Sean Murphy-Bunting Names Three Culture-Setting Bucs
March 19th, 2024
Ndamukong Suh
Joe is always ingtrigued by the perspective of players who have left the Buccaneers organization.
Simply put, they become free to speak without worrying about offending anyone in Tampa, leaving someone out or annoying management.
Former 2020 postseason hero cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting now has a nice new three-year contract from the Arizona Cardinals after spending 2023 with the Titans. Murphy-Bunting was a guest on SiriusXM NFL Radio this week and the Bucs of the Brady years was a subject on the table.
Murphy-Bunting talked about how the team never had any finger pointing or “blame game” no matter the adversity, and he said the roster was unified when it came to helping each other improve daily.
Who led the charge?
Murphy-Bunting named Ndamukong Suh, Lavonte David and Brady as ultimate leaders, guys who never wavered in their daily grind, guys who “showed me exactly how it was to be a pro.”
Did those Bucs teams have more critical leaders? Sure. But Murphy-Bunting stopped at those three, probably knowing he didn’t have to rattle off a second-tier list presented as his first tier just to keep everyone happy.
Joe can’t wait for Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett (now with the Dolphins) to do his first post-Tampa interview that includes a lot of Bucs questions.
March 19th, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Funny. All those guys were still on the team in 2021 when his play tanked significantly. They Should have been pointing fingers and toes at him. Sometimes bullying helps. Sometimes.
March 19th, 2024 at 5:28 pm
There’s two methods of mentoring: you point fingers and yell at the guy, or you try to show him what he’s doing wrong and what he should be doing differently or better
March 19th, 2024 at 5:38 pm
Brady turned the franchise around. Up until then Joe, we had the worst winning percentage of any professional team. It was our team though, and we cheered them on through the darkness. Now, the image of Tampa Bay is bright, professional and highly optimistic. As much as I like Baker, he is a recipient of those who broke the losing mold a few years earlier. If you had put Baker in the QB sport instead of Brady, could we be working our forth SB. Keep it real Joe, I am in Ireland.
March 19th, 2024 at 6:10 pm
Funny how people attack a guy giving a valid viewpoint. He never said his play was or was not up to par, he’s just talking about the true leaders. Take his comment for what it was and move on.
March 19th, 2024 at 6:14 pm
He created twenty one points in the playoffs so shut up.
March 19th, 2024 at 6:15 pm
Who’s attacking anyone?
March 19th, 2024 at 6:20 pm
Jason Licht as GM, then Bruce Arians as HC and finally Tom Brady as QB did their part to turn the losing culture around. Now we are continuing to sustain what has been put into place. We are not about to drop back into a ten or twelve year hole this time.
Go Bucs! Win now!
March 19th, 2024 at 6:25 pm
The original culture-changing moment for the Bucs was signing Hardy Nickerson in the mid-90s. He was the one player that showed Brooks, Barber, Lynch, and Sapp how to be winners. Later it was Suh, JPP, and Brady. Even though we lost to the Rams that 1999 defense was something to see.
March 19th, 2024 at 6:26 pm
We STILL have the lowest win percentage in the NFL at .406.
But we are 2-0 in Superbowls and average 39.5 points scored and 15 points allowed against us in those 2 victories.
We’re the Bucs.
We’ve always been a strange animal.
March 19th, 2024 at 6:35 pm
75% of those losses came during the Culverhouse years. Money mattered so much more to him than winning. ^^^^^^^
March 19th, 2024 at 7:16 pm
What no DW ?
March 19th, 2024 at 7:16 pm
I was SOOOOO hoping someone would run up behind that old bastard and yell “BOO!” (ya never know….)
March 19th, 2024 at 7:17 pm
Biggest mistake Licht did, letting Suh and JPP walk was the beginning of our next long Super Bowl drought. I said it from prior to him doing it.
March 19th, 2024 at 7:20 pm
Bucnjim, we didnt lose that ‘99 game to the rams, jerry markbrite who was the nfl man upstairs at the time took it from us with that bert emanual catch that ultimately wasn’t. I can’t say how i still feel about markbrite for foing that to us but it rhymes with buc him, that buc’n buc.
Having said that, i completely agree with all those trend setters especially hardy nickerson. He was the rock. The first.
March 19th, 2024 at 7:20 pm
biggest mistake was not letting Brady make team decisions. He could have won us 3-4 superbowls.
March 19th, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Should have signed Bunting last year ,,, big mistake letting him walk for back up money !! He would also prob make a great free safety !! No reason to draft a guy if you’re going to let him walk for that amount . Ole Licht did do a pretty good job with F A this year …….. NOW I hate to say it but Godwin must be on the trading block come draft day but the draft is receiver deep !! So Unless he’s open to a Chris / team friendly extension his last year of contract and salary just don’t work . Hes aGreat Guy , tough good player but he’s a slot guy and pretty much a slot guy only , he just doest separate enough outside for the longer throws , some teams may be a great slot guy away ? Package him for a stud T end , d end or all pro guard or take your 2 nd or early third and reinvest with the draft pick and the cap space with a longer team friendly contract .
