Lavonte David: Don’t cry around Tom Brady unless you’ve won Super Bowl

So there’s no crying in baseball, right? Then what about football? Well, if you’re in the locker room with Tom Brady and haven’t won it all, you better not squirt a few.

Bucs linebacker Lavonte David went on the All Things Covered podcast and revealed just how intense his quarterback is when it comes to capturing another Lombardi Trophy.

“When I realized that it was real ... it was like all the other stuff doesn’t really matter unless it’s the Super Bowl, after we won the NFC championship. You know me, I’m all happy. ... I’m geeked up,” David said. “Then I guess somebody was crying, and I heard (Brady) ... ‘What the (expletive) are you crying for? We’re not done yet.’”

Then former NFL cornerback and FSU standout Bryant McFadden, who hosts the podcast with Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson, asked David what we all want to know. Who was crying?

“I don’t remember. I want to say it was Chris Godwin or Jaydon (Mickens), it was somebody,” said David, adding he thought, “Damn, he’s right, he’s right. I had a little two tears, too … and wiped my (expletive) quick,” cracking up both hosts.

Come to her window, especially if Chiefs fan

How fanatical is Melissa Etheridge about her Chiefs?

“From 1 to obsessed? Very obsessed! I’ve always been,” the Grammy and Academy Award-winning singer-songwriter recently told IN Kansas City magazine.

Etheridge has performed the national anthem at Arrowhead Stadium a few times before games, including the 2018 AFC championship, won by the Patriots (hmm, who was that QB for New England?).

The 59-year-old from Leavenworth, Kan., released a song last year to commemorate Kansas City’s run to the championship. Now she has done it again, debuting Football, Thank You on the Dan Patrick Show. Her final verse:

“Oh now Brady as a Buccaneer, well he deserves all my respect. He brought them to the Super Bowl, yeah he’s a GOAT ... and yet ...

“Well I’ll take my defense any day, with Tyrann, Chris and Spags. My Chiefs have proved it all year long, that they can run it back.

“With Andy’s plays, and Kelce’s saves, when Tyreek leaves them scorched, in the end when Brady meets Mahomes, well ... it’s time ... to pass the torch.”

Thursday’s must-see TV

The premiere of Al Davis vs. The NFL, part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, airs at 9 p.m. Thursday. “We’re living in a sports world that owes a debt of gratitude to two sworn enemies, Al Davis and Pete Rozelle,” legendary broadcaster Brent Musburger says in the show’s trailer. And it only gets juicier from there.

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Hometown boy makes good, real good

Even the most ardent Bucs fan can be forgiven for not knowing the name Tanner Hudson. After all, the backup tight end had just three catches for 41 yards in the regular season and none in the postseason.

Undrafted out of Division II Southern Arkansas in 2018, Hudson bounced on and off the practice squad. He settled in this season, playing 11 games and all three in the playoffs, mainly on special teams.

But in his hometown of Paris, Tenn. (pop. 10,156) and nearby Camden (3,582), where he grew up, Hudson is their Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce all rolled into one.

And the 26-year-old has returned the love, thanking the folks back home with a billboard on Highway 641 in Camden, complete with his signature:

“Thank you for your support. Now let’s get that ring. Go Bucs. #88″

As his mother, Karen, told the hometown Paris Post-Intelligencer newspaper this week:

“He’s just your hometown guy that just happens to get on TV every once in a while, and that’s a bit of a wow-factor for us in a small town. So everyone started wearing T-shirts, making flags, watching the games and doing social-media posts. When the Bucs kept making it and getting more publicity, even more cool things started happening here. Tanner just wanted to find a way to say thank you, but how do you say thank you to so many people in different parts of the community? I hope everyone enjoys it.”

Super trivia

Patrick Mahomes has a chance to become the third player to win back-to-back Super Bowl MVPs. Whom would he join? Answer below.

Numbers game

$2.74

Price for pound of chicken wings, reports Darren Rovell of the Action Network. The record prices are due to chicken production being down 2 percent versus last year and higher costs for the farmer — all pandemic-related. The lower supply is met with increased demand, especially during Super Bowl season. The dine-in restaurant business is down double digits, but servings of wings are up 7 percent, according to the National Chicken Council.

Quotable

“Lay low and cool it.”

— Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Good Morning America, urging no Super Bowl parties with people you haven’t had much contact with. “You just don’t know if they’re infected. … This year, choose a safer way to enjoy the game.”

Answer

Pittsburgh’s Terry Bradshaw (SB 13-14), Green Bay’s Bart Starr (SB 1-2)

Compiled by Times staff writer Anthony Perez with information from Times news services.

• • •

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