Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie OT Tristan Wirfs has a big job ahead of him in 2020. He has the responsibility of protecting maybe the greatest quarterback of all-time in Tom Brady. While Wirfs has not had much contact with Brady, he is excited about the opportunity to play with the six-time Super Bowl winner.
“The first time I met him, we were just coming around a corner and met each other,” Wirfs said during a video call on Friday. “He said, ‘What’s up, big dog?’ I thought it was kind of crazy because he’s Tom Brady. Then he asked me how old I was, and I told him 21, and he kind of started laughing. He said something like, ‘You think you have experience? I’ve got double your experience.’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ That’s really about it. I waved to him when he was leaving the other day. He seems really nice. I’m excited to get to be his teammate.”
For the 21-year-old Wirfs, who was 13th overall pick in this year’s draft, playing with Brady also excites his friends and family.
“I think my friends and family were more excited to see if I had met him or not,” Wirfs said. “I think it was every day they would text me, ‘Did you meet Tom yet?’ I don’t want to underplay it at all, but he’s just a guy, and I think that’s how he wants to be treated. I think that more so, my family was in shock that I was going to be his teammate.”
As rookie, the Buccaneers are expecting Wirfs to be a starter for this team, and according to Wirfs, he had a similar experience at Iowa.
“That’s kind of how my college career started – I was kind of just tossed in there,” Wirfs said. “It happening this way, at this level – I’d be all right with it. I’ve just got to go out there and do my best – that’s all I can ask of myself. You’ve got to prepare every week and come out and execute. That’s really what it comes down to. If that’s the case where I have to get tossed in there, then so be it. I’ll be as ready as I can be and give it my all.”
Wirfs has a great chance to make an impact with Tampa Bay, and if he does, Brady and the Buccaneers will be thrilled.
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