![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="438" width="780" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady gave a southern high school a little extra hype ahead of its state championship game.
“As the 199th pick in the draft, no one thought my career would turn out the way it has,” Brady said in a hype video he narrated for Tennessee’s Lipscomb Academy. “The same way nobody thought you guys would be in this game. Neither of us are done writing our story.”
The Nashville school football team posted the hype video Thursday morning on Twitter before its Division II-AA state championship Blue Cross Bowl game against Christ Presbyterian Academy. Former Buccaneers quarterback Trent Dilfer coaches the team, a position he took in 2019 according to the Tennessean. Lipscomb fell 35-28 in the title game.
Brady-Dilfer Connection
Brady and Dilfer’s on-field careers intersected in the early 2000s.
Dilfer played for the Bucs from 1994 to 1999, before Brady entered the league. Dilfer won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in the 2000 season, which was Brady’s rookie year with the New England Patriots. Dilfer then played for the Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns, and San Francisco 49ers before retiring after the 2007 season.
In nine years as an ESPN analyst, Dilfer covered Brady numerous times.
Dilfer Vocal on Bucs
Dilfer has been vocal about the team’s quarterback situation.
He said during the week of Super Bowl 54 in early 2020 that Jameis Winston should get a second year under Arians according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. Dilfer ironically added, “you’re not going to get anybody better for next year.”
In terms of gridiron accomplishments, it’s hard to top Brady’s six Super Bowls and three MVPs. Dilfer said the Bucs offense needs to be mainly Brady’s in an interview he did on CBS Sports Radio.
Offensive Identity
How Brady meshes in head coach Bruce Arians’ system or how Arians adapts things to Brady’s strengths remains one of the biggest issues the Bucs face during their bye week.
Brady has almost as many interceptions as he has touchdown passes in the past month, a 1-3 stretch for the Bucs (7-5). His accuracy on deep-ball throws have been an issue of late, too, but he made some progress in Week 12 with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans.
Brady and company now have a bye week, but as the Tampa Bay Times’ Joey Knight noted, that doesn’t mean more reps to right the ship.
The NFL closed facilities Monday and Tuesday as a post-holiday COVID precaution, Knight wrote. Facilities reopened Wednesday.
Tampa faces the Minnesota Vikings (5-6) in Week 14.
0 Comments