Bucs road games are months in the making for equipment staff

TAMPA, Fla. - When one game is over, it's on to the next, and this week, it's on to Buffalo, New York. For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers equipment staff, the work is just beginning. 

"We'll come over after the game around 5:00 Sunday afternoon, start turning everything around," said Brad Berlin, the Bucs' equipment manager. "We're going to load the truck at 10:00 Monday morning. He's going to be on the road. He's got 21 hours to get to Buffalo."

The planning for Buffalo begins months earlier, mapping out the travel game plan in March. Bucs Director of Team Operations Tim Jarocki and Team Operations Coordinator Zach Orth jump into action, planning every detail from transportation to accommodations.

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"With the details it's everything from hotels to planes to buses, working with police escorts, we work with our nutrition team on the food we have in the hotel and on the plane," Jarocki said. "It's a lot of the small details that in the end all accumulate up to a whole lot of details to go to the away city."

Once the season starts, Orth will leave three days before the team does to make sure everything is in order on site.

"Our goal ultimately for each one of these trips is for it to mirror the process in Tampa as much as possible," Orth said. "We're trying to make sure every game feels like a home game as much as we can for these guys. They got to a hotel room here. We try to make that hotel as similar as possible on the road. That the meeting process is as similar as possible. It' really just communicating those needs to all of our local partners in all of the way cities to make sure it's as similar as possible, and they can get in that same mindset every Sunday."

With the advance truck already on the road, the remaining football gear is loaded on the team's charter flight at Tampa International Airport three hours before the players arrive. Very little is left behind in Tampa.

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"We're going to take everything, you never know," Berlin said. "Even though the forecast says one thing, you never know. The weather can turn on a dime, and we don't want to get caught with our guard down, and we'll then take about another 4,000 pounds on the plane on Wednesday, which will be the players shoulder pads and helmets because the players need that for practice."

Even with the advanced truck. There's still a lot to fly north for the 130 players and coaching staff, especially shoes. Lots of shoes.

"Every player will take two or three pair and if it was going to be inclement weather, which it's not we would take boots, Gore-Tex shoes and things like that," Berlin said.

For Jarocki, he has to oversee it all, not only within the team, but with players families, who are planning to cheer on the players.

"It gets to the point where Tristan's [Wirf] mom Sarah will email me with their room needs," Jarocki said. "Robert Hainey's dad emails me whenever he needs hotel rooms and to go anywhere, but that's actually a cool dynamic, because you get to see where these guys came up from."

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What's a winning road trip?

"No complaints," Orth said. "Don't hear anything. Get in my car and don't get a single text or call."

For Berlin, he quickly turns his attention on to the next game.

"Pack up, come home, and we have a little bit of time before we go to Houston, but there's always something to do," Berlin said. "Another challenge to get ready for."