Location: Kermit A. Johnson Field at Bob Riesener | Montevallo, AL.
All-Time Series: Tampa leads 2-1.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After J.D. Urso singled, Kevin Karstetter would get on base with a fielder’s choice. Karstetter would come around to score on a Lenny Ashby double to right center. Mid 1 | 1-0 Tampa
Jhoander Irigoyen would single to lead-off the inning. He would come around to score on a Jordan Williams single to center field. Edgardo Villegas followed with a double down the right field line to bring home Irigoyen. Top 2 | 3-1 Tampa
Cole Russo would send one into orbit for his first bomb of the season. J Williams would bring Brayden Woodburn and Irigoyen with a 2-run double to right center. Top 5 | 6-4 Tampa
Karstetter would bring home J Williams with a sac fly. Mid 9 | 7-6 Tampa
AT THE PLATE:
Irigoyen: 3-5 & 2 R’s
J Williams: 2-3, BB, 2 R’s, & 3 RBI’s
Russo: 2-5, R, & RBI
Woodburn: 2-5 & R
Ashby: 2-5 & RBI
Villegas: 2-5 & RBI
ON THE MOUND:
C.J. Williams started on the mound. He threw 5 innings while giving up 4 runs and striking out 4. Williams finished with a no-decision.
Ethan Brown came in relief for Williams. He threw 3 innings while giving up 2 runs and striking out 4. Brown recorded his first win of the season.
Michael Alfonso came in relief for Brown. He threw a scoreless 9th inning. Alfonso picked up his first save of the season.
Free agency follows on March 10 with the two-day negotiating period. The annual league meeting starts on March 30.
The seven teams with new head coaches may open offseason workout programs on April 7 and the remaining 25 teams can follow two weeks later.
Then, it’s time for the NFL draft on April 24 in Green Bay, where Miami quarterback Cam Ward is the bettors’ pick to be the No. 1 overall pick.
Eventually, it will be back to the Super Bowl, and BetMGM Sportsbook says the Eagles are favored to repeat as champions. They are followed by the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Some of the league’s offseason priorities include player health and safety and conversations about potential new rules, including reviewing kickoffs following a one-year experiment with dynamic changes.
Player safety
“We’re going to talk about moving players to better-performing helmets. That’s a big one,” NFL executive Jeff Miller told The Associated Press.
In 2024, players suffered the fewest concussions in a season since the league began tracking data nine years ago, according to the NFL. The total decline from 2023 was 17%, including all practices and games in both the preseason and regular season.
Miller, the league’s executive vice president overseeing player health and safety, and NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills have cited several reasons for the drop-off, including safer equipment, enforcement of safety rules and broader efforts to foster a culture of safety regarding concussions.
“It’s not the end of the story. There are still opportunities to decrease those,” Miller said, pointing out the desire to have more players choose position-specific helmets designed to reduce the impact of hits. “But also we need to enforce some of the rules around head contact, which our friends on the officiating side are doing a better and better job of, and eliminating more unnecessary or avoidable head contact is going to make players safer.”
Miller said the league will continue to work on ways to decrease lower-extremity injuries. They’re researching playing surfaces and working with Nike on cleat design to prevent injuries.
Dynamic kickoff
The league and its competition committee also will review kickoffs and decide whether to tweak the rules.
“It’s really going to be the headline for us in the offseason, how’d we do and what changes need to be made?” Miller said. “The story in Year 1 was a good one, 332 more returns than a year ago and a lower injury rate. We hit the mark on that and we got as many touchdowns as we did since 2020 and some long kickoffs past the 40. Is there more that we can do to create more incentive for more of those returns and yet keep the injury rate more like a run or pass play? We were getting really close to that this year, which is the goal. I think it’s going to take up a lot of time and attention from special teams, coaches, the competition committee and those of us on the health and safety side.”
Replay review
Replay assist will be a major topic, too. NFL executive Troy Vincent said in December that expanding replay assist to include facemask penalties and other plays is going to be considered.
Current rules only allowed replay assist to help officials pick up a flag incorrectly thrown on the field, or in assisting proper enforcement of a foul called on the field.
Hits on a defenseless player, tripping, the fair catch, an illegal batted ball, an illegal double-team block, illegal formations on kickoffs and taunting are other areas that warrant consideration for replay assist.
“I’d like to talk a little bit more about player-safety fouls there,” Miller said. “We talked about roughing the quarterback this year. We talked about hits on the boundary this year with replay assist. Are there others that we could add to it where players are at more substantial risk for injury? Maybe it’s sliding quarterbacks. Maybe there’s other dynamics at play where getting a little help from somebody upstairs would assist that. That all would be good. And some of what we would declare avoidable head contact. How do we get more of that out of the game to enhance our player safety.”
The competition committee would have to review potential recommendations for owners to vote on for expanding replay assist.
Prime shocker: Colorado upsets No. 17 TCU 45-42 in Deion Sanders’ debut as Buffs coach – AP/PHOTO
DENVER (AP) — Deion Sanders added another Pro Football Hall of Famer to his staff at Colorado by bringing in Marshall Faulk to oversee the running backs.
