Original subtitles

Mr. President, it's an honor for us to be at the White House,

and we're here today because this team did the impossible.

New players, including a new quarterback,

no pre-season, limitations on meetings,

rules and regulations were changing every day,

but they stayed focused and went on to win their

final eight games as the President spoke about.

It's only fitting that as we enter the 46th season

in Tampa Bay Buccaneer history,

that we celebrate it

with the 46th president of the United States.

It's great to have everybody here,

and this is a labor of love,

and we've waited 18 years since our last Super Bowl

for this very moment.

My family kept the standard top of mind

when we started to think about what a Super Bowl ring

could look like, and we knew we had

to smash expectations once again.

When asked if any thoughts on the design direction

for the ring,

Bruce Arian said he wants to

be able to get into any restaurant.

Tom Brady!

When I had the opportunity to choose another place,

this is the first time I really got to choose.

Everyone always says, why the Bucs, man?

Why did you choose the Bucs?

And it was a no-brainer.

It was a no-brainer.

Who wouldn't want to play with Mike and Scotty and Chris?

Let's go!

A.B. came.

Who wouldn't want to play with Donnie and Ali, Jense, Capp?

Big Tristan came in.

I knew what Lenny was all about. I knew what Shady was all about.

Rojo, I know what you're all about.

I knew what Gronk was all about.

I didn't want to play against Sue and J.P.P. anymore,

and I was lucky to play with Shaq.

Tired of him getting after my ass, too,

but Vita, what he meant to this team.

I wanted to play with Lavonte. I wanted to play with Devon.

That young secondary, no one ever thought could do shit.

Look what you did.

Carlton, Dino, Antoine, Mike.

I could name the whole team.

Todd, sick of playing against your ass, too.

I chose here because of you guys.

Super Bowl champions, you may now open your rings.

They can't take this ring away.

This is the best bling Bobby G will ever wear, baby.

We had an equipment manager at Michigan

who had a lot of Big 10 champion rings,

and he would always say, you know what ring is my favorite one?

My favorite ring is the next one.

The next one.

That's what it's all about.

After we won the Super Bowl,

I got a text from Jimmy Johnson who I had the privilege

of working for for one year.

Sent me a text, he said,

congratulations, now the hard work begins.

The Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This was that window that you were going to do

everything you can.

You got Tom Brady, so Jason immediately

just... a lot of quick work to re-sign a bunch of guys.

We just did our business and we had talent out the wazoo,

I mean, top to bottom.

Getting that Super Bowl team back was quite a feat.

That took a Herculean effort to re-sign

a lot of those key pieces.

We kept the entire team together,

which had never been done in the history of football

after a team won the Super Bowl.

To have everybody back,

the Godwins and the Mike Evans of the world.

They re-signed Lavonte David, Shaq Barrett, and Ndamukong Suh.

We had a good team.

We had the roster built in order to be back-to-back champions.

And we hit the ground running.

Touchdown Tampa Bay, the first of 2021.

Gronkowski again, touchdown Tampa Bay.

Ryan dropping his pass, batted in the air.

Picked off.

Where's he going to throw?

Caught ball, five, three, two, one,

touchdown.

Touchdown Tampa Bay.

We were borderline unstoppable.

Let's get it!

Way to go!

We knock 'em out.

And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will fly home victorious.

We're on our way.

I think we're better that year than we were in 2020.

Here he is on third and three from the pocket.

Connected!

That's Perriman!

Taking it all the way to the end!

Man...

The things that really play into winning championships

right at the end of the season,

it's the team that's the hottest and the healthiest

that typically goes and wins the whole thing.

So in December, first the Saints,

I took a hit to my knee,

tore my ACL and my MCL.

In that same game, first of the Saints,

Mike hurts his hamstring.

Lenny hurts his hamstring.

And Lavonte, he'd gotten hurt.

The rest of that regular season. we're trying to get guys

back in time for the postseason.

I learned a lot about my teammates in the season.

I think with your offensive linemen,

it's such a unique relationship.

It's a brotherhood, but it's also like a mutual...

I got your back, you got mine.

They've got a very tough job.

And at the same time, you have high expectations for them,

because if they don't perform well,

then nobody can do anything else on the whole field.

You know, I always tried to push them.

And I was, you know, I was not easy on them.

But I don't think the point of football is to be easy on them.

I think every day you got to push hard

to be a little bit better.

And, you know, Ali was one of the guys

that I counted on the most to do that,

because a, he had a lot of experience.

He also had the trust of everybody up front.

So, Ali gets a personal foul.

We were playing the Jets.

I messed up pretty bad.

