Bucs left tackle Tristan Wirfs is no stranger to accolades, but any time you are the first player in NFL history to accomplish something, that is on a completely different level. The 25-year-old was named an AP First-Team All-Pro on Friday, and in doing so, he became the first player in league history to earn First-Team All-Pro honors at both left and right tackle.

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Wirfs, the Bucs’ first-round pick in the 2020 Draft, was already on his way to a Hall of Fame career at right tackle over the first three seasons of his career in the NFL. He had no preseason to work with as a rookie due to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet he still stepped right in and helped solidify the Tampa Bay offensive line, which played a key role in the team winning Super Bowl LV.

From there, Wirfs only got better. He was a first-time Pro Bowler in 2021, plus he was voted a First-Team All-Pro.

Then, after making another Pro Bowl and being voted Second-Team All-Pro in 2022, the former Iowa Hawkeye was asked to make a significant change ahead of the 2023 season. With the Bucs releasing left tackle Donovan Smith, they moved Wirfs to the left side of the line after three years of dominance on the right side.

There was some anxiety about the move for Wirfs, which he spoke about publicly last summer. 

“I don’t know if it has necessarily subsided,” Wirfs said in August. “I think just that the negative thoughts have been outweighed by the positive thoughts now. I have been meeting with our team sports psychologist to try and help it a little bit, because I was in a really rough spot mentally. I was really nervous. I was playing out the season in my head over and over again like, ‘Oh, what if it goes this way or what if it goes this way?’

Tristan Wirfs Pro Bowl – Photo by: USA Today

“So, I was like, ‘It is freaking May. You have to calm down.’ It has been a lot better by just trusting myself and having confidence in my abilities. Knowing the work that I have put in will pay off. I have been coming out here every day with the best attitude that I can. Especially with us having young guys kind of look up to me now. I am just trying to stay as positive as I can. It helps me quite a bit.”

It certainly did help Wirfs in 2023, as he fought through some injuries and adjustments from right tackle to left tackle to make a third straight Pro Bowl. And by now, it’s obvious that Tristan Wirfs is right at home on the left side of the line. He recently became the first offensive lineman in Tampa Bay history to be a four-time Pro Bowl selection, and now he’s the first player in NFL history to be a First-Team All-Pro at both tackle positions.

Tristan Wirfs Has Been As Dominant As Ever This Season

The Bucs have a top-five offense in the NFL for a variety of reasons, with offensive coordinator Liam Coen, a career year from Baker Mayfield, another 1,000-yard season from Mike Evans and a revived run game — featuring 1,000-yard rusher Bucky Irving — being among them. But the elite play of the Buccaneer offensive line can’t go unnoticed, and that’s a unit that has predictably been led by Tristan Wirfs.

Wirfs, who was also voted by his peers as an NFLPA All-Pro this week, has the lowest pressure rate allowed among all offensive tackles this season at just 2.0% (according to Pro Football Focus). With a league-leading 93.7 pass-blocking grade and zero sacks allowed over 638 pass-blocking snaps, Wirfs was also named a PFF award winner as the NFL’s best pass-blocker in 2024.

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The four-time Pro Bowler only turns 26 in a couple of weeks, and the Bucs rewarded him well this past offseason with a long-term contract extension that made him the highest-paid offensive lineman in football. The five-year, $140.63 million deal will keep Wirfs in Tampa Bay through 2029, and it’s a good thing, too, as he’s exactly the type of player and person a team dreams of having as a franchise cornerstone — especially at the left tackle position.

Wirfs is already in rare company as only the eighth player in Buccaneer history to reach the Pro Bowl four times. He joined this list with his selection to this year’s Pro Bowl Games:

Derrick Brooks (10 straight, 1997-2006)
Warren Sapp (seven straight, 1997-2003)
Mike Alstott (six straight, 1997-2003)
Gerald McCoy (six straight, 2012-2017)
Lee Roy Selmon (six straight, 1979-1984)
Hardy Nickerson (four straight, 1996-1999)
John Lynch (four straight, 1999-2002)
Tristan Wirfs (four straight, 2021-2024 — active)

WATCH: Tristan Wirfs Learns Of His 2024 All-Pro Selection

Bucs LG Ben Bredeson, QB Baker Mayfield, LT Tristan Wirfs with his girlfriend Meredith and son Julius, C Robert Hainsey, and RT Luke Goedeke – Photo by: Bailey Adams/PR

It’s easy for Bucs fans to be happy for Tristan Wirfs as he gets the league-wide recognition he so obviously deserves. But it’s even easier to be happy for him when you get to see the way he found out the news that he became the first player in NFL history to earn All-Pro honors at both right and left tackle.

As Wirfs was sitting in the Bucs’ media studio for an interview, his girlfriend Meredith walked in with their son, Julius, wearing a shirt that read “My Daddy Is An All-Pro.”

The honor for Tampa Bay’s franchise left tackle was made even more special by the moment, and his reaction said it all. For Wirfs to share the moment with his girlfriend and son in the same room where the press conference was held after Wirfs inked his record-breaking contract extension just five months ago?

That’s a great full-circle moment for the future Bucs Ring of Honor member who is well on track to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.