Tom Brady and Buccaneers proving Super Bowl not a priority

The Buccaneers and Tom Brady may say that a Super Bowl is a priority in Tampa, but we aren’t seeing that championship mentality.

This is a hard thing to write in Week 2 of the season before Tom Brady and the Buccaneers have even played their second game, but the team that won the Super Bowl almost two years ago is quickly taking themselves out of the running for a chance to win another ring.

Before you completely denounce this as abject pessimism from someone who clearly always expects more from such a great team, take what is being said here into account before blindly saying anything is possible.

There is not a player in NFL history that has been better than Tom Brady. There has not been a player on the Buccaneers that has been more important to team success than Brady. Tom Brady has changed the NFL in more ways than one, and a huge part of that stems from his championship mentality.

Brady isn’t the most athletic. He isn’t the fastest. He doesn’t have the strongest arm, although he still has a cannon. However, Brady has overcome all of this by wanting it more and putting in more work than his counterparts.

Where has that Tom Brady gone? Are we really supposed to believe that the GOAT went from calling his coaches the day after winning the Super Bowl ready to work to taking time away from training camp and taking off every Wednesday practice for the rest of the year? Are we to expect that this is actually going to help the team and their Super Bowl chances in some way?

The Bucs are too dependent on Brady to be without him for one practice a week for the rest of the year on some sort of diminished practice requirement purely based on his accolades. Are we going to do the same thing for Mike Evans? Lavonte David? What about Tristan Wirfs?

“They’re good. They’ll find a way to get better.”

Really? The defense doesn’t get better on that one day per week while playing against one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL? The offense doesn’t get better from giving new receivers reps with Brady due to rampant injuries?

Any other team or quarterback that tried to pull something like this would get killed for it.

Brady is the best, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t need to prepare or be there with his team.  Championships require a deposit to be made every practice, every year for teams to get that chance to cash out. Teams and players that deposit less have less to pull on when it matters.

There is still a chance for a positive change to come, but this writer is uncertain how anyone could be confident in Brady’s mentality right now after what we have seen for the past few months.

A Super Bowl become less likely every time Brady continues to get special treatment. Hopefully we get some clarification as to why from Tom Brady or the Buccaneers soon.

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