I had a personal foul penalty.

Personal foul, unnecessary roughness.

Offense number 74.

Half the distance to the goal line.

That's from Ali Marpet.

Our margin of error was already razor thin.

We're at the Jets.

And the one guy that I can count on

to not do those things is Ali.

It brought us back to, like, third and forever.

A major penalty on second down.

So now it's third and 20.

I lost my shit.

Cussing me out.

I hope it felt fucking good, Ali, you fucking asshole.

Did that feel good? Did that fucking feel good?

Was it worth it? Was it worth it?

I hope it's fucking worth it.

To fucking punch him? Well, look at us now.

It's fucking third and 20.

How the fuck does that feel now?

I hope it felt fucking good.

All a good manner.

Even though he's yelling, you know, he just wants the best.

You know, and all the guys in the huddle were like,

calm down, Tommy.

And I was just, I let him know that

that was unacceptable from him

because I expected the most from him.

And finally, after my tirade, we got the play out of my mouth.

And we actually converted the third down.

And right on the first down marker, Grayson hauls it in.

It's a first down.

Lo and behold, we convert a third and forever.

I just always feel like that happens

when Tom's flipping out on everyone.

Then everyone goes up a gear.

And we're like, okay, like, it's behind us,

it's past, we're fine.

What a big third and 20 conversion.

I think Tom was still upset in the next huddle.

I was not ready to give this up.

So now it's first and 10.

New guys are running onto the field.

And they weren't even a part of that motherfucking

in the huddle on third down.

And it's first down.

Tom came back and just motherfucked Ali again.

Fucking Ali, you fucking piece of shit.

You fucking keep that up.

And I was just going on.

Still cursing me out

and Gronk and I just kind of nudged each other

when Tom's not looking that like,

"Yeah, we still got it done."

And everyone was like, "Tommy, calm down."

And Ali kept looking at me just nodding.

And underneath his breath, he's probably like, "Fuck you, Tommy."

You know, but again, that's just,

that's the intensity we needed.

I mean, it was a close game when we were playing the Jets.

It was a close game.

And...

Antonio Brown,

that's Antonio Brown without his uniform, we are told,

without his jersey and running out of the field.

We lost, you know, Antonio Brown wasn't really an injury,

but it was, I don't know what it was.

It was, it was, uh...

The whole year?

Man.

Video shows the bizarre moment.

Bucs wide receiver Antonio Brown stormed

off the field during Sunday's game against the Jets.

I was like, yo, what you doing?

We need you. We needed him.

I wish, I kind of wish I got to see it,

but yeah, I had no idea until after the game.

The entire offense was on the field.

We didn't see any of this go on.

But he did what he did.

Off come the shoulder pads. Off comes the uniform.

You know, playing to the crowd at MetLife Stadium

as he's walking off the field.

Ripped his jersey off,

gave everyone the peace sign and just dipped.

No, Antonio Brown just,

you know, apparently got a cab and left.

I mean, I was like, no way, bro. Like, that was crazy.

And then I just thought,

we've just seen the last of Antonio Brown in the NFL.

One hand that game was a great comeback.

We won the game.

On the other hand, you know,

it's not easy when it's Super Bowl

and you need all your firepower.

And now we were down two wide receivers.

We had just beaten Carolina.

The big game gets 12 targets

and we're going to go play the Jets

and they double cover him.

And now he's not getting his targets.

He gets upset.

And one thing leads to another

and we have a blow up on a sideline.

And, and that's it.

Um, you know, I think everyone should,

should be very compassionate and empathetic toward,

you know, some very difficult things that are happening.

Frankly, if I have one regret after our Super Bowl season,

AB was a free agent.

We did a contract, if I remember correctly,

with a bunch of incentives and all these things.

And he was never really happy about that.

If I could turn back time,

he had really produced for us in our Super Bowl year.

And, um, he probably deserved more.

Party!

Gronkowski again!

Rob Gronkowski, killing Carolina.

Bucs win! Bucs win!

Fire the cannons!

- Y'all ready? - Hell, yeah!

- Y'all ready? - Hell, yeah!

- Y'all ready? - Hell, yeah!

Brady, looks toward the end zone.

Throws, caught ball Evans.

Tampa Bay touchdown!

Does a somersault and the Bucs put the dagger

in the heart of the Eagles.

You know how hard it is to repeat?

Everyone wants to knock off the champs.

And welcome to the divisional playoffs.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Los Angeles Rams.

We were missing some key players in that game.

That offensive line was decimated.

We're playing with some backups.

And we got behind early.

Sackford, gone for it all, he's got a wide open man.

