It won’t be cold in Tom Brady’s shadow for unheralded Bucs

Tom Brady is the gift that keeps on giving. When he signed with the Bucs, the team that had not reached the NFL playoffs in a dozen seasons became relevant overnight. Demand for tickets mushroomed. Merchandise flew off the shelves.

Tight end Rob Gronkowski unretired to be Brady’s teammate again in Tampa Bay. The networks swooned, and the league’s schedule-makers gave the Bucs five prime time games.

And now the Brady Bump will be felt by all Bucs players, warmed by his spotlight in ways some of their careers have warranted but never quite achieved.

NFL fans might know standout receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin by their fantasy football numbers. Linebacker Lavonte David has more tackles than any player in the league since 2012 but has made only one Pro Bowl.

Geography, economics, schedules, aesthetics — it all factors into which teams get maximum exposure.

Three of the Bucs’ prime time games come in consecutive weeks: at Las Vegas to face Jon Gruden and the Raiders in Week 7 on Sunday Night Football, followed by a Nov. 2 matchup at the New York Giants on Monday Night Football, and finally another Sunday night game Nov. 8 against the Saints at Raymond James Stadium.

The last time the Bucs hosted a Sunday night game? Oct. 19, 2008, a win over the Seahawks, the same night the Rays won Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Red Sox across the bridge at the Trop.

Brady is the reason that drought has ended. Everyone loves a winner, and no one embodies that more than Brady, who has 242 career victories, including 30 in the postseason and a record six Super Bowl rings.

“It will be great for a lot of guys,” tackle Donovan Smith said of the added television exposure. “(Guard) Ali (Marpet) and myself … Lavonte. I feel like he gets snubbed on a lot of accolades throughout the league. To see a guy work as hard as (David) does, as smart as he is and work the way that he does, you know it pains me to not see him get what he deserves.

“It’s just going to be a great opportunity for a lot of guys, young guys, older guys like myself, to get out there and show the world what we have. … Now it’s a matter of coming out and showing what the Bucs do.”

Tampa Bay has had good teams in the past, but even after its Super Bowl 37 victory, the Bucs netted only four national TV games the next fall in 2003. Those teams were built on defense. But now with an iconic quarterback, you also get the best officials and the best announcing crews.

It all will become part of the story for in 2020.

And what will the nation discover when it tunes in? That Tampa Bay has had a lot of good football players, past and present.

We can do the scripts for Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth now.

Lavonte David

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He is the best linebacker you’ve never heard of. Hard to believe he’s 30, going into his ninth season. The Bucs want to sign him to a third contract. Only the Texans’ J.J. Watt eclipses David’s 116 tackles for loss since the Miami native came into the league in 2012 as a second-round pick out of Nebraska. His 21 forced fumbles are the most since 2012, and he has recovered 14.

David had more than 800 tackles, 20 sacks and 10 interceptions in his first seven seasons. Only one other player had reached those levels — former Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, and the last time we saw, he had hair and a gold jacket as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

During David’s career, inside linebackers such as Carolina’s Luke Kuechly (seven Pro Bowls) and Seattle’s Bobby Wagner (six) got way more TV time and the awards that go with the exposure.

Shaquil Barrett

He signed a one-year, $4 million free agent deal in March 2019 and all he did was become the best story on defense in the NFL last season, leading the league in sacks with 19½ and forcing six fumbles. Despite all that, the outside linebacker wasn’t even nominated for defensive player of the year.

Why? Consider that only one Bucs game kicked off last year after 4:25 p.m. Sunday, and that was the Thursday night game at the Panthers in Week 2.

Barrett was given the Bucs’ franchise player tag this offseason, guaranteeing him a one-year deal worth at least $16 million. If the 27-year-old has big performances against the likes of Drew Brees, Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers, to name three, he could become a household name.

Devin White

Even Bucs fans don’t know how dynamic of a player the 2019 first-round pick could become, but his rookie season offered a few glimpses. Illness (he played his first game with tonsillitis) and injuries (left knee sprain) limited the 22-year-old linebacker the first half of the season. When healthy, White was dominant with 2½ sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble returns for touchdowns. He was twice named defensive rookie of the month (November and December). LSU players seem to shine when the lights are brightest.

Vita Vea

The quiet giant from Washington still is learning how to utilize all the power and quickness in his 6-foot-4, 347-pound body. The defensive tackle had 35 tackles to anchor the league’s top run defense in 2019, and added 2½ sacks and 12 quarterback hits. And what will fans think when Vea, 25, lines up in the backfield as a fullback in goal-line situations or catches a touchdown pass like he did last season?

Sean Murphy-Bunting, Carlton Davis, Jamel Dean

There’s a difference between exposure and being exposed. Dean, 23, experienced the latter when pressed into service as a rookie at Seattle in Week 9 last season and gave up three touchdown passes in the overtime loss. But he bounced back with 17 pass-breakups despite playing a third of the snaps. Murphy-Bunting, 22, made the biggest improvement and by Week 15 he had intercepted his team-leading third pass, returning it 70 yards for a touchdown in a win at Detroit. Davis, 23, led the Bucs with 19 passes defensed and grabbed his first career interception. Can these cornerbacks rise to the challenge of defending Brees, Mahomes and Rodgers?

Mike Evans, Chris Godwin

Evans has made three Pro Bowls, Godwin went to his first all-star game last season and both might have eclipsed 1,500 yards receiving during the year if not for hamstring injuries that derailed them the final month of the season. If Evans, 26, posts 1,000 yards receiving for a seventh straight season to start his career, he will surpass Hall of Famer Randy Moss and stand alone in NFL history in that category. Godwin, 24, is looking at a big payday soon heading into his fourth year. Brady never had a better tandem of outside receivers in his 20 seasons with New England. He’s going to put more money in their pockets if not rings on their fingers.

Ali Marpet

Consistently one of the highest-rated guards in the league, Marpet made it to the big time from Division III Hobart College in western New York. The 27-year-old has started 72 games and is a fixture in his sixth season alongside Smith at left guard. Brady’s ability to get the ball out of his hands quickly will make the whole offensive line look better.

There’s still plenty of other potential stars on the rise — tight ends O.J. Howard and Cam Brate, and running back Ronald Jones — and rookies such as running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn, receiver Tyler Johnson, tackle Tristan Wirfs and safety Antoine Winfield. And some stars who haven’t faded: linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

Now they all get to compete in big games with Super Bowl expectations. Brady hasn’t played a game for the Bucs, but his impact is already undeniable.

“It’s going to hit. Reality is going to set in that we’ve got one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time,” David said, “(but) it’s not just going to be about him. It’s going to be about everybody out there in those uniforms.”