The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t appeared in the Super Bowl since 2003, but they aren’t letting that change their "act like you’ve been there before" mentality.
Experience has been a key talking point in the weeks leading up to the showdown between the Bucs and the Kansas City Chiefs, largely because the Chiefs won this game a year ago against the San Francisco 49ers. However, the Buccaneers are not letting that impact how they are preparing for the game.
Tampa Bay linebacker Shaq Barrett said, “From day one of the playoffs, you could not tell that these guys have not been here before. They all had the right energy, and the mindset was right. Lavonte David seems like he has been here before. Devin White, Jason Pierre Paul, Leonard Fournette, all of these guys have been stepping up. Everyone who has been here before has been doing their part and telling guys what is at stake.”
Barrett did not mention that they are being led by the man with more experience in the Super Bowl than anyone else in NFL history as quarterback Tom Brady will be making his tenth start in the game.
The Buccaneers have been on big stages throughout the postseason and the moment hasn’t gotten to them yet.
“A big part of it will be for this team to go in there and not let the moment be too big for them. Now, it has been that way so far through the playoffs with the Wildcard, the Divisional, and the NFC Championship, James Yarcho said on the Locked On Bucs podcast. “The NFC Championship game, that’s a pretty big game and it has not looked too big for any of them yet.”
In all of the contests that Yarcho mentioned, all of the games were on the road. On Super Bowl Sunday, the Bucs will be at home, in the friendly confines of Raymond James Stadium.