Losing the greatest NFL quarterback of all-time has one upside.
The spotlight isn’t as bright.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles explained on NFL Network that his team can now play freely without dealing with the fanfare that followed superstar quarterback Tom Brady during his three seasons with the team.
“It allows some guys to free up, especially the younger guys who probably just wanted to run behind the older guys and then not mess up as opposed to just playing the game they know how to play,” Bowles said.
“They’re saying the right things. They know our expectations are the same, but it’s a little different ‘cause it’s not as much fanfare.
“You concentrate more on inside the building and you never look at the outside of the building. Before, you could look at the outside and you’re on every channel.
“Now, you’re looking at the outside and you’re not on any channel. So, It helps from a close-knit standpoint inside the building — that they get closer together.”
Brady hung up his jersey in February when he announced his second retirement after a legendary 23-season career — this time, “for good,” he said.
Brady, who turned 46 on Aug. 3, first retired in February 2022, only to announce his return to the NFL a month later for a 23rd season.
The G.O.A.T. led the Bucs to three playoff appearances, including a win against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV in 2021.
“I don’t look at it as big shoes to fill,” Bowles told The Athletic while at AdventHealth Training Center four days into training camp. “Those shoes can never be filled. We just bought a different pair altogether.”
The Bucs’ second-year head coach explained that his team has a different approach to winning in the post-Brady era now that either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask will succeed Brady.
“Nobody will ever come behind the greatest of all time,” Bowles said. “That’s already etched in stone. But we can win in different ways.
“We have a different scheme. We have two different types of quarterbacks and we’re not trying to ask them to be nobody but themselves, and we have guys around them who can make plays. And that’s what we’re building it off of.”
Bowles told reporters Wednesday that Mayfield will start against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Friday’s preseason opener and Trask will start against the New York Jets on Aug. 19.
As for what Brady’s up to in retirement?
The future Hall of Famer is staying busy conducting business and spending time with his children.
Brady and his ex-wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, share daughter Vivian, 10, and 13-year-old son, Benjamin.
The BRADY Brand founder shares his 15-year-old son, Jack, with his ex, actress Bridget Moynahan.
Brady announced earlier this month he will become a minority owner of English soccer club Birmingham City FC.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion will serve as the club’s Chairman of the Advisory Board and will advise on “health, nutrition, wellness, and recovery systems and programs,” while also lending a hand with its marketing efforts.
Separately, Brady is in the process of becoming a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Brady was also part of the group led by Knighthead Capital for a Major League Pickleball expansion team for the 2023 season.
After Brady and Bündchen announced in October 2022 that they finalized their divorce, he appeared to set his sights on model Irina Shayk.
They pair sparked romance rumors when he was photographed picking up Shayk from the lavish Hotel Bel-Air for what appeared to be an overnight stay at his West Coast home last month.
