Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Blaine Gabbert was among the bystanders to help rescue a man and his family from a helicopter that had to make an emergency landing in the water near Davis Islands in Tampa on Thursday, according to Matt Cohen of the Tampa Bay Times.

Gabbert was on a personal watercraft at the time of the incident, per Cohen.

Hunter Hupp and his parents were taking a helicopter tour over Tampa and the city's beaches as a Christmas gift before he heard a "popping sound" from above his head. The helicopter's engine had failed and it wasn't going to make it back to the airport.

The helicopter made an emergency landing in the water around 200 yards from Davis Islands. As the aircraft began to sink, Hupp found himself entangled in seatbelts and other cords that made it difficult for him to escape.

Hupp's parents and the pilot made it out safely, but Hupp said he struggled under the water for between 45 seconds and a minute before he finally freed himself. Hupp, his parents and the pilot escaped with no injuries.

Greg Auman of Fox Sports reports Gabbert "was one of the first to respond on his jet ski" when the helicopter went down. The veteran signal-caller lives on Davis Islands, according to Auman.

As Hupp, his parents and the pilot treaded water, Gabbert and someone on another jet ski came along to help. Hupp said his father was helped up onto one jet ski and he and his mother onto the other.

Hupp, who had no idea an NFL quarterback was one of the rescuers, detailed the matter, via Auman:

"They slowly brought us back to the shore, a sandy beach near the yacht club, and hung out for a while, were really nice. We exchanged pleasantries upon reaching flat ground. They were really an asset to helping us out, because we were the only ones out there for a while. It was a handshake and a huge and 'Thank you so much.' They went out for a nice afternoon ride and just happened to come upon a stranded helicopter family."

The Tampa Police Department is now "coordinating with local and federal agencies regarding the investigation and eventual recovery of the helicopter."

Gabbert, who was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars 10th overall in 2011, has been with the Buccaneers since 2019 and serves as a backup to seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.

The story of Tom Brady's career will include countless chapters of individual and team brilliance.

Sunday's second half will not be one of those chapters.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers seemed to be in cruise control with a 17-0 lead at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. And then the visitors ripped off 34 straight points and left Raymond James Stadium with a 34-23 victory.

Cincinnati has won six in a row and is now in first place in the AFC North at 10-4. Tampa Bay is somehow still in first place in the abysmal NFC South at 6-8, but it is 1-3 in the last four and trending in the wrong direction ahead of the season's final push.

While this was billed as a potential passing-of-the-torch game between Tom Brady and Joe Burrow, the story was Tampa Bay's four turnovers in one of the worst halves of football an offense could possibly play. The turnover-fueled collapse opened the door for the comeback and drew plenty of reaction on social media:

It looked like Tampa Bay may have turned the corner during a first half that saw Brady throw touchdowns to Russell Gage and Chris Godwin while Carlton Davis III picked off Burrow.

However, this is what happened in the second half:

• Tampa Bay botches punt or fake punt snap; Bengals turn it into a field goal
• Brady throws an interception to Tre Flowers; Burrow throws a touchdown to Tee Higgins
• Brady loses a fumble on a sack; Burrow throws a touchdown to Tyler Boyd
• Brady fumbles on handoff exchange to Leonard Fournette; Burrow throws a touchdown to Ja'Marr Chase
• Brady throws an interception to Germaine Pratt

Just like that, the Bengals were ahead by double digits and never looked back.

Tampa Bay will look to get back on track on Christmas Day against an Arizona Cardinals team that is missing Kyler Murray, but Sunday's loss will surely linger.

Despite speculation that Tom Brady could return for a 24th year in 2023, there's a growing belief from NFL insiders he will walk away at the end of this season.

Per The Athletic's Mike Jones, a majority of insiders "believe" Brady will likely retire when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season wraps up.

Prior to the Bucs' game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Brady "feels good enough to keep playing" and is keeping all of his options on the table.

Brady flirted with retirement at the end of last season. The seven-time Super Bowl champion announced on Feb. 1 he was walking away from the sport, but he changed his mind on March 13.

This season has been a challenge for Brady and the Bucs. The 15-time Pro Bowler is still playing well with 3,585 passing yards and 17 touchdowns. He leads the league in completions (381) and attempts (579).

Injuries and poor performances at other positions have caused all sorts of problems for the offense. They have the fifth-worst scoring offense in the NFL with 17.2 points per game entering Week 15.

Tampa Bay has scored fewer than 20 points in each of its last three games. It only did that five times in the previous two seasons combined.

Given the state of the Buccaneers' roster and already being $40 million over the 2023 salary cap, it would seem unlikely that Brady returns to the team next season if he does continue playing.

There are several teams that could potentially be looking for a new quarterback during the offseason. Jones listed the 49ers, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans as potential landing spots for Brady.

While there will be a lot of focus on what Brady does after the season, the Bucs are still in the running for a playoff spot. They lead the NFC South by one game, despite having a 6-7 record.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady denied a report that he adjusts the team's offensive plan without coaches' input before every game.

"No," Brady said in his Thursday press conference, per ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio. "I have no idea. I mean, anybody can write anything, and say whatever they want. So, no. ... I'm not gonna respond to every—next question."