It's Cooper Kupp all the way to the end zone.

The Bucs are just messing it up against the Rams this year.

They were kicking the Bucs butt.

Phew. Oh, God.

Brady under pressure again.

Fires downfield.

Picked off at the 31-yard line.

All day long.

I mean, it was an embarrassing one-sided effort

for most of that game.

It didn't look too good for us.

They got up like two, three scores maybe.

The Rams have taken a 27 to 3 lead.

I'm in the IR suite looking down, just pissed.

I can't do anything about it. I can't help.

And then Maria looked at me and she was like,

"What was the score when Patriots played the Falcons

in a Super Bowl?"

I was like, that was 28 to 3.

This is 27 to 3. It's different.

It's very different.

Pressure on Brady.

And you know Brady. No game is over.

He's stalking the sidelines,

trying to stoke up his teammates.

There's glimpses. you have of Tom

where it scares the shit out of you

because it's his tone and his voice.

And it was terrifying.

We come out in the second half. We come out swinging.

And Kupp loses the ball.

That's exactly what Tampa needed here.

- Fournette. - He's in there.

Let's go!

This place just woke up.

And a snap over the head of Stafford.

We're back in the game.

Brady going deep down the right side.

He makes the catch! He's in for the score.

Oh, he lost the ball!

We were landing haymakers.

And the Buccaneers come up with it at the 30-yard line.

Ndamukong Suh!

A furious comeback.

Brady's going to hand it off.

It's Fournette!

He's going to take it to the end zone.

27-27.

This is officially lunacy.

Do you think Brady gave that talk at halftime?

Hey, boys, it was down 28-3. This is nothing.

So we score a touchdown with less than a minute

to go to tie the game.

And you think we're at least sending it to overtime.

And the first play of that last drive, Suh hits Matt Stafford.

And the ball goes down his leg.

And Matt somehow gets it back.

But he holds on to it.

I'm trying to recover that damn thing from the sideline.

And that stops the clock at 28 ticks.

They hurry up knowing that we would probably go blitz zero.

Stafford.

When Stafford threw that ball up to Cooper Kupp.

Down the middle of the field to Cooper Kupp.

Bomb to Cooper Kupp.

Cooper Kupp streaking down the middle of the field.

That was my guy, and I was supposed to take him.

And I was looking in the backfield too long.

He just ran right past me.

Stafford, deep down field!

That'll be embedded in my brain forever.

Seeing the ball, it was like slow motion.

I'm like, there's just no way.

Deep down field!

He's got Kupp again!

The crowd just goes dead silent.

They kick the field goal at the end of regulation.

It happens, you know.

It was a heartbreaker for us.

We got...

We got beat with an all-out blitz.

A kicker that I had drafted and released,

Matt Gay made a field goal to win the game.

Ends the Buc season. Ends it.

I didn't close it out.

And, you know, that was tough for a while.

And I was like, dang.

But I'm like, it's football, so you learn from it.

But it's something I always, always remember.

One of those types of games where people will never forget

where they were when they watched that game.

Yeah, I think about it all the time,

because I still think that with our players,

that was the best team we ever had.

Dominate the season, win the division,

but it was a bit of a mirage

because we were just losing players.

It was disappointing finish to what could have been

a very special second Super Bowl with Tom.

This is big stuff just coming into Fox News.

ESPN is reporting that Tom Brady is retiring from football.

Tom Brady has officially announced his retirement.

When he told me that he was stepping away,

basically that, you know, he had climbed the mountain

and didn't know if there was anything left

for him to accomplish.

We laughed. We cried, that whole thing.

And... at least I did.

It was disappointing. It was disheartening.

But I had great respect for Tom Brady

and everything he'd done for us.

Tom Brady is retiring.

As the days went on,

we were watching the Super Bowl at my house.

We had some neighbors over and I got a text from him

and he was MF-ing about how we could be in this game

and how he still has it and we could win and this and that.

And I looked at my wife and I said, "He's not retiring."

Tom Brady announcing his six-week retirement is over.

He'll be returning for his 23rd season.

There's a lot of relief knowing that the GOAT is coming back.

All right, we got Tom back.

We have another chance to make another Super Bowl run.

I had thought about retiring after the Super Bowl.

I tore my Achilles during that season.

Standing on the sideline was excruciating.

So I was like, okay, Tommy's coming back.

No better time to do it.

I wanted to give Todd a chance.

I thought he deserved it.

I get a call from BA and Bruce says,

"I'm going to retire.

You're going to be the head coach."

I said, "What?"

Coming from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers front office.

Bruce Arians is stepping down as the team's head coach.

