NFL legend Tom Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020 and led them to a Super Bowl win in that same year. It was after 18 years that the Bucs had won. Apparently, the magic came from TB12’s speech before the game.
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“I almost cried in that speech. I ain’t going to lie,” former Bucs star Leonard Fournette said on 4th & South with Jarvis Landry and Leonard Fournette.
Fournette played with Tampa Bay for three seasons from 2020 to 2022, and that is when he crossed paths with Brady. Together, they won Super Bowl LV against the Kansas City Chiefs and made it to two playoff appearances.
Bucs tackle Tristan Wirfs explained in detail the atmosphere that day. The 27-year-old remembered how they were practicing when the banners for the big game were being put up. Former head coach Bruce Arians told them to stop looking at the shenanigans and focus, or they would “be real sorry” for what they focused on instead.
During the 2020 season, the Bucs were flying high in the offense and defense overall rankings. They were third on offense and eighth on defense. But it was facing the Chiefs that was difficult, since Kansas City had beaten Tampa Bay at their home in Week 12.
The team was filled with questions about their performance. With it being the biggest stage in the NFL, the expectations and doubts were at their peak. But that is when Brady gave his speech and turned it all around.
“Tom speech, you can’t put it into words. It started off super not mellow, but like his tone, and then just slowly started [going upwards], like he wasn’t yelling, wasn’t screaming, but just going up. I’m getting goosebumps right now, going up, up, up, and then he ends, and it’s like we’re going to win; there was no doubt in my mind that we’re losing,” Wirfs revealed.
Similarly, Fournette also had the same feeling listening to TB12’s pre-game talk. The running back talked about it earlier in 2021 on ESPN’s First Take.
“He gave us a speech before the game about honor,” Fournette said. “I ain’t going to go into details about it, but it was deep, you know? I’d never felt that deep — my feelings toward the word ‘honor’ until he put it in a sentence that made everybody open their eyes and realize that we were going to win this game.”
To date, the footage or audio of that speech has not been released, even after linebacker Devin White tagged Tampa Bay on X to release it. To which the team’s account replied with a playful jab, commenting, “We thought you were recording it.”
Well, we did not get to hear what TB12 said during those final moments, but we sure did hear the mic’d-up version of it.
“Great day, boys,” Brady said on the sideline. “Lock in now. Lock in. You know what to do. From here, we’re just playing ball. We already know what they’re going to do. We’ve got all the answers to the test. Now we just have to go have some fun and go execute.”
It was the first time that Brady had addressed the entire team that season. The legendary quarterback has admitted that he likes to “pick his spots” to not lose his impact. And it surely made an impact that day.
The Bucs won the Super Bowl and made history by becoming the first NFL team to play and win the big game at home. Brady earned his seventh ring and became the quarterback with the most rings in NFL history. Arians became the second-oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl at 68 years and 127 days. The first is George Halas, who won it at 68 years and 331 days.