NFL insider Michael Silver wrote in a recent article for the San Francisco Chronicle that Brady "runs a separate meeting with the Bucs' skill players" the night before every game and "goes over the game plan, makes tweaks to assignments and formations and provides a revised blueprint" that head coach Todd Bowles and the Bucs staff don't know about until it is being executed on game day.

Bowles also refuted the report earlier this week, via the team's official website:

"No, we know what's going on in the meeting and we know all the tweaks. The defensive guys meet by themselves as well. We have several position groups that meet by themselves as well to get on the same page together before a game. That's nothing … That's not new."

Even if Brady is making "tweaks" to Tampa Bay's offensive game plan, it hasn't resulted in much improvement. While the Bucs are averaging 338.6 yards per game—265.7 yards passing and 72.9 yards rushing—they rank 28th in the NFL in scoring, averaging just 17.2 points per game.

Additionally, it's worth wondering if Brady should be making adjustments in the first place. His resume, which includes seven Super Bowl titles and three MVP awards, speaks for itself, but Bowles is in his first season as head coach, and it's possible the offense is struggling without one concrete plan in place.

Tampa Bay's offensive struggles have resulted in the team posting a 6-7 record following a brutal 35-7 loss to rookie seventh-round pick Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Since the NFC South has been so bad this season, the Bucs are still first place in the division, occupying the NFC's fourth playoff seed. But if things don't change, they could be blown out come playoff time.

The Buccaneers have matchups against the 9-4 Cincinnati Bengals, 4-9 Arizona Cardinals, 5-8 Carolina Panthers and 5-8 Atlanta Falcons to close out the season. Tampa Bay's matchups with two divisional opponents could prove to be hugely important to the team's postseason hopes.

Tom Brady's former teammate Rob Gronkowski believes the veteran quarterback will thrive as a Fox Sports analyst once he retires from the NFL.

"Tom's gonna kill it. ... He knows football like no other," Gronkowski told TMZ Sports. "He can break down any player at any time. He'll just present it to the screen, showing the strength and weaknesses. He can talk football like no other."

As for when Gronk thinks his old pal will retire, that remains to be seen.

"That dude's a beast," he said of the 45-year-old Brady. "He can go forever."

He joked that Brady could play until he was 68, but it hasn't looked like it this season. Brady has thrown for 3,585 yards, 17 touchdowns and five interceptions, completing 65.8 percent of his passes and taking 18 sacks. The Bucs are just 6-7, though they're still in first place in the awful NFC South.

It will be the first time since 2009 that Brady hasn't won 11 games as a team's starting quarterback, although the Bucs' issues run far deeper than him.

Six months after announcing his retirement from the NFL, Danny Amendola says he would be willing to come back for one specific player.

Appearing on The Herd with Colin Cowherd (h/t Dan Lyons of Sports Illustrated), Amendola said he would "absolutely" return if Tom Brady called him.

"Tom's done a lot for me, and if he needs me, I'd always play for Tom," he added.

When the Buccaneers signed Cole Beasley in September, Amendola said on Inside the NFL he never got a call to join the team:

Beasley was only with Tampa for two weeks before announcing his retirement. The 33-year-old ended his retirement on Tuesday when he was signed by the Buffalo Bills to join their practice squad.

Amendola and Brady spent five seasons together with the New England Patriots from 2013 to 2017. They had a terrific connection on the field, with Amendola ranking eighth among all Patriots players in passes caught from Brady (271).

The Patriots played in three Super Bowls during that five-season stretch, winning twice. Amendola led all players with 152 receiving yards in New England's 41-33 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 52.

Amendola left the Patriots as a free agent in March 2018 when he signed a two-year deal with the Miami Dolphins. He remained a productive player, but his run with New England was the most high-profile stretch of his career.

After stints with the Dolphins, Detroit Lions and Houston Texans, Amendola officially announced his retirement on July 25.

At the time of his announcement, Amendola had offers on the table from multiple teams to continue playing.

Rob Gronkowski thinks it might be time to team up with Tom Brady again.

Only this time, it would be in the media instead of on the field.

"That may be the best option," Gronkowski told Mackenzie Salmon of USA Today (h/t Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk) when asked if Brady should perhaps join Fox next season. "He's definitely, you know, he's a free agent. He can weigh out every option, whatever team he wants to play for, or if he wants to go in that booth and come join me, and we can be, you know, the tag team champions in the world."

The former tight end also made it clear that he is retired and not coming back, which is notable since he stepped away from the game in 2019 only to return in 2020.

He returned to join Brady on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and helped lead the NFC South team to a Super Bowl title in his first year and NFC South crown in his second year. Gronkowski then decided to retire once again, and it appeared Brady was joining him.

However, the legendary quarterback decided to end his temporary retirement and return to the Buccaneers for the 2022 campaign. To say things haven't been going according to plan would be quite the understatement, as Tampa Bay is just 6-7 on the season with an offense that has dealt with injuries and inconsistency.

That is still good enough for first place in the dreadful NFC South, but the team looks nothing like a Super Bowl contender.

Brady and Gronkowski won four Lombardi Trophies together, but it appears that the next time they will be on the same team is with Fox even if the quarterback may have another season or two left remaining in his playing career.

It remains a matter of time until the 15-time Pro Bowler is with Fox, though, as Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported in May that he agreed to a massive 10-year, $375 million contract with the network.