The Brady-Gronk Effect At Work; And AB?
January 19th, 2024
Antoine Winfield, Jr.
Once upon a time in the summer of 2021, the Bucs were very excited about having furniture-hurling, bicycle-throwing Antonio Brown on the roster because of what he brought to training camp practices.
There’s plenty to say about Brown, but he always was lauded for his work ethic and unmatched practice devotion.
An important person with the Bucs had told Joe back then that the juice Brown would bring in 2021 training camp would be a difference-maker and keep the team humming like it did late in the 2020 championship season. Remember, Brown didn’t join the Bucs until October of 2020.
Of course, practice-crazed Tom Brady was the quarterback and Rob Gronkowski was in the house and known for his steady work.
Buccaneers All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. reflected on those days recently during his visit to The NFL Report on NFL+. Winfield was a rookie back then and he was asked about what he learned about winning in the postseason from the great veterans around him.
Winfield didn’t hesitate. He went right to their all-business, all-effort mentality.
“When you’re in here, you’re working. When you’re practicing, you’re working,” Winfield said. “You can’t just go through a practice and be calm and, you know, not make plays. You gotta go in there and work like it’s a game.”
Much was made of The Brady Effect when The Goat was in Tampa. It was said his influence would be felt on the team for years down the road.
The 2022 team that whimpered out of the season with Brady poured a little cold water on that theory, but there’s a chance The Brady Effect is taking center stage this week. A lot of Bucs know exactly how to proceed in a championship way.
January 19th, 2024 at 10:08 am
I think the Brady effect is real….not on every player but on many….if you don’t take lessons from the best….you haven’t learned.
January 19th, 2024 at 10:10 am
^^ Well said Tampabaybucfan
January 19th, 2024 at 10:27 am
Agreed TBBF. They better damn well treat this week of preparation serious or they’ll have their arses handed to them.
January 19th, 2024 at 10:31 am
Brady, Gronk and Brown are all Hall of fame players. Their work ethics set a tone of excellence that is being passed down by the nucleus of the 2020 champion players like Winfield, David, Evans, Godwin, Barrett and others that can only help the rookies improve and grow because of the great veteran Bucs players,
The Bucs veterans have built the foundation for the Bucs to be relevant for years to come.
January 19th, 2024 at 10:35 am
The Bucs have been here before. They can win this game. I know Goff has had many good games against the Bucs defense. Playoff Todd Bowles will come up with another master class plan to shut their offense down on Sunday. Bucs win by two scores.
January 19th, 2024 at 10:48 am
Go Bucs
January 19th, 2024 at 10:55 am
I know who wasn’t working yesterday and probably distracted to get ready for an interview the day before. Canales is distracted and not as prepared as he should be. Which means the offense isn’t as ready as it should be. Priorities are not where they should be. I hope the offense doesn’t show up looking like they did the last two regular season games. Canales will be in the cross hairs. I hope they are ready it is the playoffs. But hey take a few days for yourself the teams good.
January 19th, 2024 at 10:59 am
I think that is something the media is forgetting. A lot players on this team played in the Superbowl and have experience being in big games.
January 19th, 2024 at 11:00 am
Guy prolly spent an hour on a zoom call, the world isn’t coming to an end
January 19th, 2024 at 11:01 am
There is a lot that goes into it. It’s not a machine. Many of us look at it like it’s a car engine. It should run correctly if you put the right gas in it, maintain it properly. There are so many variables. The organization, the coaches, player skill, talent, drive/desire, schedule, injuries.
AB going nuts, Tom getting divorced, Gronk hurting too much to want to come back, now White seemingly getting pissed, Evans getting the dropsies, White not seeing the holes.
I think every damn organization has 70 to 90% whats needed to win. The other 30 to 10% comes down to variables, luck, other team problems, distractions etc…. which is why we watch. I scream at that TV so friggin loud every game day. I want to will these guys to overcome their shortfalls and win. I want to support a winner. Most these guys want to win. A handful couldn’t care less. Who was that DE we had that tried to make a career out of the UFC? Said he never like football or something like that? He was just a natural athlete no desire… so many variables. Jeff Jadgodzinski the OC couldn’t call plays, Lovie couldn’t gell a team together, Leftwich didn’t have a workable plan and couldn’t adjust. Man, it’s crazy when you have a winning season and it’s even more amazing when a team is a dynasty, Pats, Dolphins, Cowboys, Green Bay. The energy, luck, skill that goes into that is not just lightning in a bottle.
Maybe TB doesn’t have a chance. They haven’t looked reliably competitive throughout the season. 1st yr OC, first yr for QB in a new system, defensive backs scheme has been wonky. But hopefully the Winfields, Davids, Wirf’s, Mayfields, Evans make it happen.