March 19th, 2024 at 7:38 pm
Figured JPP would be in the conversation as well.
March 19th, 2024 at 7:56 pm
Yes, Suh brought the attitude of what Jason Licht calls a “pr!ck” to the defensive line. We need that back!
March 19th, 2024 at 8:13 pm
We finished 9-8 last season. 3 wins over teams with winning records. 1 of them against the eagles who were on a 6 game losing streak… the year before last year we finished with a losing record… I appreciate the optimistic, but some fans talk about a winning culture, makes me chuckle a little.
Go Bucs! SmB doesn’t deserve any flak for his play imo. He wasn’t drafted to be Revis, Sanders, or Peterson. He was as okay as any of the other corners we’ve had in rotation in recent memory. Give or take a small margin of talent.
March 19th, 2024 at 8:15 pm
cleanhouse Says:
March 19th, 2024 at 7:17 pm
Biggest mistake Licht did, letting Suh and JPP walk was the beginning of our next long Super Bowl drought. I said it from prior to him doing it.
___________
Loved having both of them here, they definitely changed the attitude, but JPP was done and Suh was right behind him.
JL did the right thing, but miscalculated on their replacements.
March 19th, 2024 at 8:34 pm
Bucnjim Says:
March 19th, 2024 at 6:35 pm
75% of those losses came during the Culverhouse years. Money mattered so much more to him than winning. ^^^^^^^
__________
I think the same thing can be said about many players as well.
Money matters more than winning.
Double edged sword there man.
March 19th, 2024 at 9:17 pm
DooshLaRue … ‘I think the same thing can be said about many players as well. Money matters more than winning.’
With the average NFL career being so short, it’s hard to blame any player for wanting to maximize his earnings during those relatively few earning years. Besides, the vast majority of players really control nothing but themselves. How well the team does, or doesn’t do, is far beyond the average player’s control. I wonder how many players in the HOF never won a Super Bowl.
March 19th, 2024 at 9:26 pm
My math may be off a little but I’m pretty sure we’d have to have nearly perfect seasons for twenty plus years just to approach .500 all time.
The funny thing is… If we did that, we’d have an entire generation of “fans” who would swear we were the winningest team of all time!
A twenty year dynasty? Hmm, I wonder if that’s ever been done…
March 19th, 2024 at 9:27 pm
We just lost Moore (wide receiver) to Canales and the Panthers…… Grrr!
March 19th, 2024 at 9:38 pm
Obvious, just also saw that…….
Would liked to have seen him back with Evans, Godwin, & Palmer…..
He had good chemistry I thought 🤷🏻♂️
March 19th, 2024 at 9:47 pm
I only really remember 1 TD this past season with moore that really didn’t matter cause we were going way ahead in that game anyway
March 19th, 2024 at 9:49 pm
Seems like canales came here last season like a bs artist that has been plucking as many bucs players possible does anyone find this very disturbing
March 19th, 2024 at 9:53 pm
Canales aka El Hornāy is a shyster. And what’s really disturbing is the book he “co-authored” with his wife after multiple affairs and boozing. Good riddance.
March 19th, 2024 at 10:01 pm
Bring back lawn chairs that 99 game still rocks
Me to this day. Show that play to a young person now and ask them if that is a catch!
Changed the rule next offseason but never talked about by NFL analysts. That was a terrible call
Trent not hurt we win that game too. Shaun King lol. oh serenity now…
March 19th, 2024 at 10:59 pm
three hall of famers
March 20th, 2024 at 12:05 am
JPP was a huge leader too.
March 20th, 2024 at 12:08 am
2 and 0 in superbowls is all that matters, you think Buffalo would trade win percentage so they could have just one ? Yep, in a heart beat.
March 20th, 2024 at 1:00 am
Miss Suh–he was a great Buc
March 20th, 2024 at 9:41 am
There really is two Tampa Bay Buccanneers franchises in our history.
The Hugh Culverhouse years. The worst sports franchise in history. 19 years of garbage..
and
The Glazer years. 30 years of a mixed bag. A fair share of division titles. A slightly under 500 record and 2 Super Bowls during those 30 years. Those 2 Super Bowls are a whole lot better than a lot of teams.
I’d like the Glazer history to be a little better. But you cannot say they have been bad or horrible owners.
50-year anniversary this coming season.
March 20th, 2024 at 11:12 am
JPP helped to reveal that GMC was a fraud.
GMC was really quick. Because he loved to avoid contact.
JPP and Suh saved our defense.
So crazy we found Shaq for 5 million to play alongside Suh and JPP.
Our team was blessed during those years.
Brady? A Buccaneer? And a Super Bowl at home?
How can you not believe in God? Or Destiny? Or Magic? Or wtv it’s called.
The Force. The Tao. The Universe.
March 20th, 2024 at 3:57 pm
I loved Suh, wanted him to be drafted by the Bucs but as many many times before the lions were right there in front of us. Bastards. Can you imagine having Suh as long as we had GMC?!?!