.
David joined The SiriusXM Blitz last week and explained that a legacy Tom Brady left his former Tampa Bay teammates is to appreciate the game because the game can be taken from you instantly.
“What did he instill in us, you know, even though that he’s gone? Never take the game for granted. You never know what play will be your last and you got to keep on continue fighting when you’re out there on the field,” David said of Brady. “The competitiveness that he has, it was second to none. I’ve never seen nothing like it in all my years playing football. That’s something I definitely take from him.”
Joe sure hopes the Bucs take the Brady approach to heart. In reality, the 2023 season is on thin ice. A slow start with a Week 5 bye could be a virtual death knell to Todd Bowles’ future and bring a changed approach to winning.
July 17th, 2023 at 12:40 pm
Is this fake news from Joe? The posters on this board would have you believe that Brady’s teammates hate his guts. Brady loved the game, but he had an unhealthy addiction to football. He was a tormented soul who consumed himself with football. He admitted to not sleeping after losses and had immense guilt if a pass that he threw got one his receivers injured. This is why I scoff when people suggest he wasn’t all in last season. He knows nothing but being all in. Do you really think Brady wasn’t still watching a ton of film because he was dealing with divorce? That’s laughable. Brady’s middling play last year wasn’t because he wasn’t all in or had “distractions.” He just simply had a physical decline in play and didn’t have the supporting cast around him to pickup the slack.
It’s interesting how Canales stresses that’s he likes a QB friendly offense and doesn’t want the QB to always be the hero. Sure sounds like Canales watched the film last year and saw that too much of the burden of the offense was put on the shoulders of the QB, a 45 year old QB at that. Last year, Bowles said from the beginning that he and Brady see the game the same way. Brady didn’t think him throwing the ball 50x a game was a winning formula, and Bowles agreed. Goedeke was recently on a podcast and said the OL wants to run the ball. He said it was too taxing having to protect the QB who’s dropping back 50x a game.
July 17th, 2023 at 12:41 pm
0-4, then Trask gets his shot!
July 17th, 2023 at 12:42 pm
RIP NE Fan
July 17th, 2023 at 12:57 pm
Lavonte David will probably never get the recognition he deserves, but at least he got a Super Bowl out of it.
July 17th, 2023 at 1:19 pm
Well done David. Go Trask. He will end up starting. Sooner or later.
July 17th, 2023 at 2:09 pm
Wanna hear something interesting about Lavonte David? #54 is 6th all-time amongst LBers in solo tackles and as of right now is tied with Brian Urlacher at 949 solo stops in 166 games played. Bobby Wagner is the closest active player with his 900 solo stops in 168 games. London Fletcher(aka Dot.com) is #1 on the list with 1200 solo stops, followed by Karlos Dansby, Keith Brooking, Ray Lewis, & Derrick Johnson before David at #6.
At least 80 tackles this year would get David to 3rd all-time amongst LBs. LVD has 10 less career INTs than Ray Lewis(20), but 3.5 more career sacks than Lewis and both are tied in terms of overall turnovers forced(39) between INTs & forced fumbles. Haven’t said this much, but if there’s one thing to point at that Mark Dominik did “well” it was handing in that pick card at the 2012 draft with Davids’ name on it.
July 17th, 2023 at 2:39 pm
Dooley … Pro Football reference has LVD as 17 all-time solo tackles. Ray is #1 with 1568. Derrick Brooks is #3 with 1,384. Ronde Barber is #10 with 1,044. I’m looking at more than LBs, which is probably the difference.
If LVD repeats his 2023 numbers he will move to #9 all-time. If he can stretch out two years (?), he’d likely finish at #4 behind Brooks. That would be so cool!!!
Interestingly, only 3 of the top 5 in solo tackles are in the HOF. Little chance of LVD making HOF if he only plays this year.
July 17th, 2023 at 2:51 pm
@Sly
Good eye Sly, I saw that of PFR myself, but initially when I saw the David stat on a University of Nebraska(I went down a weird rabbit hole) football page it shocked the hell out of me, so I started looking for how well Davids’ career production lined up with other tenured LBs. No matter what, top 20 in career solo/combined tackles is nuts considering how well David is still playing. Also, unlike others on the list David has done as a WLB in a 4-3 and a ILB in our now hybridized 3-4. Imagine if Schiano/Smith had him exclusively covering TEs instead of the like of Mason Foster or Kwon Alexander, no doubt in my mind Davids’ INTs would be
July 17th, 2023 at 2:58 pm
Oh the drama Joe, week 5 could be Bowles last! Glazers aren’t firing Bowles or any coach after 4 games. Unless perhaps they call they call the Glazers what Gruden did.
July 17th, 2023 at 3:05 pm
I guarantee the Bucs won’t be 0-4 before week 5, guarantee it … since we’ll have at least one game rescheduled or canceled due to a hurricane, that of course will hit somewhere else. That should save Bowles from having 4 loses in the first 4 weeks.
Actually I think the Bucs beat the Eagles on MNF. That’s just the type of game that loser Bucs teams always win – it’s the highlight of the season, then they get swept by the Falcons.
July 17th, 2023 at 3:22 pm
I’ll take “Force Another Tom Brady Story Into Joe Bucs Fan” for $400, Alex.
July 17th, 2023 at 3:25 pm
Canales is HC in waiting
Hopefully Bowles can find some wins and give the fans a good season
July 17th, 2023 at 3:51 pm
lol Rod. That’s perfect, we won’t get a bye week at all! (Again)
July 17th, 2023 at 8:48 pm
Yeah, don’t invest in FTX.
July 18th, 2023 at 8:03 am
That is funny…some of LVDs team mates were taking plays off.
Some on the other side of the ball took entire games off etc.
Not naming names but you know who.
Go Bucs!
July 18th, 2023 at 1:12 pm
Pimping out fugazzi crypto trash, and losing a ton of money in the process all the while dealing with a very public divorce, missing camp etc. The Bucs season last yr was sabotaged before it even started. Not to mention having Gomer Pyle as an OC, the Antonio Brown Saga, the litany of injuries… The Bucs may have gotten a superbowl out of this but jesus christ that version of the bucs became insufferable and not anywhere near as likeable as the 2002 team. You can also argue that they underachieved.