January 19th, 2024 at 11:06 am
There is the Brady effect, but for Winfield, he has been around it his whole life, I am sure those weekly conversations with his father are pretty much speaking volumes to his on field and practice play
January 19th, 2024 at 11:15 am
Brady sat and watched a Patriots team similar to what they have going on now his first season. After that they missed the playoffs a couple times and got bounced out in the Wild Card round a couple.
In his many seasons he knew what a good team looked like and it’s potential. He was not going to come out and say ‘there is not a chance in Hell this team is going anywhere in 2022’ but I think he knew it and missing some time was not going to change it one way or the other. He still managed to get the Bucs to the dance on and 8-9 record and was able to rest with the starters week 18.
Today this team is better on the Defensive side of the ball but Offensive side is not as good as 22 but has caught some breaks and weak teams along the way.
January 19th, 2024 at 11:17 am
I hope players and coaches are watching GMFB all picking LIONS!!!! Come on Bake!!!
January 19th, 2024 at 11:19 am
Joe, You just wrote an article suggesting Bowles insulted TB12 for being soft.
I just searched your archives and I don’t see the article on your site.
Was this a makeup article?
Don’t be ridiculous. Here it is: https://www.joebucsfan.com/2024/01/we-got-mentally-tough-this-year/
January 19th, 2024 at 11:21 am
Mandarin bobby hand job Kraft, has know idea what he let go. Bobby is borderline senile.
January 19th, 2024 at 11:25 am
Not much is said anymore about comparing the OCs from the previous season with this season. Have we forgotton?
January 19th, 2024 at 11:28 am
LFG baby
January 19th, 2024 at 11:30 am
@Since76,
If that’s the case no doubt we win this game because their OC had 6 interviews this week.
Probably more like “what negative thing can I pull out of my a** to be a troll today?”.
January 19th, 2024 at 11:41 am
Don’t think Canales is distracted. He knows full well all potential suitors will be paying attention to his performance Sunday.
January 19th, 2024 at 11:45 am
@Allen Lofton
Brown is no hall of famer and won’t ever get inducted. If he does then the standards are just falling off. All this talk about his work ethic? He ran off in thd middle of a game and quit on his team for crying out loud.
January 19th, 2024 at 11:50 am
Don’t forget the high school coaches and guidance counselors!
January 19th, 2024 at 12:25 pm
Not:
Nobody knows who she is or her affiliation. She’s not a regular. And Bucs media relations isn’t singing.
Other Joe here: she’s often been at training camp over the years. Works for a state news outlet that doesn’t have a lot of traction. Nice lady. Have talked to her. Really not important.
January 19th, 2024 at 1:08 pm
Brady definitely helped change the culture and it will continue long after he left while we have these young core players that were here in that era! MNF game proved that and I have no doubt the same will be said on Sunday!
January 19th, 2024 at 1:19 pm
It all starts with winning another “Brady Banner” NFC South Division Championship. Then we have a home Playoff game. And the race is on.
January 19th, 2024 at 1:31 pm
Yeah i agree. Those two showed the team how to compete in crunch time. Now we have half the team that knows how to win a championship. You can bet your a$$ the stage will never be too big for the guys who rofe that out
January 19th, 2024 at 3:08 pm
The effect is real but if the teams veterans like JPP, Suh, LVD, Shaq, Evan’s & BA didn’t buy in and bring their own energy to the table the bonfire is just a camp fire. What veteran is going to take the reighs and create their own effect? That’s the million dollar question.
January 19th, 2024 at 3:40 pm
I knew she’d show up anytime Brady’s mentioned she comes running
January 19th, 2024 at 3:49 pm
Tom Brady wouldn’t go to a Bolt’s game the week before a critical playoff, and would not accept that his OC goes for a job interview either.
January 19th, 2024 at 4:00 pm
100% TBBF. You can see pretty clear examples of who who learned from their ways (Winfield, Wirfs, etc), and who did not (White, JTS)
January 19th, 2024 at 5:16 pm
All I know is if Arians had some emotional intelligence we wouldve won the superbowl. Brady knew AB was a nutcase but also knew he would help win a SB so he humored him. Arians blew it up
January 19th, 2024 at 10:02 pm
D Cone, totally agree.
I noticed that with Brady too. On those rare occasions where his team is losing badly or backing into the playoffs, or have bad OLs, Brady went into self preservation mode. He would throw away a lot balls, release the ball ultra quick, and take the least amount of hits possible. 2022 Bucs and 2019 Pats are the recent examples.
January 20th, 2024 at 1:37 am
The Brady effect is real, it just got in to a fog last year because he was distracted for several reasons.
It is up to the vets to continue it now and it’s been showing up the last 2 months.
January 20th, 2024 at 4:47 pm
That ain’t no Brady effect you learn that in little league football. I taught my son that when he played little league about the importance of practice . I got from a coach that the way you practice is how you will play in the game. You guys must ain’t never play sports .