Hey Tom Brady, no excuses necessary if you win another Super Bowl

TAMPA — He was in red shorts and an orange jersey.

The heavens went with puffy white clouds and brilliant blue skies.

They were finally together again on Monday, Tom Brady and normalcy. Tom Brady and football. Tom Brady and the aspirations of millions of Tampa Bay fans.

Just like that, the Bucs were Super Bowl contenders again. It didn’t matter that the starting center and the potential left guard were on crutches, or that the Bucs needed Siri to find the end zone on Saturday.

Brady has brought legitimacy back to Tampa Bay with him, and that’s why you’ll not hear a single complaint from anyone associated with the franchise about his mid-camp truancy.

Let Antonio Brown ramble nonsensically on social media, and let the bloggers theorize about “The Masked Singer” conspiracies. The truth about Brady’s excused absence is probably less sexy and more Middle America-adjacent than most people would imagine.

And I would assume every single person in the Tampa Bay locker room understands that the rules are different when you have 22 years, 10 Super Bowl appearances and three MVPs on your resume.

Mostly, they understand that any chance of having a special season in 2022 rests with the guy playing quarterback. So, no, they’ll not resent Brady’s absence as long as he can still do Brady things.

And from the looks of practice on Monday, there will be no problem with that. Brady was whipping passes around the field as if he spent the previous 11 days working on his accuracy instead of his tan.

So does that mean the hysteria surrounding his disappearance is finally finished?

Not entirely. After all, he is among the most famous athletes on the planet, and his departure in mid-camp was equal parts odd and mysterious. It would have raised eyebrows no matter what the circumstances, but the idea that Brady has declined to discuss it makes it ridiculously enticing.

The suspicion is that it involved family-related matters, and Brady is entirely within his right to say that is nobody’s business but his own.

But he’s courted/exploited/utilized the media for two decades and understands that much of his wealth has been derived from the public’s fascination with his life and marriage.

If he did not want to divulge the precise reasons for his vanishing act because they were personal, I would gladly defend that stance. But he could have alleviated much of the worry about his supposed lack of commitment or contemplation of retirement with a simple announcement that all was well.

Instead, we got a lot of prurient speculation that filled the information void. And Brady has no right to complain, because he invited it with his silence.

I don’t blame the Bucs, because it is not the team’s place to divulge a player’s personal details. Head coach Todd Bowles was stuck in a no-man’s land of inconceivable excuses. He was trying to respect Brady’s privacy, while also trying to make a superstar’s disappearance seem normal and expected.

In the end, I assume most fans are ready to move on. While they might take part in the memes and rumors, they’ll quickly forget once the regular season begins and Brady is back in the huddle.

Because, if there is one thing Brady has proven in his career, it is that distractions are for lesser mortals.

The year his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and he was suspended for his role in Deflate-gate? The Patriots won the Super Bowl.

The year critics jumped on Brady after it was reported he forced New England’s trade of Jimmy Garoppolo? The Patriots won the Super Bowl.

The year he left the comfort of New England to join a Tampa Bay franchise that had not won a playoff game since after the 2002 season? The Bucs won the Super Bowl.

No matter what was/is going on in Brady’s life, chances are it will not bleed into his performance on the field. He is too good at compartmentalizing his various responsibilities, and he is too cognizant of his legacy to allow distractions to sink the 2022 season.

He is back at practice and, around here, that is all that matters. The who, where, when, why and what of the past 11 days will quickly fade into oblivion.

You can forget about “The Masked Singer.”

Brady is more Masked Avenger, anyway.

John Romano can be reached at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @romano_tbtimes.

• • •

Sign up for the Bucs RedZone newsletter to get updates and analysis on the latest team and NFL news from Bucs beat writer Joey Knight.

Never miss out on the latest with the Bucs, Rays, Lightning, Florida college sports and more. Follow our Tampa Bay Times sports team on Twitter and Facebook.