The reigning NFL title holders Tampa Bay Buccaneers and star quarterback Tom Brady enjoyed a winning night at the glittering ESPY awards.
Last season proved a landmark one for the Raymond James Stadium side, with Tampa Bay winning its first Super Bowl in almost two decades. It also marked a seventh title triumph for Brady and their collective wins at the event in New York this week were as predictable as they were deserved.
The Buccaneers weren’t the only football team to be honored well at the awards. Alabama was a worthy challenger to Tampa Bay when it came to the award for Best Team but missed out, however their Heisman winning wide-receiver Devonta Smith deservedly picked up the Best College Athlete award.
The Crimson Tide triumphed last year and are leading the NCAA football odds for 2022, with odds of (+250), a little ahead of rivals Clemson (+300), Ohio State (+500) and Oklahoma (+650). Beyond these four the futures odds get very long indeed, such is the confidence in the usual college favorites to succeed.
Tom Brady was another big winner at the ESPYS, the 43-year-old picked up the award for Best Athlete in Men’s Sports and the NFL Player of Year and many will be wondering if Brady can pick up an eighth winner’s ring next time around.
The Buccaneers start the upcoming season by hosting the Dallas Cowboys on September 9 and head coach Bruce Arians team is certainly capable of defending its title, though they are considered second favorites to the team they defeated in the Super Bowl.
The Kansas City Chiefs are the favorites with most sportsbooks, standing at around +450, with Tampa back around +600 before the likes of the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills sit just a bit further back at +1200.
Coach Arians is keen to avoid losing the impetus of that Super Bowl win and certainly won’t want complacency to kick-in when the season restarts in a matter of weeks, stating;
“I think for me I’m going to have to be harder; make sure that we stay the hunter and not the hunted,” Arians said.
Arians has also been known to distance himself from rumors linking any possible Brady retirement from his own, insisting he has no plans to walk away from the game any time soon;
“Oh, yeah — that’s the plan,” Arians said. “I don’t have any plans on retiring. It’s just, when do I not want to go back to work? When I’m not excited about going back to work then I’m cheating somebody. I’m cheating the Glazer family, I’m cheating my players. Right now I can’t wait to get back to work. I don’t know when that’s going to happen, but no, I’m not tied to any players.”
On the other hand Brady has been quite clear, seemingly, that he isn’t likely to hang around past the end of the 2022 season.
“I’ve always said 45 was the age that I wanted to reach and that was my goal,” Brady added. “This year I’ll be 44, so next year I’ll be 45. I got a two-year contract.”
