There have been many chapters in Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise history, but it's hard not to flip to the one where Tom Brady came into the story.
Brady's stint in Tampa Bay helped change the franchise's course, pulling it out of irrelevancy and onto a path that is still paying off. His influence on the team is undeniable, but it's just a small sampling of everything he's done in his career.
Sports Illustrated put together a Power List of the 50 most influential figures in sports, and Brady rightfully made the cut.
READ: Sports Illustrated's Power List
MMQB's Matt Verderame wrote about Brady's influence and how impactful he's been not only in football but across all North American sports.
"After winning seven Super Bowls as a player, the former QB will be back at the big game in February to cap off his debut season as lead analyst on Fox. He’s also an owner; Brady has a piece of the WNBA’s Aces and has been working toward buying part of the NFL’s Raiders, too," Verderame wrote.
Tom Brady's influence on the Buccaneers is still paying off today
Brady's time with the Bucs was short but memorable. It took him just a single season to entirely turn the franchise's fortunes around, leading them to a Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs. That remains the only Lombardi Trophy that Patrick Mahomes has lost, someone who also showed up on SI's Power List.
It's impossible to overstate just how much Brady coming to Tampa Bay meant both to the team and its fans. As we've learned over the last two offseasons, it's easy for the Bucs to get written off as an afterthought by experts, Brady helped restore some respect, but also gave the team a confidence to move forward in the years after him as well.
So far that's turned out pretty great, as the Bucs landed Baker Mayfield to follow in Brady's footsteps and haven't looked back. The light that Brady helped shine on the Bucs helped folks like Baker realize that there's a really good and well-run organization in Tampa Bay, and fans will be forever grateful for the influence he had in making the team fun again.
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