After all the football details had been worked out between Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an offseason conversation, there was still one matter left on the table.
“It’s a small thing, but maybe a big thing,” Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht recollected on Peter King’s podcast “Football Morning in America.”
Brady wore No. 12 throughout his career in New England and has created the “TB12” brand. He and that number practically go hand-in-hand, but Tampa Bay already had a player wearing that number: wide receiver Chris Godwin.
“What are you thinking about that?” Licht asked Brady.
“He said, ‘Oh, he’s a great player. I’m not going to take his number,’” Licht recalled Brady replying. “’You know what number I’m thinking of? I’m thinking of taking maybe No. 7. Is that available?’”
Licht 7
— Peter King (@peter_king) January 27, 2021
Licht: “It turns out Godwin offered his jersey to him and they arranged that. But I thought that was pretty cool … He’s got the TB12 brand and all that, that he was going to demand … It was last thing on his mind.”
—https://t.co/rE8KO7tnQA
Licht said he thought No. 7 was open, but asked Brady why No. 7 stood out to him.
“Go after that seventh Super Bowl,” Brady responded.
Brady is going after that seventh Super Bowl, leading Tampa Bay against the Kansas City Chiefs in the Buccaneers’ home stadium. Brady is playing that game in his trademark No. 12, though, because Godwin was fully on board to vacate that jersey number.
Godwin instead took No. 14, even though Brady would’ve been fine without No. 12. But there is something natural about Brady wearing No. 12 as he goes after his seventh Super Bowl.
• Andy Kostka can be reached at akostka@washingtontimes.com.
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