Todd, as he was an established head coach previously,

had the experience doing it.

Was a great defensive coordinator,

knew our football team.

Usually, when you're taking over a team,

it means the team stinks.

And in this case, we had just come off Super Bowl victory.

He felt it was an opportunity to give Todd Bowles a shot

to take over a quality team.

Again, our offense was set in stone.

Our defense was set in stone.

Nobody, and I mean nobody thought Ali Marpet was retiring.

Ali Marpet announcing his retirement on Sunday

after seven seasons in Tampa.

Marpet allowed only one sack in 2021,

his first year being named a Pro-bowler.

Retiring from football early with two years left

on my contract was undoubtedly one of the hardest things

I've ever had to do.

Ali Marpet allowed one sack in two seasons.

I was ready to sort of prioritize my own health

and find whatever the next thing was going to be for me.

Buccaneers kicking off their three day

mandatory mini-camp this morning.

We show up to mandatory mini-camp

and things are just flying, you know.

You know, when you're at training camp,

especially in the beginning,

there's just a lot of people there,

a lot of energy, fans, everything.

Great optimism, great excitement.

For me, the excitement ended really quickly

and really abruptly.

And we get to the second day,

five plays from the end of practice.

They're in a two minute drill, it's non-contact.

Next thing I know...

All I feel is from the interior of my knee

to the my exterior of my knee, pop four times.

And I'm on the ground screaming.

And silence.

Just silence.

And just never experienced having the wind

sucked out of a situation like I did at that moment.

And I remember Tom kind of like turning around,

shaking his head, just like, fuck.

Brady's feeling obviously bad for Jensen,

but I think also realizing just how significant

that injury was to their season.

They opened the doctor's office door,

and I walk out there, and there's just everybody.

The entire front office, ownership, coaches,

all hoping for good news.

And I remember looking into Jason's eyes

and just shaking my head,

saying "It's not good."

And that's it. He's done for the season.

I mean, that's a huge gap, a huge hole to fill.

But I just had a guilt that I let the team down.

Then the next day, Tom Brady doesn't come to practice.

He misses, I believe, it was 11 days of training camp.

He had a lot of things going on in his private life.

That kind of began what was one of the tougher seasons

that I've covered.

We go into the season thinking, okay,

we have a pretty solid continuity in offensive line.

Never in our life did we think we're going to have

to fill two holes on the offensive line.

Offensive line went from being a strength

to a very, very creaky ship.

I think middle of the season,

we lost maybe four or five in a row.

And Joel kept coming in, and Bryan kept coming in.

Like, we're that close.

We just got to keep chopping wood.

We're on to the next one.

And I'm ready to jump off a bridge.

And I just remember Tom Brady,

at his locker for about 20 minutes, full uniform.

And I thought, man, he's going through some stuff.

And yet, somehow, he managed to get his team back

to the post-season.

Andre makes the catch!

Wow, we're going to the playoffs.

And they got blasted by the Dallas Cowboys.

Prescott all the way.

Enjoy yourselves. Cowboys did tonight.

They won the wild card game in Tampa.

That was difficult to watch, quite frankly.

Kind of the personal anguish that he was in.

And yet, he was way too good and had too much pride

to let that team not make the postseason.

Good morning, guys.

I'll get to the point right away.

I'm retiring for good.

I know the process was a pretty big deal last time.

So when I woke up this morning,

I figured I'd just press record and let you guys know first.

So it won't be long-winded.

You only get one super emotional retirement essay

and I used mine up last year.

So I really thank you guys so much

to every single one of you for supporting me,

my family, my friends,

teammates, my competitors.

I could go on forever. There's too many.

Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream.

I wouldn't change a thing.

It was the most disappointing season of my career,

just 'cause I wanted to finish so strong.

And I probably knew that was my last year.

And based on, again, what I went through,

it took a lot out of me.

And in some ways, I felt like I left it all out there.

I wish I had more to give.

Kind of a sad, not sad,

but just a tough, just really tough.

When Tom came to the Buccaneers,

it wasn't lost on me,

the irony of how, really,

Tom Brady,

he won two Super Bowls for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Because if not for the Tuck Rule,

and if not for what happened on that field, the Raiders win.

And I don't think John Gruden ever comes to Tampa.

And I don't think we win a Super Bowl.

So Tom Brady, in his own amazing way,

not only influenced our second ring,

but unbeknownst to all of us, he had a hand in the first ring.

It's impossible shoes to fill...

but someone has to be quarterback of this team.

With the possibilities endless...

Baker Mayfield is the unrestricted free agent.

He may cost a little bit too much as the Bucs

are 55 million dollars over the cap.

