DE William Gholston questions Buccaneers' 'mentality' during Tom Brady drama

Veteran Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end William Gholston has provided some insight into what he feels went wrong during a disappointing season. 

"We didn’t capitalize on our opportunities as much as we did in the years prior," Gholston explained during an appearance on local radio station WDAE, per the Joe Bucs Fan website. "We had opportunities in our hands, and we didn’t take it. We had games in our hands, and we didn’t kill it with a sledgehammer — that type of mindset and mentality." 

Gholston insisted that the Buccaneers worked hard in practices and during film studies but were missing something on game days. 

"We did everything that we needed to do except for those little details: capitalize on your opportunity, have the mentality to kill it with a sledgehammer, and just finish," the 31-year-old said. 

The 2022 Buccaneers started the season with back-to-back victories as rumors about quarterback Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen allegedly experiencing marital problems hovered over the team. Tampa Bay then fell to 3-5 via a 27-22 "Thursday Night Football" loss to the Baltimore Ravens that was harder on Brady than outsiders realized at the time. 

"Backup quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Griffin and (then-Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen) tried to comfort him, but he was inconsolable," ESPN's Jenna Laine said for a piece published on Feb. 2 about Brady's reaction to the Ravens game. 

Brady and Bündchen officially announced their divorce after 13 years of marriage less than 24 hours after the defeat against Baltimore. 

Multiple reports have since detailed how the divorce affected Brady physically and emotionally throughout what became his final NFL season. After the 45-year-old announced a "for good" retirement on Feb. 1, his father made it known the seven-time Super Bowl champion endured "a hard year" and "a really rough six months." 

While the Buccaneers won the NFC South title with a lackluster record of 8-9, they couldn't escape being blown out by the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round of the playoffs. 

The Joe Bucs Fan website asked how "a seasoned playoff team with Brady" somehow lacked "the proper mentality to finish games." Recent history suggests the answer will become clearer the more that comes out about Brady's 2022.