The stupidest question ever asked

The old saying goes there’s no such thing as a stupid question.  The mantra’s origins are unknown but by its very nature instills the importance of being inquisitive.

I always used to consider that statement to be true, until this weekend, when someone asked me, very possibly, the stupidest question ever.

It was a lovely older lady, as nice as could be, who was sitting at the bar with her husband and twenty-one-year-old daughter.  Considering we’re smack dab in the middle of the NFL Playoffs, and the Buccaneers are smack dab in the middle of those playoffs, pigskin was a welcome topic of conversation.

She and her family were visiting from out of town.  We were talking about local restaurants and sites they could see while in the area.

Then she asked it, like a stink bomb full of foolishness.

“Are you guys okay with Tom Brady being your quarterback?” she inquired, looking to further the playoff conversation, in the back of her mind, however, already knowing the answer.

Given our history with that position, I’m not sure how any Buccaneers fan could possibly, in any way, shape or form, be “not okay” with Tom Brady moving to Tampa.  In fact, we’re all still pinching ourselves.

Here’s a complete list of quarterbacks who have started for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since 1993: Steve DeBerg, Craig Erickson, Trent Dilfer, Shaun King, Eric Zeier, Brad Johnson, Rob Johnson, Chris Simms, Bruce Gradkowski, Tim Rattay, Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown, Byron Leftwich, Josh Johnson, Josh Freeman, Mike Glennon, Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick.  That’s 18 quarterbacks in 28 years.  No disrespect to those guys… but they’re not Tom Brady.  And while Brad Johnson did win us our only Super Bowl, he’s not going down as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.  Tom Brady, however, is.

So yes, in a nutshell, and I think I can speak on behalf of the entire Buccaneers fan base, when I say we are just fine if not outright ecstatic with Tom Brady being our quarterback.  All he’s done in his very first year, at the ripe young age of 43, is right this driverless pirate ship that had been lost at sea for so long.  This season he threw 40 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions totaling over 4600 yards on his way to an 11-5 season.  They made the playoffs for the first time in fourteen years and while he won’t win league MVP, he sure as shit should garner some votes.  Oh yea, and when he moved to Tampa, he also brought along his best buddy, perhaps you’ve heard of him, his name is Rob Gronkowski.  Thanks to the entire team’s play but in large part to the fire that Brady brings, this team is one win away from becoming the first NFL team in history to play a Super Bowl in its own building.

So yes, once again, for the fans in the cheap seats, we’re okay with Tom Brady being our quarterback.

“I just mean because he played with the Patriots for so long,” she continued, as if after being happily married for so long, Sofia Vergara decided to give you her phone number, you’d have a problem with it.  Au contraire, you’d encase that little piece of paper in glass for posterity’s sake.  We have no beef with the Patriots.  While they were busy making playoff runs year after year, we were dwelling in mediocrity, at least since 2007.

I haven’t taken any scientific polls since Brady pulled into town but I know a LOT of Buccaneers fans.  I’m pretty sure 10 out of 10 of them would say they’re okay with Tom Brady being our quarterback.  As if one would say, no thank you, I really don’t want the greatest quarterback of all time quarterbacking my team.  Tampa Bay pulling off the coup to land Brady is like finding a winning lottery ticket that you don’t remember buying, then cashing it, happily.

This is not a franchise that’s known for making free agent splashes so what do they do this off-season?  They only lease the greatest quarterback of all time for two years and watch him propel a team that’s never really talked about on a national scale into front page worldwide news. The man changed the culture simply by walking into the building.

How Brady has turned this team around in such a short amount of time is nothing short of unexpectedly inconceivable.  It has been a fun ride, that’s for certain, one that no one saw coming.  It rejuvenated a Bucs fan base, reminding us that we are actually relevant when we hadn’t been for so long.

So, yes, to conclude, I am perfectly, 100% okay with Tom Brady being our quarterback.  And yes, there is such a thing as a stupid question.

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