Tristan Wirfs Says Some Teammates' Attitudes Changed After Buccaneers Won Super Bowl 55
Nobody - and we mean nobody - would trade the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Super Bowl LV win for anything else in the football world.
There's not a first-round pick, free agent signing, or any other package you could offer the Bucs to get them to return the franchise's second Lombardi Trophy.
But just like that trophy, it doesn't take long after an achievement like that for smudges to start appearing on the once-shining surface.
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In the 2022 NFL season, some of those smudges turned to full scale blemishes, and that's something Tampa Bay's All-Pro caliber offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs says the team is trying to rectify.
"In a certain way, I feel like winning the Super Bowl was kind of like a blessing and a curse at the same time," Wirfs says. "I feel like it united some groups of people - or some guys - and it kind of made individuals. I feel like it does that everywhere. So we want everyone to be together."
Pick the cliche.
'One Team, One Fight.'
'All for One, and One for All.'
Regardless, the message is the same: Succeed as a unit or fail as individuals.
For the Buccaneers, they know what it's like to do both now, and Wirfs wants more of the first.
After acknowledging that winning the NFC South last season wasn't the greatest achievement in athletic history, he wrapped his press conference prioritizing the group mentality over the individualistic one.
Of course, this isn't the first time we've heard commentary like this.
Following a particularly disappointing loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6 of last season, in his post-game press conference, coach Todd Bowles made a comment that hit everyone's ears as a message to specific Bucs players.
"I think guys that are living off the Super Bowl are living in a fantasy land," Bowles said at the time. "You've gotta get your hands dirty and go to work like everybody else...Nobody's gonna give us anything...the time for talking is over. You either gotta put up or shut up."
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Later, in the locker room, BucsGameday caught up with several Buccaneers players, and outside linebacker, Shaquil Barrett stood out in his agreement with Bowles' sentiment that anyone still feeding off the Super Bowl LV victory needed to get over it and refocus themselves.
Unfortunately, Barrett was eventually lost for the season, and after that loss to the Steelers Tampa Bay went 5-6 before getting dismissed in the first round of the NFL Playoffs.
But now there's a new chance for the Bucs to reunite. And a clear message that those who are not in it for the group, and those who do more talking than playing, are not going to be a catalyst for future success in this franchise.
That message sounds great, and it's certainly one worth following.
The trick is getting everyone to decide they want to be a part of that solution.
Find David Harrison on Twitter @DHarrison82
Stick with BucsGameday and the Locked On Bucs podcast for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the season.
