Tom Brady is a man of his word.
Brady recently capped off what arguably was the most impressive Super Bowl run of his career, which is saying something. The 43-year-old led the Buccaneers -- who hadn't reached the playoffs since 2007 prior to his arrival in Tampa Bay -- to three road postseason victories before walloping the Kansas City Chiefs on the big stage. The Bucs' Super Bowl season also was made that much more difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite these obstacles and more, Brady apparently was confident in Tampa Bay's chances in winning a Lombardi Trophy well before he played his first game with the Bucs. The star quarterback expressed as much over the summer to Chris Godwin, who offered some insight into the exchange he and Brady had when the star wide receiver gave up jersey No. 12.
"Listen, I think he said we were going to get a Super Bowl, so I'm going to hold him to that," Godwin said in late June during an interview with The Checkdown.
Mission accomplished.
Brady also was supremely confident in the Bucs leading up to Super Bowl LV, despite Tampa Bay facing the daunting task of trying to dethrone Patrick Mahomes and Co. The future Hall of Famer texted his teammates "We will win" every night leading up to the final contest of the 2020 season.
The Bucs should be able to stage a more "normal" preseason this spring and summer, and their core group now is battle-tested and has championship pedigree. As such, you can imagine how confident Bruce Arians' team will be heading into the 2021 campaign.
In fact, Brady and Co. wasted no time talking about "running it back" after winning Super Bowl LV. The Bucs, of course, will have a target on their backs as reigning champions, but that's not something Brady is unfamiliar with.
