Welcome to The Hook, my weekly column that hooks you into a different Tampa Bay Buccaneers topic each Thursday, as well as some of my thoughts on the Bucs and the NFL at the end in a section called Cannon Blast.

I invite you to offer me some feedback on The Hook below in the article comments section.

“I’ll take ‘In The Bucs Locker Room’ for $1,000, Alex.”

“The answer is – Cameron Brate”

Alex Trebek – Photo by: Getty Images

(Buzz in sound effect)

“Who is nicest guy in the Bucs locker room?”

“Cameron Brate, or Ron Brate, from Naperville, Illinois. The nicest player in the Bucs locker room was what we were looking for. Good job, now select again.”

Seriously, find me a nicer guy in the Bucs locker room.

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

And while you are at it, find me a better story in the Bucs locker room as well.

Brate, a gangly, silly-grinning Harvard graduate who weighed just 230 pounds at the time, showed up to One Buccaneer Place in the spring of 2014 not sure what to expect. No, the Bucs weren’t hiring in their accounting department, or looking for a computer science intern. Instead they needed bodies at tight end.

After an offseason program, full training camp and preseason, Brate didn’t quite make a good enough impression and was released during the final roster cuts. The Bucs did bring him back on the practice squad the next day and he was a late-season addition to the active roster. Brate finished the season with a whopping one catch for 17 yards.

In 2015, Brate again was cut before the start of the season and was eventually signed to the Saints practice squad. Ironically, in a game against the Saints, starter Austin Seferian-Jenkins injured his shoulder. Brate was signed off of the Saints practice squad to replace Seferian-Jenkins and since then has been a fixture in the Bucs offense, eventually earning a new contract extension prior to the start of the 2018.

Bucs TE Cam Brate – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

I gave Brate a call this week and we spent a half hour talking about all that has gone on this offseason, including COVID-19, and the addition of quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski among other things.

What was your offseason like with all of the craziness going on?

“I am pretty simple, so there were no crazy plans. With the acquisitions we made in the offseason, I was super exited to get to work with the new guys. Obviously, that didn’t happen in an organized fashion this spring. I just really adjusted to being home more. The dog loved it. Mom and Dad have been home almost every single day for there past four months. Really I just tried to figure out ways to get my body ready to play football. Whether it was reading, or researching certain things. Really just trying to keep my brain going as well. It has been adjustment for everyone and luckily I haven’t been hit personally with anyone who got affected negatively with coronavirus. So I have just been praying and thinking about those who have had it harder than myself.”

What was it like for you when you learned Tom Brady was coming to Tampa Bay?

“Tom Brady has been a fixture in the NFL pretty much my entire adult life – since I started watching football. So even just hearing the rumors that we were on the short list was a little surprising for me. Once it came down to reports saying it was either going to be here or the Chargers, I was like, ‘Well, shoot. He is probably going to go to L.A. He’s is opening media company, or whatever.’ But really I was just kind of floored when the news broke he was coming to Tampa. What a great opportunity it is for all of us here to call ‘the greatest of all time’ our teammate and try and learn as much as we can while also competing for a championship. He (Tom) is really thrilled for the opportunity. So I am keeping my fingers crossed we get to play this year.”

Being close to Jameis Winston, how hard was it to see how things played out with him?

Bucs TE Cameron Brate and QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Jameis was one of my favorite teammates I ever played with and I respect him a ton. Just the enthusiasm and love for the game is infectious. He made coming to work fun the past five years. Obviously, I really liked playing with him. He always kind of looked my way, which was awesome and we had a good connection there for a few years. I felt for him when we signed Tom. There was no way any of us knew that was going to happen or how it would play out. A guy like Jameis, I have there utmost confidence he is going to be a starter again in the NFL. I think he is in a really good place mentally. I have a had an opportunity to work out with him a couple times this offseason. Just some of the changes he has made – exercise-wise and diet – I think physically and mentally, he is in a really good spot right now. And just the opportunity for him to go learn from one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time [in Drew Brees] and not have that burden or pressure to be the guy. He can take a step back and reassess and learn as much as he can and I think it is going to do wonders for him. And like I said, I think it is just a matter of time before Jameis is setting records again.”

Besides Brady, the Bucs added another star player in Rob Gronkowski.

“It is pretty unbelievable really. Those two guys – their pedigree speaks for themselves. Gronk – I was just cleaning out my room at my parents the other day, my childhood room in case my parent decide to move, and out of the back of the closet I pulled out a Gronk jersey that I purchased when I was in high school or college. And really his game is unbelievable. He is one of the best tight ends to ever play. He was always a complete tight end – not just a pass catcher, but a great blocker as well. The times I have gotten to meet with him and workout with him this offseason, he has been great. He is just as advertised I would say. Really funny guy. And I am just excited to play with him as well, and pick his brain a little bit too about playing tight end.”

What were the offseason practices at a high school field like with Brady?

