FOXBOROUGH, Mass.—In the mess of a rain-soaked postgame, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht had to scramble to find two game-worn balls from the imperfect 19-17 win his team had just delivered. Eventually, he got them, then got to the locker room, and handed them off to the team’s longest-tenured player, and defensive captain, Lavonte David.
David immediately knew where he’d go with both of them, as he started his address to the team. The first was going to Bruce Arians, who got his 17th victory as Bucs coach on his 69th birthday. The second was for the man of the hour, and the greatest football player of all time.