Tom Brady’s off-season odyssey to Tampa Bay was considered by some to be the greatest free agent in the NFL Chronicle, even bigger than Reggie White to Green Bay or Peyton Manning to Denver.
But did it live up to the hype?
“Totally surpassed,” Arians said Friday, via a transcript of the team, when asked if Brady met or exceeded his expectations for this season. ‘With such limited practice we went to New Orleans [in Week 1] learn more words. If the quarterback calls a play, he should have a photo in his head. I do not think it happened until November – just to learn more about what words mean and what concepts mean, and then to adapt concepts as we go along. A man can have a three- or four-way on a route [but now] we eliminated it to two. Things like we just kept evolving. I think at the moment he’s calling a play, that the picture is in his head and that he’s playing really well. He exceeded it. His leadership surpasses anything I have ever seen. Peyton Manning is the only thing close. ‘
Brady’s signing with the Buccaneers was a franchise-changing event. This brought immediate legitimacy to the aspirations of the team and the immediate attention of the media and fans that the Buccaneers had rarely or never seen before.
A mercury season has sometimes seemed with the Buccaneers like the best team in the NFC and others coming out on the wrong side of terrible losses. But the overall results so far are hard to argue with.
With one game remaining in the regular season, the 43-year-old Brady led the Buccaneers to a 10-5 record with 4,234 yards (282.3 per game), a percentage of 65.9, 36 touchdowns and 11 distinctions. The 36 TD throw is the most for Brady since 2015 and the most in franchise history.
And, most importantly, Brady led the Bucs to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
This is an illustration of Brady’s leadership, of which Arians also spoke swimming.
“Just like he handles young players and veteran players,” Arians said. ‘He’s another coach on the field talking to Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) about how he manages his routes [and] talk to scotty [Miller] how he manages his routes. [Talking to] anyone to [he] expect to see you [and] protection with the offensive lineout. It’s a never-ending thing with him – the perfectionist – to get everything right in practice. Also his calmness on the sidelines in games when we do not win, [saying]”We’re going to win.” Those types of things. You put it in a bottle and earn a lot of money. ‘
With the national season just over a week away now, the question now is just how far can Brady lead the Buccaneers?