We were in a situation that year

where we have to pay the credit card bill

for what we did in the past,

trying to go for it.

So we had spent three years of cap money in two years.

The only money we had was about

four million dollars left for a quarterback

and Baker was the guy we wanted

because we knew what he was capable of doing.

So first year varsity backup, Baker Mayfield steps in

and just like that, a star is born.

Crazy story here,

Mayfield state champion at Lake Travis High School in Texas

did not like his scholarship offer list,

so he walked on at Texas Tech.

The first ever true freshman walk-on quarterback

to start a season open.

I've always been a Baker Mayfield fan.

He's a Texas guy.

He was benched late in the season though

and decided to head north.

A lifelong Sooner fan, Mayfield walked on again.

The year I transferred into Oklahoma, I had to sit out.

Obviously transfer rules were different back then.

Twenty-one months ago, Baker Mayfield came to OU uninvited.

This month, he's going to be the Sooner starting quarterback.

Baker won me over in college.

He was at Oklahoma.

I went down there to see him.

He started trying to throw blocks on reverses

and he was scrambling out of the pocket

and he was getting in people's faces

and he had some swag to him.

I will guarantee Baker Mayfield

is going in the first round of the draft.

I've had at least three teams say to me,

the quarterback we really love is Baker Mayfield.

Baker came with a certain aura.

This year's Heisman Trophy winner is Baker Mayfield.

Heisman Trophy winner and now he's the number one pick.

The Cleveland Browns have a franchise quarterback.

His rookie season, they came here.

He led a drive.

Mayfield takes off, cross the 40.

Across Midfield.

Great run on that scramble by Baker Mayfield.

- They scored. - Mayfield touchdown.

Went to overtime.

We kicked a field goal like almost a 60-yard field goal.

He gets it off.

Can it hook it?

It's good!

Look at that face on Baker Mayfield.

Can you believe it?

We won the game and I thought to myself then I said,

"Man, if Baker had a receiver like me?

He can do some damage."

Baker Mayfield having surgery today to repair the torn labrum.

I hurt my shoulder early in the year, dislocated it two times.

It was definitely probably the lowest

I've been overall career, life.

Just not knowing the next steps.

Former Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield

is headed to the Carolina Panthers.

So signed in Carolina.

Didn't work out there.

Went to the Rams.

Baker Mayfield a little bit more than 48 hours ago,

he's in Carolina and here he is.

He's got to go 98 yards.

Fires for Atwell and he does make the grab

with 15 seconds to go.

Fires towards the end zone.

Lofted pass.

Caught by Jefferson!

No way!

This guy's been here for two days and he shows up.

When it comes to quarterbacks,

it takes just one game to draw us back in.

In a quarterback class that is not expected

to be particularly deep,

Baker Mayfield could be one of the more intriguing names

to monitor come March.

That was really when I started to be like,

okay, five games with L.A.

Let's hit the reset button going into free agency,

knowing that I'm healthy now.

It's my first time I'll be able to pick where I'm going.

So in the middle of March when free agency starts, we'll see.

I want to be in a stable organization.

Do you prefer warm weather? A dome? Cold weather?

I prefer warm weather. Yeah.

So when Tampa called, for me, it was a no-brainer.

They said, we just want you to be you.

And that's it, we don't want you to try and be Tom.

He signed a one year make it deal.

Hey, on the way.

Way up front.

Good job. Good job, man.

Good job, good job, good job, good job, good job.

Head Coach Todd Bowles announced today

that Baker Mayfield is the starting quarterback.

I feel like I was comfortable enough within the system,

command of the offense and able to get guys in the right spot.

Mayfield looking to his left,

looking, throws the ball toward the end zone toward Evans.

He makes the catch touchdown Tampa Bay.

Baker won the team over that first week.

Very first game of the season.

Played against Minnesota.

He pulls it back, he's going to run it himself

trying to stick-arm Murphy.

Gets a couple of extra yards.

Get your weight up, little boy!

Okay, Baker.

That's the Baker Mayfield we know.

Get your weight up, little boy!

- Get your weight up. - Get your weight up.

I think I always knew he was tough

and then him having to prove himself

and earn this spot again to be where he's at now

is a tremendous feat for him.

The offense is driving to close the game out.

Mayfield, can he get there?

He's got the first down!

The sideline goes crazy.

Damn. Like, this is Baker Mayfield.

A gutsy run by Mayfield on third and two.

Then everyone's like, okay, that's our quarterback.

We can win with this guy.

You know, I was trying to show the guys

that I'd do anything for this team to win.

And I think they saw that.

I think everybody kind of bought in right there.

