TAMPA, Fla. _ He may have walked into the wrong home at first, but that's the only mistake Tom Brady made during his recent visit with Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.
After an inquiry, the NFL determined that Brady violated no league rules during his visit to Leftwich's home in the MacDill area of south Tampa.
"It was a brief personal visit, and Tom picked up the playbook," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
On April 7, Brady was looking for Leftwich's home when he mistakenly walked into a neighbor's house next door.
The neighbor, David Kramer, told TMZ that "I literally was just sitting here and I watch this tall guy just walk into my house. ... He just like dropped his duffel bags down on the floor and just kind of like looked up at me and I'll never forget the look on his face."
Brady was carrying some duffel bags, according to Kramer.
But apparently, he needed them to carry what must be a voluminous playbook and any other material that Leftwich was providing for him.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk questioned whether Brady was violating NFL rules that prohibit personal contact between players and coaches prior to the start of the offseason program.
According to Pro Football Talk, those duffel bags were an indication that Brady likely intended to work out with Leftwich.
"Totally illegal," the source told PFT. "They should be fined. Plus, I bet those duffel bags had footballs in them."
The source also said the Bucs don't care about the rules right now.
But as far as the NFL was concerned, Brady was doing what any new player, much less a quarterback, would want to do _ and that's pick up the playbook of his new team.
It's been an interesting arrival to Tampa Bay for Brady, who was told to leave a closed park in Tampa a couple weeks ago.
The Bucs' website recently posted a video of Brady saying how excited he is to be in Tampa Bay, and he acknowledged the park incident.
"I'm so happy to be in Tampa Bay," Brady said. "And I want to say thank you guys for welcoming me and my family into your community with open arms, outside of getting kicked out of the park the other day. I'm so excited to be a Buc. So we have an incredibly exciting season ahead.
"I can't wait until we can get together as a team and start our practices and start working hard to improve. There's a lot of work between now and the start of the season but I'm working to see you guys at Raymond James in a couple short months."
