Tom Brady Reveals Surprising Lapse Midway Through First Season With Bucs

Tom Brady's first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers culminated in his seventh Super Bowl victory, but it was no easy road getting to that point.

Brady struggled at times during the 2020 season and, during an appearance on the JoeBucsFan.com podcast this week, revealed the difficulties in learning head coach Bruce Arians' scheme early.

"Midway through the year, I was still trying to figure out how to call the plays," Brady said. "I just read [the plays] off my wristband and tried to visualize what was going to happen.

"It's like learning a completely new language. You've spoken English for 20 years and someone goes, 'Hey man, let's speak some Spanish.' And you are like, 'Huh? That makes no sense to my brain.'"

During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show prior to Super Bowl LV, Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen said the offensive hadn't yet reached its full potential, noting the difficulty for anyone, even Brady, to just pick up Arians' offense in one season.

Tampa Bay improved down the stretch, winning four consecutive games after their Week 13 bye to end the regular season, as well as four more in the playoffs, including a 31-9 victory in Super Bowl LV.

"We kind of came together. Naturally, we couldn't come together in the same way," Brady said. "You couldn't start that way in training camp because we were all socially distanced. We couldn't meet together. We had to all sit outside. You couldn't have friends over. You couldn't do anything after the game.

"So it took a long time for people to get to know one another. Much longer than normal. The last six weeks of the year, wow, we really started hitting our stride. We gained a lot of confidence in one another. It was a really unique experience, one that I hope I never, ever have to go through again, but I think we made the best of it."

The Buccaneers will kick off the 2021 NFL season with a home matchup against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, September 9, 2021.

Photo: Getty Images


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