When you have an opportunity to play with maybe the greatest NFL player of all time, you can’t help but be excited, which was the case when Buccaneers DE Jason Pierre-Paul found out Tom Brady was coming to Tampa Bay.
“I was pretty excited,” Pierre-Paul said via a video call on Monday. “I was pretty excited that we got him because I always [asked] myself, ‘If I had a quarterback like Brady, what would I do?’ Now is the perfect opportunity. It’s not, ‘What would I do?’ Now I can go out and do something. It’s totally different from all the years I’ve been playing football, and every guy on this team should have that feeling. Like I said, he’s the G.O.A.T. of football. There’s a reason he has six N.F.L. championship rings. You can see it. There’s really nothing too much to talk about – it’s Brady you’re talking about.”
While some were initially in awe of Brady, according to Pierre-Paul, who returned to Tampa after signing a two-year, $27 million deal in March, many have adapted to having Brady around.
“I think everybody has adapted that he’s here,” Pierre-Paul said. “Like I said, he’s making us better as a team, and that’s what he should be doing as a quarterback – bringing the team together – and that’s what he’s doing.”
One thing that will help Brady and the Buccaneers succeed is Tampa’s defense, which Pierre-Paul believes could be one of the best in football.
“It’s going to be the best defense with the work that we put into it,” Pierre-Paul said. “I don’t get caught up too much in the hype. We have a quarterback; we have a running back, we have all this. What you put in is what you get out of [it]. I’m a true believer of that because the works that you put in is the work that you’re going to put out. Hot days in Florida under the weather right now, sweating – those sweats and blood, you getting ripped up and scraped up, that’s what’s going to count.
“Like I said, every guy that we have, what we put in is what we’re going to get out. I’m pretty sure we’re putting in the work, and you see it every day. It takes time, but we’re putting in the work. With that said, we can be one of the best defenses in the NFL, but we’ve got to put in the work.”
Obviously, with Brady in the mix, it’s going to help Tampa’s defense. Last season, Jameis Winston, who threw 30 interceptions, put the Buccaneers’ defense in a lot of bad positions. In 2019, the Buccaneers were number one against the run and were 11th in sacks(47), so without Winston, the defense will probably be even better this season.
With all the talent on defense and Tom Brady, the sky’s the limit for the Buccaneers in 2020, so, yes, Pierre-Paul should be excited.
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