Will Creamsicle Jerseys Help The Bucs Lure Brady Back?

Brady, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent in March, was asked for his thoughts on the Bucs’ throwback Bucco Bruce jerseys on Friday just days before Tampa Bay’s Wild Card playoff game against Dallas.

“It’s pretty sweet,” Brady said with a smile. “There’s a good picture of Ronde [Barber] in the hallway wearing it. It looks pretty good.”

No, that jersey Brady was wearing in his Instagram post was not a teaser for a No. 12 orange Brady jersey. That was actually a gift from a legendary Bucs quarterback.

“That was a gift from Doug Williams, so I loved it,” Brady said. “It’s a great looking jersey.”

Williams wore No. 12 in Tampa Bay from 1978-82.

After changing the franchise’s logo, team colors and uniforms to the red and pewter pirate flag in 1997, the Bucs did wear their Bucco Bruce uniforms once a year in throwback game from 2009-13. The NFL made a rule change regarding helmets for players’ safety in 2014, which did not allow players to wear multiple helmets during the season out of concern for concussions.

Some teams like Chicago and Denver have kept their base blue helmets and can pull off a throwback look by just changing decals throughout the years.

Because the Bucs’ throwback helmets were white, the team could not complete a throwback look with pewter helmets. So the team has had to wait for the one-helmet rule to change. The league finally changed the helmet rule this season, which allowed 13 teams to wear alternate helmets for the first time in several years.

Like all Bucs quarterbacks, Brady does wear an orange practice jersey, so he’s already used to the color. And Brady did get to wear the New England Patriot Pete throwback jerseys during his 20 years with the Patriots.

Perhaps we’ll finally see Brady in creamsicles in 2023.