That was when it really felt like home.

And I was like, okay, this is where I'm meant to be right now.

On a Friday night after that first game,

take an Uber somewhere with my wife

and the Uber driver recognizes me

and says, Baker Mayfield's my favorite quarterback

we've ever had.

And this is just one year after we've had Tom Brady.

I think he won over the town right away.

It is a wild card playoff game in Tampa, Florida.

Bucs and Eagles.

Baker Mayfield steps up. Throws a pass.

It's a caught ball. Moore still on his feet to the five.

Two, three. Touchdown, Tampa Bay.

Oh, oh, oh!

Touchdown Buccaneers!

Fire them cannons!

Mayfield throws it up for grabs toward the--

It's caught! Touchdown, Tampa Bay!

A 32 to 9 win for Tampa Bay.

And it's on to Detroit.

You're watching the divisional playoffs.

Gets around inside.

Touchdown Detroit!

They haven't done anything to stop us.

It's just been us.

We got our shit fixed, we'll be fucking rolling.

Third and 10 blitz coming.

White tries to beat the blitz.

Scores a touchdown!

Good job, though, by Baker Mayfield.

Staying alive on two plays to preserve the drive.

Second down.

Mayfield, end zone, Evans!

Caught it! Touchdown, Mike Evans.

And they're still alive.

With the strong hands of Evans.

And Mayfield's third touchdown pass of the day.

So Baker Mayfield gets hot down the stretch.

Two. They know we're going for two.

And the Bucs have a chance to tie the game.

What a shift in this game, though.

Picking up any pressure that may come.

Here comes that pressure.

Mayfield in the middle.

Intercepted!

It's off to San Francisco for the Lions.

What a season for Tampa Bay.

They just keep fighting back.

And this is what you get with the Tampa Bay Bucs.

You get the blitzes, you get Baker Mayfield.

You get a crazy show.

It's what makes them fun to watch.

Baker Mayfield signing a three-year $100 million deal

to Tampa feels right.

He bet on himself. Resilience is a great quality.

Mike Evans is one of the most durable players in the NFL.

There's a lot of reasons why he's had 1,000 yards

for 10 straight seasons.

The 1,000-yard streak started in my rookie year of 2014.

And it was a goal of mine to get over 1,000 yards.

Obviously, you want to be at the top of the league,

but you want to make sure no matter what happens

throughout the season, you want to eclipse 1,000 yards.

It's kind of like a benchmark.

But I think, you know, people's impact

goes far greater than numbers.

It's never been in my personality to complain

about not getting the ball.

It's my job to go out there and be as open as possible.

And when the ball comes my way, make the play.

You know, I'm just trying to be a good teammate

and help my team win.

And over 1,000 yards for 10 years in a row, Mike Evans.

2024 season, we were just winning, like,

as a whole, on offense.

So my numbers weren't crazy.

But at Monday Night Football,

week seven game against the Ravens.

Baker throws me a great inside-release goal ball.

And as soon as it comes out the lights,

it's a little bit past where I thought it was going to be.

So I tried to open up.

My hamstring just, it felt like it popped.

And he comes out of there grabbing the hamstring.

It felt like someone stabbed me in the back of my hamstring.

And I just dropped the ball and my body just goes limp.

I've been hurt in the past.

I've always had, you know, chronic hamstring problems,

but they've always been mild

and I've been able to recover within one or two weeks.

Fuck, man!

But this one, it felt a little different.

I miss the most time I've ever missed in my career.

Three games and we lose all three.

We only had seven games left.

I think I was around close to 400 yards maybe.

I'm far away.

- Let's talk about Mike Evans'. - Second game back.

They're going to try to open him up a little bit this week.

Mayfield, middle of the field, open is Mike Evans.

Back to his old tricks.

End zone, high, one handed, hold him.

Wow, are you kidding me? What a catch.

Chargers bring some pressure.

Mayfield rips it, Mike Evans on the move.

Shotgun the pass.

Mayfield looking, throws the ball downfield towards Evans.

He makes the catch, touchdown, Tampa Bay.

Still looking to his left,

directing traffic, throws the ball downfield,

caught ball, Mike Evans down the sideline.

Three, two, one, touchdown, Tampa Bay.

The season best, 159 yards today.

Evans has been back with a vengeance.

This is the year that he can tie Jerry Rice.

It's within distance of doing it.

The second to last game.

There was a play that Mike Evans caught for six yards,

but there was a penalty on the play.

Flag down.

Offside.

And we accepted the penalty, so wiped out the six yards.

I said, uh-oh, I have a bad feeling.

