Tom Brady brings Patriots' championship pedigree to Tampa
Tom Brady celebrates after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium on February 07, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers defeated the Chiefs 31-9. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, Fla. - The long-downtrodden Tampa Bay Buccaneers are kings of the NFL again thanks to Tom Brady and the championship pedigree he brought over from New England — along with two former Patriots teammates who starred with him in Super Bowl 55.
The Buccaneers dethroned the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium behind Brady’s trio of first-down touchdown passes, two to tight end Rob Gronkowski and the other to wide receiver Antonio Brown.
Gronkowski came out of retirement and signed with the Buccaneers after Brady bolted the Patriots last spring for a two-year, $50 million contract in Tampa after dominating the AFC for two decades.
Brown, who had a one-game cameo for the Patriots last season and was briefly Brady’s housemate in New England, reunited with him in Florida at midseason after serving an eight-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
Brown caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Brady that put the Buccaneers ahead 21-6 at halftime after TD grabs of 8 and 17 yards by Gronkowski.
"It’s great to see big time players making big time plays. Just love what they added to the team," Brady said after the game. "Gronk is an unbelievable player, teammate, talent, work ethic and commitment. A.B., since he got here, he’s done everything the right way. So impressed by him, proud of him. It takes a lot of people for us to get to this point. We all have great support systems in place and I think everybody should be celebrating them tonight."
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Buccaneers make history as first team to win Super Bowl at home stadium
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made history again, becoming the first team not only to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium, but the first to win it.
The Bucs, who also dispatched Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers in the playoffs, extended their lead to 28-9 on a 27-yard touchdown run by another NFL castoff, Leonard Fournette. The former Jaguars running back joined Hall of Famer Terrell Davis (1997 season) as the only players to score in four playoff games in a single postseason.
While Brady’s bunch took care of things on offense, Shaquil Barrett, Ndamukong Suh and the rest of the Bucs’ star-studded defenders harassed Patrick Mahomes relentlessly in handing the Chiefs young superstar the worst loss of his spectacular NFL career.
Mahomes had never been held without a touchdown as a pro and he hadn’t lost by double digits since his Texas Tech Red Raiders were throttled by Iowa State 66-10 on Nov. 29, 2016.
In leading Tampa Bay to its first title in 18 seasons, Brady became the first player to win seven NFL championships. That broke a tie he held with three members of Vince Lombardi’s great Green Bay Packers teams of the 1960s: Fuzzy Thurston and Hall of Famers Herb Adderley and Forrest Gregg, which included the first two Super Bowls.
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Super Bowl flyover thrills crowd around stadium in Tampa
Super Bowl LV in Tampa is off to a roaring start thanks to a rare trifecta flyover by the U.S. Air Force. A B-52, a B1-B, and the B-2 ‘stealth’ bomber cruised over Raymond James Stadium to help kick off the big game.
At 43, Brady became the oldest player ever to play in a Super Bowl. He did it just 10 months after leaving New England, where the Patriots missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008, the year Brady blew out a knee in the opener.
The Patriots and Bill Belichick fell to 7-9 in 2020, the same record the Bucs had the year before Brady’s arrival in Florida as the biggest free agent since his buddy Peyton Manning left the Indianapolis Colts for the Denver Broncos in 2012.
It wasn’t all free agents and trade acquisitions who brought Tampa its second NFL title. Rookie safety Antoine Winfield Jr.‘s interception set up Tampa Bay’s final score, a field goal that made it 31-9, and linebacker Devin White intercepted Mahomes’ pass in the closing minutes.