TAMPA, Fla. — The story of Super Bowl 55 is the story of Tom Brady’s ascendance. At least, in most places, that’s how it will forever be recalled.
Brady arrived in this backwater outpost and miraculously pulled the Buccaneers out of 17 years of comedy and incompetence. And, if we’re being truthful, that’s not entirely wrong. But it’s a broad characterization, and it misses the nuance of what really took place on Feb. 7.
You see, the Bucs did not start driving to the Super Bowl when Brady took the wheel. That journey had already begun a few years earlier, long before a lot of us recognized where this story was heading.
Maybe it began when general manager Jason Licht coaxed Bruce Arians out of retirement in 2019. Maybe it began as far back as 2012, when Lavonte David first showed up on Tampa Bay’s doorstep.
I’m going to say it began in 2018 with the greatest three-year run of drafts in Bucs history.
That’s a subjective statement, of course. The Bucs once drafted three Hall of Famers — John Lynch, Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks — in a three-year span from 1993-95. The first-round run of Lee Roy Selmon, Ricky Bell and Doug Williams from 1976-78 wasn’t too bad, either. But for the immediate transformation, it’s hard to overstate how important the 2018-20 drafts were in creating this Super Bowl roster that will face Dallas in Thursday night’s NFL season opener.
Sitting on the back porch at One Buc Place after a recent practice, Licht spent 30 minutes talking about those drafts and, specifically, how the Bucs decided on first-round picks Vita Vea, Devin White and Tristan Wirfs.
Talent was not enough. That’s what Licht, player personnel chief John Spytek and director of college scouting Mike Biehl came to realize ahead of the 2018 draft. They could measure players at the combine and watch film all night, but the success, or failure, of draft picks often came down to the person inside of the player.
They needed players who would be good teammates. Players willing to learn. Players who had a passion for the game. Talent is easy to spot. It’s the personality traits that often tip the scale.
So they borrowed, and bastardized, a line from the Marine Corps to get that point across — I Am That Man — and had it printed on T-shirts and signs. The idea was for scouts to find the right kind of player to blend into the team’s culture. Was that prospect the right kind of man.
“It’s not an exact science,” Licht said. “There’s personality tests, all of those things, but there still has to be a gut feel. Players can dupe you in an hour interview, just like in any profession. They can come off sounding great, and later you think, ‘What the hell did we just get?’
“But I think a lot of our (success) is Bruce can really read people very well. And, I don’t want to pat myself on the back, but that’s been one of my strong assets throughout my career. It might be because we were both bartenders, I don’t know, but we’ve been fortunate.”
Fortunate? Consider 2018. The Bucs went into the draft with the No. 7 pick and an eye on Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb and Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson. Barkley went No. 2, Chubb No. 5 and Nelson No. 6.
The Bucs also loved Vita Vea but thought he might be available later, so Licht offered to swap the No. 7 pick for Buffalo’s two first-round picks (Nos. 12 and 22). The Bills declined. Licht made another offer. The No. 7 for No. 12, plus two second-round picks (Nos. 53 and 56). The deal was done.
But then the Bucs got nervous about Vea being available at No. 12. They started talking about moving up a couple of spots to make sure they got him. Licht decided to gamble, and wait.
“The draft room was silent. They’re all staring at me (contemplating) to go up,” Licht said. “I held, because I really wanted those two second-round picks. When the 11 pick went, there was a huge sigh of relief.”
The No. 53 pick (M.J. Stewart) didn’t work out too well, but Licht dealt No. 56 for Nos. 63 and 117 and selected cornerback Carlton Davis and safety Jordan Whitehead. So, in essence, Licht turned the No. 7 pick into three starters on the Super Bowl 55 defense. In between, the Bucs used their own second pick for running back Ronald Jones and a third pick for guard Alex Cappa.
Fortunate? Consider 2019. The Bucs were picking at No. 5, and the whole world knew they needed help on defense. With a pick that high, you need impact, and that typically means an edge rusher. Nick Bosa and Josh Allen both fit that bill, but the Bucs had other plans.
White was a sideline-to-sideline wrecking ball at LSU. He was an elite talent, but middle linebackers typically do not get drafted that high. Licht and Arians didn’t care. Once they met White, they were smitten with his exuberance and ambition.
“We don’t have to do what everybody thinks you’re supposed to do, I mean we can be creative here,” Licht said. “Bruce just loved Devin. When Devin was leaving the (pre-draft interview), Bruce said, ‘We’re drafting you, if you’re there.’ I was, ‘Don’t tell him that! We don’t know how this is going to play out.’ ”
Bosa went No. 2 and Allen was still on the board at No. 5 when the Bucs picked White. With their second- and third-round picks, they selected defensive backs Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean. That was three more defensive starters.
Fortunate? Consider 2020. The Bucs had just signed Brady and needed an offensive tackle to protect him. There were four first-round caliber tackles in the draft, but Tampa Bay was not guaranteed to get one at No. 14. Sure enough, three tackles went off the board in the first 11 picks.
The Bucs had a list of contingencies for what they would be willing to trade, depending on what tackles were left and how high they had to move up. With San Francisco picking at No. 13, Wirfs was still on the board but the Bucs were fearful someone would trade up and take him. So they gave the 49ers a fourth-round pick to move up one spot and select Wirfs.
“We had met virtually for two weeks and gone over every scenario. … It was very complex. Thank God, I have smarter people in the room than me,” Licht said. “It was getting really nervous and there was like 45 seconds left on the clock before San Fran gave us the word. It turns out, there was another team trying to move into their spot to get Wirfs, but the 49ers liked our deal better.”
Holding on to their second pick, the Bucs selected safety Antoine Winfield Jr. That made two more Super Bowl starters.
So was Brady the key to winning Super Bowl 55? Of course, he was. His arrival changed everything. But people around Tampa Bay know that’s not the only story to be told.
