Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen remembers life with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before Tom Brady arrived in 2020.
Jensen was there for the legendary quarterback’s last career game, as well, the Wild Card playoff loss to the Dallas Cowboys in January 2023.
In between, Jensen said Brady shared some valuable lessons with his teammates.
Jensen and former teammate Garrett Gilkey appeared on the latest Short and to the Point podcast with host Jessica Kleinschmidt. The two talked about their co-business venture, GILK, a luxury home-building company. But they also talked about experiences in football. Jensen shared what he learned from Brady.
“You know, I learned so much from Tom from like a leadership standpoint of things, his striving for excellence and perfection,” Jensen said. “You know, nothing’s ever gonna be perfect, but striving for perfection is something that he always, always talked about and pushed for and he’s always had a way of motivating guys, to get the best out of them.
“And that’s something, my two years that I was able to play with him, two full years, it was something that really impacted me, on the football field, but also off of it.”
Jensen, 32, has had an interesting tenure in Tampa. After playing his first five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, he joined the Buccaneers in 2018. He was starting center on Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl LV championship team to cap the 2020 season. He made the Pro Bowl the following year, then signed a three-year, $39 million extension in March 2022.
But in training camp a few months later, he suffered a serious knee injury and went on IR, missing the entire regular season.
The Buccaneers placed Jensen on IR in August 2023 after he reaggravated his knee injury and he missed the entire season.
Short and to the Point with Jessica Kleinschmidt is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
