It’s never a good sign when your leader is putting forth a lackluster effort, but that was the case for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season.
Lavonte David, a 12-time team captain in Tampa Bay, apparently had a stretch where he checked out mentally in his final season. His teammates held him accountable for it.
Buccaneers teammates called out Lavonte David’s poor effort in 2025
Since retiring this offseason, David has been on a media tour where Buccaneers fans have seen him open up like never before.
He’s already been honest about his poor effort at times during his final season, but in a recent appearance on The Rush With Maxx Crosby, he revealed that even his teammates called him out.
Retired #Bucs LB Lavonte David revealed that his teammates confronted him for loafing at times during his final season — a shocking admission from the longtime leader in Tampa Bay.
— The Pewter Plank (@ThePewterPlank) May 23, 2026
The Bucs defense should improve in 2026 with younger, hungrier leadership.
🎥 @TheRushWithMaxx pic.twitter.com/p7MNyDwyvG
“It was a point in [last] season, like, I got called out by a couple of my teammates for loafing,” David said.
For a young team looking to its veteran leader for guidance through a rough patch, seeing him loaf is a tough look. It’s no wonder Tampa Bay faded down the stretch, going from a 6-2 start to an 8-9 finish and missing the playoffs.
“I loafed. I take full accountability for that,” David said. “And like, for them to call me out on that, me being the veteran on the team, I’m like, ‘No, Lavonte, that ain’t you, bro.’ And that kind of stuck with me. Like, ‘I’m trippin’. I gotta lock back in.’”
Perhaps it’s for the best that David decided to call it a career when he did. If there’s one player where effort was never usually a concern, it was him. So for him to admit his poor effort became an issue for both him and his teammates is an eye-opening revelation that signals it was time to move on.
It’s disappointing that his career ended on that note, but he still gave the Buccaneers everything he had for the vast majority of his prolific run. He’ll one day be enshrined in the team’s Ring of Honor.
But now, it’s time for the next generation of leadership to set the tone in 2026 and beyond. Tampa Bay can’t afford anything less as their defense looks to rebound and the team looks to return to playoff contention.
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