Playoff Lenny almost never happened.
Tampa Bay fullback Leonard Fournette played a big part in the playoffs, helping the Buccaneers win the Super Bowl. According to coach Bruce Arians, Fournette barely made it to the post-season with the club.
After his release from Jacksonville, where he was mostly a workhorse for his first three seasons, Fournette ended up in Tampa and shared behind Ronald Jones. The latter was clearly the better back for most of the regular season. During the first 12 weeks of the season, Fournette had 69 rushing attempts for 271 yards and three TDs, while adding 28 catches for 171 yards.
Fournette was unhappy with his role and rendered inactive for the Bucs’ Week 14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings – a victory that would start an eight-game winning streak for the Super Bowl. The next day, Arians had an open conversation with the runner about his choice: Check the circumstances, otherwise we can move on.
“I said, ‘This is your situation. It could change in the blink of an eye,'” Arians told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “But this is your situation. Embrace it, or you will say, “Cut me.” I said, ‘What do you want? Because you are a very special team that you are part of. I think you have a feeling for that. Just see if you can hang out there to see what happens. ‘ And he did, and I’m really proud of him. ‘
The rest is the play history.
Fournette got his chance when Jones went on the reserve / COVID-19 list for the next two weeks. Then Jones suffered a four-injury injury before the post-season and further opened the door for Playoff Lenny. Fournette took the opportunity. In four playoff games, he rushed 64 times for 300 yards and three TDs, including 89 yards and a TD in the Super Bowl, and added another 148 yards and another 18-point score.