Oh, to be a fly on the wall during a Tom Brady-led Buccaneers practice.
Well, Albert Breer got to do just that a couple weeks ago while visiting Tampa Bay for joint practices between the Bucs and Tennessee Titans.
The Sports Illustrated NFL insider recounted his experiences Wednesday during an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” show. The result was a fascinating look into the culture Brady has built since leaving the New England Patriots in early 2020 to sign with the Buccaneers, whom he led to a Super Bowl championship last season.
(You can click here to listen to the full segment, which starts at the 18-minute mark.)
Here are Breer’s full comments:
“If you go down there, that’s really, in a lot of ways, that’s Tom’s operation down there. … People act like it’s Club Med down there for him, it’s intense down there because of him. Like, (Bruce) Arians told me stories of Tom throwing his helmet in drills at the beginning of camp because things weren’t run the way he wanted them to. That place is intense and Patriot-like because Tom Brady’s the quarterback. He has touched every part of that building, and there are other guys, too. … But, that place is a run a certain way because Brady is there. And, like, you can see his fingerprints all over the whole operation. I think it’s something like 27 players on the roster now working with (trainer) Alex Guerrero. Think about that — that’s half the roster.
” … The really interesting thing about it, if you go down there, one of the things those guys will tell you is, like, he’s not making decisions. … He’s just got input. On (Rob Gronkowski), for example, (Brady) went to (Buccaneers general manager) Jason Licht and said, ‘I think Gronk will come out of retirement if you go get him.’ So they want and got him. He’s like, ‘Could you guys sign Antonio Brown?’ They go and sign Antonio Brown. They asked him about Leonard Fournette, and he said, ‘Well, can I do anything?’ So, they had him call Leonard Fournette. … People think he’s running the personnel side — he isn’t. He’s just got input on all of it and they involve him in it because that’s the smart thing to do.
” … And then, when you get to the practice field, it is… I mean, it’s freaking Thunderdome out there because of him. It is an intense, competitive environment. And it was interesting because, when I was there, (Mike) Vrabel was there, too, because the Titans were there, too. And I think Vrabel really, really liked the idea that his players — and they didn’t practice well the first day, the Titans coaches got after their guys — got to see, ‘This is the environment that I got to play in, because of that guy right over there.'”
That Brady has completely transformed the Buccaneers’ culture should not come as a surprise. He’s the greatest quarterback in NFL history, and carries huge influence wherever he goes.
Nevertheless, his having the energy to maintain a maniacal approach to football at age 44 remains incredible, and a pivotal component to his sustained success.