And my brother Joel turned to me and said,

that's going to cost him.

That six yards. is going to cost Mike Evans

his 1,000 yards.

But for the Bucs, it is win and you're in.

It's week 18 with a lot on the line.

Playoffs, record, it's all in the balance.

I really love the way Baker spreads it around

to a really unselfish group of receivers they have.

Last game for Mike Evans to tie Jerry Rice's amazing record

of 11 seasons consecutively of 1,000 yards or more.

He's 85 yards away from tying Jerry Rice's record.

How about that?

Insane, but this defense,

they're going to make it challenging

for him to get that record.

Mayfield. Over the middle.

Evans falling down.

Wow.

The number one goal on this afternoon is to win the game.

The Buccaneers had to win in order to win the division

and get into the playoffs.

Mayfield has time, throws a ball near side.

Caught ball, Evans.

Near side, Evans.

They're trying to get Mike to the Jerry Rice record.

What do we got?

Bucs up by one.

If they win, they're in the playoffs.

And then this too, Mike Evans five yards away from tying

Jerry Rice's all-time record for consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.

Five yards away, Evans in motion.

What do you do here?

Hey, Blue Sixer. Blue Sixer. Blue Sixer.

Oh, he looks like he's calling a pass.

So Buccaneers call a play that has Mike Evans

as the primary target.

Evans is doubled, Mayfield.

Flips it out, near side, he's gonna score!

Irving gets in.

Bucky runs into the end zone.

And I'm thinking like, all right, we scored.

And I can't be mad at that.

Like, how am I going to be mad that we scored

and were possibly about to clinch playoffs?

The thing I know about Mike,

it's never been one of his motivations.

It's always great for these records,

but he is an ultimate team player.

Now the defense is back on the field,

not only trying to salt away the win,

but also trying to get the ball back with some time

so that we can run another play to Mike Evans.

And it's an 8-point game with 59 seconds to go.

Comes down to this.

Fourth down and 5.

Pressure coming.

Rattler near side. It's incomplete.

Bucs will take over, and they're going to go to the playoffs.

Now, anxiety.

This game is over.

Oh, wow.

You got to throw a ball to Mike Evans, though.

I think you got to give him a try.

Oh, my God.

Sure enough, he needs five yards on the last play.

I said, what did I tell you last week?

Here we are in this situation.

It's such a monumental thing,

and it's not, like, just a season thing.

This is a career, a Hall of Fame thing.

Oh, it's painful.

We've won the game. The game is over.

You take a knee and we're in the playoffs,

but Mike still has his five yards to go.

I got to call one more good play.

I know, and there's the Liam saying

Baker, you cannot throw an interception.

Oh, my God.

Whatever you do.

I said let's go get the guy to record.

We can put him in motion.

We thought they were going to double him.

Okay, I got it. I got it. I got it.

So we called the timeout.

This is real stressful shit.

And I said, Baker, if you fuck this up,

I'm going to kick your ass.

We are not throwing a fucking pickin' ball in the ball game

to go to playoffs.

You don't fucking have it, take the goddamn sack.

We got to fucking do this right.

So everybody's like, okay, okay, okay, okay.

We believed that Mike Evans was going to get that ball.

The question was, where and how?

Because everybody on the Saints knows

were throwing it to Mike, too.

Buc, Buc!

Baker lines up in the shotguns seat, okay, here it comes.

Liam put him in motion.

I got two slants, and they picked for me.

I ran a half-assed route,

so I could get the ball in my hands quick,

so I could get up the field.

I didn't know what was going to happen.

Mayfield throwing Evans.

He's got it! He ties it!

Jerry Rice has company!

That moment is one of the best moments of my life,

not just my sports career, just my life.

Oh, man!

That's one of the greatest things I've seen.

The excitement, the joy,

and obviously the thrill of victory for the team.

But for Mike to do that, absolutely awesome performance.

It was probably the happiest I've ever seen Mike

from the time I've been here.

I've never seen a team that we've had in our history

that just liked each other so much.

Another reason I had to get it so badly

is because of how bad my teammates wanted it and coaches.

Hey, I got that one!

Hey!

The best in the fucking business, man!

When we get in the locker room, I'm exhausted.

Just like that moment, it just took a lot out of me.

It shows the love and the person Mike Evans is.

Appreciate you, man.

Appreciate you letting me get that.

It's funny because a nine-yard pass in a game

that was already sealed away,

yet somehow that's going to go down probably

as a top-ten moment in franchise history.

1,000 yards.

Hold up, hold up.

Happy home opener, crew.

Yeah, welcome, Bucs crew, to the 50th anniversary season

of your Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

A big day today at Raymond James Stadium.

