Throughout his career, Tom Brady made a name for himself by taking pay cuts that allowed both the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to add quality players. Yet very few are aware that the 46-year-old even slipped in cash to his Buccaneers offensive lineman to motivate them.
Brady moved to Tampa Bay in 2020, but their screen game wasn’t great, unlike in his time in Boston. So he had a cheeky thought and decided to bribe them. Ali Marpet, who is a former Bucs Guard (2015–2021), spilled the beans while appearing on Phil Beniamino‘s Wam Bam Podcast back in December.
[Tom Brady] took our starting offensive line to the side, and he’s like, ‘Hey, if you guys can get a screen to go for more than 15 yards, I will give you $1,000 cash each. ‘That is for you guys, so every time that we get that, I will be happy to make that payment'. Ali Marpet revealed
Atrocious screen game forced Tom Brady to bribe his offensive lineman
Marpet did not disclose which year Tom Brady had the idea to employ such tactics. However, he felt the necessity of a drastic step to make their screen game better. Marpet implied multiple 15-yard screen plays ensued, hence they received multiple payments.
Tom just knows how guys are wired and what goes a long way in inspiring and getting the most out of his guys. Marpet added
The screen game was so bad that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were losing yardage and, on occasion, turning the ball over to their opponents. Longtime Bucs tight end Anthony Becht watched the Monday Night Football broadcast of the Bucs-Falcons game in 2020.
Later, Becht appeared on the WDAE radio and discussed the two key subjects that caused the slow start of Brady’s team. One was confusion after the snap, and the other was poor execution because of the confusion.
The screen game... was just atrocious. Three screens, they couldn’t get anything. Anthony Becht said
It limited running back Leonard Fournette, who could have run with the ball multiple times if the execution was much better. Several players in the O-line were unable to keep up with the Falcons’ pass rush and blitz.
This is an interesting revelation, to say the least. Any football fan is familiar with the famous bounty gate scandal that Sean Payton used while the head coach of the New Orleans Saints. They put a bounty on a player and target them during games, and if they meet the conditions of the bounty, they will receive a bonus. Of course, it was for the records.
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