It shouldn't come as a surprise that the greatest Patriot and player to ever touch a football will be immortalized with a statue in August outside of Gillette Stadium. The passing yards leader and seven-time Super Bowl winner will forever be revered as a legend in the northeast, but NFL.com's Adam Rank suggests a second team builds him a statue - the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Despite Brady's accomplishments throughout his career, a full status in Tampa seems excessive. There's no doubt that a Super Bowl win in just three seasons with a team is a magnificent accomplishment, but the precedent it sets may be a bit too much.
The Buccaneers were widely regarded as a desirable destination for TB12. Bruce Arians was just a year into his coaching tenure there, and Mike Evans was a clear-cut one. Chris Godwin had just had a fantastic 2019 season with over 1,300 yards, and despite a 7-9 finish, Jameis Winston led the team to the fourth-most points per game.
After a season of working out the kinks, Todd Bowles's defense ascended to seventh in the league in 2020.
The stage was mainly set for Brady, and with the addition of Gronk through trade, it further solidified an incredible platform for him to build upon. Now, no one expected him to take the Buccaneers from 7-9 to Super Bowl Champions in a year, but he did just that. Although it's their second Super Bowl in history, is three seasons worthy of a statue?
Does Matt Stafford deserve a statue, too?
As a huge TB12 fan myself, I have a question. Does Stafford deserve a statue at SoFi? The Rams were in an excellent position as a team, but there was no belief that Jared Goff could get the team over the hump. Stafford did exactly that in his first year, bringing a Super Bowl to L.A. Logically, then, he would also deserve a statue at SoFi.
Now, Rank proposes an interesting intermediate for Brady's legacy in Tampa. He cites Peyton Manning's pillar in Denver as a comparison, noting that it is smaller and less impressive than his statue in Indianapolis, but nonetheless serves as a memento to his greatness and the Super Bowl win he achieved in Denver.
A similar pillar or bust for Brady in Tampa seems appropriate. Not to belittle his accomplishments in Tampa, but Brady is a Patriot: two decades, six Super Bowls... his status should belong only to Foxborough, while his time in Tampa should be reminisced upon through a more humble gesture. And for the record, Stafford should logically have a similar memento with the Rams.
There's no doubt about Brady's greatness, but his football legacy should be remembered as a Patriot more than anything else.