“We were able to get a lot of work in this offseason – obviously led by Tom. It has honestly been great. And while we aren’t getting the live reps we would get in during OTAs, we are still able to get the full-speed routes on air with Tom. And that has been huge for us. Figuring out what he likes, what he sees on the field versus what we are seeing kind of just figuring each other out that way. Honestly, the amount of reps we got in the spring are just about what we would be getting in OTAs. Physically, in that aspect it was really good.”

Can Brady elevate everyone around him, or is that more of just something people say or hope?

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Getty Images

“I think that is 100 percent the case. Someone with his pedigree and his caliber of quarterback – when you look at it, he is pretty much the greatest quarterback of all time – unquestionably. That kind of raises expectations even before he walks into the room. When you know you have that quarterback that can come back from three touchdowns in the Super Bowl, who has won six Super Bowls, has been the league MVP a bunch of times, when you have that guy in change of your offense and the leader of your team, it gives you a sense of belief that, ‘Hey, if we keep this game close, as long as I am doing my job then we are going to have a chance to win at the end of the game.’ Really, just that sense of belief is huge. And just getting to know Tom, he is a great teammate and has an ability to relate to all of us. I think is going to elevate the camaraderie and the locker room and the whole team.”

Besides helping the tight ends, who benefits the most by having Brady on the team?

“Having Tom at quarterback should help out all of the guys. We have such all-around talent at receiver, at tight end, just so many guys that can get the job done. But who I really think it will help is the running backs. Just having that threat of the defense having to face Tom Brady at quarterback. We should have lighter boxes, and better fronts to run the football at. And obviously Tom likes to throw the ball to the running backs. So really across the board with us, Rojo (Ronald Jones), Dare [Ogunbowale] and Ke’Shawn [Vaughn has], the running backs are going to have a lot of opportunities to catch the ball out of the backfield, so that position is where Tom will have a huge impact on.”

CANNON BLAST

Cook’s musings and ramblings about the Buccaneers and the NFL. Good stuff. Check it out.

• Sad new for us old-timers who remember the old creamsicle days of Bucs football. Former linebacker David Lewis passed away earlier this week at the age of 65. Lewis played for Tampa Bay from 1977 to 1981 and earned a spot in the Pro Bowl in 1980. Tampa Bay traded Lewis to the Chargers in 1982 and he also spent a year with the Rams.

Former LB David Lewis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

While Lewis was a great football player, first at USC under head coach John McKay, then in the NFL, he is being remembered for being an even better person. Lewis was a high school football coach in the Tampa Bay Area spending several years at Tampa Catholic as head coach, then later as an assistant.

I met Lewis on a number of occasions, in the Bucs press box, at alumni days during camp and also at the Pin Chasers bowling alley on Armenia Avenue. If there was one thing he loved almost as much as family and football, it was bowling.

A couple years ago I had a chance to get him a couple of his old games with the Buccaneers that had been transferred from old VHS tapes to DVD. I remember how excited he was to see those games and share plays from over 40 years ago with his family.

Rest easy, Coach. And tell Coach McKay, Lee Roy Selmon and some of the others who have gone on, “Hello” from us old times down here.

• Speaking of a whirlwind offseason, Cameron Brate proposed to long-time girlfriend Brooke Skelly, and she said yes. Brate purchased a home last year and spent a good amount of time remodeling it. The two moved into the home right after the 2019 season.

Cam, Brooke and Archie – Photo courtesy of Cam Brate

Prior to his home purchase, Brate, backup QB Ryan Griffin and former receiver Adam Humphries all shared a condo in South Tampa despite the three of them all making a lot of money as NFL players. Humphries was the first to move out when he signed with the Titans last year, leaving Brate and Griffin.

Now with Brate gone too, Griffin might be in the market for a couple new roommates – or he could be living out of his car. Who knows? Griffin likes to be as incognito as possible.

But congratulations to the young couple, Cam and Brooke. I wish you years of a happy marriage. And hopefully Griffin doesn’t show up in your backyard with a tent.

• Cameron Brate was nine years old when Tom Brady started his NFL career. Nine years old. Do you feel old yet? We in the media joke about the 42-year old Brady being an old man, yet for me, I’m seven years older than he is. So if he is an old man, what does that make me? Don’t answer that.

To put things in even more perspective, rookie offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs was born in 1999. The year before Brady started in the NFL. Think about it. Wirfs was wearing diapers when Brady first suited up for an NFL game. And now Wirfs could potentially be protecting Brady’s blindside if Donovan Smith chooses to sit out this year due to COVID-19.

Iowa RT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Getty Images

A few other players who were kids essentially when Brady came to the NFL in 2000.

WR Mike Evans – born in 1993
TE O.J. Howard – born in 1994
WR Scotty Miller – born in 1997
S Antonio Winfield, Jr. – born in 1998

Even outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul was just 11 years old when Brady took over for Drew Bledsoe. The good news is, as long as assistant coach Tom Moore sticks around I will never be the oldest guy in the building. Moore is 81 and my friend Ira Kaufman isn’t too far behind.

Last Laugh

Perspective… pic.twitter.com/fXKM0Kg8Dl

— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) July 15, 2020