Nothing better than game day.

First time at home this year.

It's crazy, it's been 31 years.

A lot of opening days.

It's amazing.

We started this thing when I was 30, you were...

I was 31, you were 29.

Being younger, you're less afraid to do

and try different things that you would maybe

be afraid of or more cautious when you're older,

maybe trading two firsts, two seconds,

and $8 million or doing stuff at our stadium

throwing a pirate ship in an end zone.

Remember our first playoff game, when we drove up to the stadium

and people lined up in the parking lot,

we got donuts for them.

It's been a long time since that happened.

You guys get a donut?

Can't believe it's been 50 years.

50 years, it's incredible.

Today, we celebrate 50 years of Buccaneers football.

What we are truly celebrating today

is the bond that makes us one.

We got the big pregame party.

We're close to 200 former Buccaneers coaches, players.

Big ceremony at halftime.

Please give it up for players

representing every year of Buccaneers' history,

including two Super Bowls,

10 division titles, six Hall of Famers,

and one amazing community.

We've feel the buzz around the town

for the season that we've been doing so well

last few years in post-Super Bowl victory.

We haven't lost a beat.

I think we have a very likable team with good guys,

and I think the fans see that.

We've kept these players together longer than I think

a lot of teams have, you know, whether it's Lavonte David,

Chris Godwin on his third contract, Mike Evans,

been here for a long time.

These people came in as Bucs.

There's an attachment to them and their community.

Also, we came from being fans,

so we've ended up keeping the players,

realizing that maybe even the shinier new toy

is not always better than the consistent locker room.

The most important thing I learned here in Tampa

is the fact that it's all about family.

- Family. - Family.

Family.

The people that I have met in Tampa are family.

I think that's the main thing.

These folks loved us.

Raise the flags!

We're here rain, snow, shine, whatever.

Welcome to Raymond James Stadium.

Oh, go, Bucs.

I saw joyful people that were thankful

that we played our heart out.

They knew that we were playing for them.

I never felt that type of love before,

and I felt that here.

That's why Tampa and the Bucs always have a home in my heart.

It'll always be home and somewhere I would cherish.

It speaks to this franchise, and people that played here

and appreciate what this franchise has gone through,

what it became, you know, where it's going.

This place is special.

The culture doesn't need any fixing.

Great teammates, great coaches.

And it came true.

You know, we all did it for each other.

I get goosebumps thinking how that has developed

into a bond and a friendship for life.

Wearing that pewter and red and the flag on my helmet.

You can't get any better than that.

It's not about me.

It's about everybody in this stadium.

I want to thank you for always showing love and respect

to me and my family.

I hope I made you proud.

I'm totally grateful, um, forever.

It was amazing. Again, amazing.

And all I wish I could do is

I could wish I could do it twice.

Everyone starts at a different place on the mountain,

and if you start last, you've got to overcome a lot of things.

In many ways, I relate to that

because I went through a lot of those things myself.

It's never where you start. It's where you finish.

It's resilience, determination, and hard work

that gets you where you want to go.

We got the best fans in the whole world.

Tampa Bay, we love you!

Bucs win! Bucs win!

The Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Buccaneers are the champions of the National Football League.

It's a standard we got to uphold.

He's got Sterling Shepard out there,

but he's not gonna have a chance-- oh yes he is.

He fights through the sack.

Looking for first down yard,

oh my goodness he's done it again.

Oh that is pure Baker Mayfield.

My grandmother said something

to me a long time ago that I'll never forget.

She said, "Boy, don't ever forget where you come from."

And I stand before you today, one humble,

proud country boy from Plymouth, Florida.

Well, we just unveiled that bust

and just realized to me that...

man, this is what it's all about.

My Bucs guys first.

Herm Edwards, Mike Tomlin,

Raheem Morris, Jimmy Lake,

you helped me change one little corner of the game

that would define me.

Thanks for the empowerment dude, thank you.

Each of us comes from a different walk of life,

but when we huddle up, we huddle up as a team.

There are so many to acknowledge,

but two guys back here had my back from day one.

Together we forged an unbreakable bond,

and I'm overjoyed to join you two in Kenton.

I'm so appreciative of someone in Tampa Bay

who always put a sign in the corner of the end zone

that says Leroy Selmon for the Hall of Fame.

I don't know who that was, but that is very special.

In 1996, I got the job I thought I'd never get:

head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

We made the playoffs for the first time in 15 years,

and the Bucs fans went crazy.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you.

This is awesome.

May God bless you all.

Thank you and God bless.

And for everybody else I did forget,

I love you, God bless you.