Tampa Bay Buccaneers Player Hints That There Might Have Been More To Playoff Loss
Yup, we’re still stunned from yesterday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams but we’re hearing some rumblings about the state of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. One prominent player has hinted that there might have been more than meets the eye to what happened in loss.
Let’s face it, we were stoked going into the season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had won the Super Bowl LV, retained all 22 starters, and had a solid chance to win Super Bowl LVI. Then reality set in which we will discuss in a bit.
Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press got a quote from Bucs star linebacker Lavonte David that got us wondering.
Interesting from #Bucs LB Lavonte David: "We had a lot of turmoil going on in our organization."
— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) January 24, 2022
Here’s what Lavonte said:
“Things happen. People get hurt. We had some mishaps here and there, guys bump heads. We had a lot of turmoil going on in our organization. Guys getting injured, guys who were a huge part of our success … It was definitely a tough season.”
“A lot of turmoil.” Let’s take a look at a few of the things the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had to deal with this season:
- Plenty of injuries to starters all season. It seemed like every week there were players hurt.
- The Antonio Brown incident.
- Coordinators Byron Leftwich and Todd Bowles interviewing to become head coaches of other teams. Talk about these coordinators possibly leaving had been going on for weeks.
- Head coach Bruce Arians being fined for hitting safety Andrew Adams in the head during the Eagles game.
- Rumors that this would be Tom Brady’s last season. The Brady ESPN documentary “Man In The Arena” was supposed to have dropped its 10th and final episode on January 18th. Now it is scheduled to come out in the spring.
- Brady getting his first ever unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Funny that Brady might have foreshadowed this!
This is just a small portion of what happened this season that we know about. When it comes to the press getting a “feel of the team’s mood,” COVID 19 protocols prevented reporters access to the locker room. Instead the media got a few players doing structured press conferences. No raw, unfiltered, off-the-record player comments.
So we’re left with the mystery of what “turmoil” Lavonte was referring to. Maybe we’ll get some answers in the coming weeks.
[SOURCE New York Post/NBC Sports]