Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette recently declared that he’s lucky to have Tom Brady as a teammate, having lost to the veteran quarterback and the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship in 2017. Having experienced Brady as an opponent, Fournette grabbed the opportunity to be Brady when he joined the Buccaneers in the offseason following his release by the Jacksonville Jaguars after three years with the squad.
Despite knowing that he will play second-fiddle to Ronald Jones, Fournette signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers worth $2 million with a maximum earning of $3.5 million from incentives, mainly due to Brady’s egging.
In a report by Luke Easterling of USA Today, Fournette said Brady recruited him to join the Buccaneers. “The first guy that hit me when it happened was Tom,” Fournette said. “I’ve known Tom and Tom hit me like, ‘Man, I would love for you to come to help us out.’” Fournette said he immediately gave in to Brady’s request, saying anybody would want to play with the veteran quarterback.
Fournette likes Bucs’ brotherhood
Now that he’s with the Buccaneers, Fournette said he discovered an invaluable brotherhood with the squad. “I love it here, to be honest. We have a brotherhood. It’s going fine right now,” said Fournette, adding that the team is working its tails off every day and players help each other to be better.
“That’s the best thing about football, is the unity,” the running back added. In the absence of Jones, Fournette stepped up in their 31-23 Wild Card win over the Washington Football Team, racking up almost 140 total yards and a score for the Buccaneers.
Fournette lucky to have Brady as a teammate
During an interview on the Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday, Fournette reiterated his admiration of Brady, whom he lauded for his laser focus and his confidence even under pressure.
“He’s always had that laser focus. He knows how important each and every game is as always,” Fournette said, adding this experience is different because he’s a teammate of Brady, per transcription of the show’s YouTube video. “Just seeing how confident he is back there, even when we’re down or we’re in tough situations, you know he doesn’t lose his poise.
He remains the same,” he added.
White eyes ‘statement game’ vs Saints
The Buccaneers will take on the New Orleans Saints in the Divisional Round aiming to snap a two-game losing slide against their division rival. The Buccaneers lost to the Saints in Week 1 (34-23) and in Week 9 (38-3) but they are hoping for a different result on Sunday. Buccaneers star linebacker Devin White said he’s hoping to make a statement game against the Saints. “I need to make a statement game against the Saints this coming Sunday," said White, per a report by Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com. White said he’s eyeing to tally a sack and a pick against Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who might be playing his last season in the NFL.