Faulk becomes the third member of the Buffaloes’ coaching ranks to boast a gold jacket, joining Warren Sapp and, of course, Sanders. Sapp is the senior quality control analyst for the defense.
Faulk will try to improve a running game that’s been one of the worst in the nation the last two seasons. Colorado’s offense has relied heavily on quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, who are both projected to be high picks in the upcoming NFL draft.
Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes are coming off a 9-4 season in which they earned a spot in the Alamo Bowl.
Faulk was a dual threat out of the backfield over a 12-year career with the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams. He rushed for 12,279 yards and 100 TDs, while also catching 767 passes for 6,875 yards and 36 scores.
Faulk, who turns 52 at the end of the month, was the 2000 NFL MVP, a three-time offensive player of the year and a Super Bowl winner with the Rams. He and Sanders were both part of the 2011 class that was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Faulk also is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame after a stellar career at San Diego State, where he was a three-time first-team All-American. He was the second overall pick by the Colts in the 1994 NFL draft.
Traded to the Rams in April 1999, he became part of a high-flying offense dubbed the “Greatest Show on Turf.”
In collaboration with Speak4MC and the Bucs Report, Thank you for reading the Number 1 Resource for Buccaneers Inspired “Monday Morning Motivation.
The Eagles didn’t just win last night—they dominated the Chiefs like no team has ever been dominated before. But the Super Bowl isn’t just about the final score or who lifts the Lombardi Trophy. It’s about the journey—the moments along the way when players have to decide whether to push forward or walk away. Every champion, at some point, has faced that choice.
Friday night, under the bright lights, Maggie also had a decision to make…
The air buzzed with excitement. Parents crowded the bleachers and lined the sidelines, kids adjusted their caps, and the towering lights cast a glow over the field, setting the stage for something special.
This wasn’t just any game. It was the season opener. And for Maggie, it was a first in every sense—her first time playing under the lights, her first time wearing a jersey, her first time being part of a team.
First game. First jersey. And rocking #13—just like her favorite Buc. 💪🔥🏈 #NeverGiveUp#GoBucs
The excitement carried her onto the field, ready for action. But as the game went on, her emotions began to shift. The unfamiliarity, the structure, and the pressure of playing in front of a crowd started to take their toll.
Midway through the game, she walked off the field. Tired. Frustrated. Unsure if she wanted to keep playing.
I knelt beside her and asked, “What’s wrong?”
She hesitated before answering, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
It was a moment I knew well.
We all do.
That moment when exhaustion takes over, doubt creeps in, and quitting feels like the easiest way out.
As I sat beside Maggie under the bright lights, I saw that struggle in her eyes—the same kind of moment Baker Mayfield had faced before.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield back in his miserable days with the Cleveland Browns / via NFL.com
Baker: The Quarterback Who Refused to Quit
Baker Mayfield’s career has been a rollercoaster of triumph and adversity.
From the outside, his rise to Heisman Trophy winner and #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft looked like the path of a destined superstar.
But behind the headlines, his story is one of resilience.
The Cleveland Years: Injuries, Drama, and a City’s Hope
When the Cleveland Browns selected Baker Mayfield as the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, he wasn’t just a quarterback—he was their great hope, the leader tasked with turning around a franchise defined by disappointment.
He wasted no time making an impact. In his rookie season, Mayfield shattered records and ended Cleveland’s infamous 635-day losing streak. By 2020, he delivered something even more meaningful—their first playoff victory in 26 years. The city believed. Their quarterback of the future had arrived.
But then… everything fell apart.
Injuries mounted. He played through a torn labrum in 2021, pushing through pain even as it wrecked his mechanics.
The fans who once cheered him turned critical. His relationship with teammates frayed.
Disputes with Browns management spilled into the public eye.
By 2022, the same city that once embraced him had moved on. Just like that, he was no longer the franchise’s future—he was an afterthought.
A Journeyman Nobody Wanted
Mayfield’s fall from grace was swift. Once the face of a franchise, he was now just another name on a roster, bouncing from team to team—Carolina, Los Angeles—playing on short-term deals with no guarantees. The dream of being a franchise quarterback seemed behind him.
Most quarterbacks in his position would’ve walked away.
He didn’t.
Then, in 2023, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a chance on him. But this wasn’t just any opportunity—it came with the impossible task of replacing Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time.
The pressure was suffocating.
To many, Mayfield was a placeholder, a stopgap solution until Tampa found its real future. But instead of fading into the background, he thrived.
In his first season, he led the Buccaneers to an NFC South title, won a playoff game, and earned his first Pro Bowl selection.
He didn’t just survive—he excelled, posting career highs in passing yards, touchdowns, and completion percentage.
And he wasn’t done yet.
The following season, he proved Tampa’s success wasn’t a fluke. Another division title. More franchise records shattered. And with each game, he silenced the doubters, cementing himself as the leader of the team.
Mayfield’s story isn’t one of easy success—it’s about grit, resilience, and betting on yourself even when the world counts you out.
From setbacks to comebacks—Baker Mayfield finds his stride in Tampa, leading the Buccaneers with passion and perseverance. #GoBucs #NeverQuit / via NFL.com
The Choice to Keep Going
Maggie stood there in her bright orange jersey, tears in her eyes. I knelt beside her.
“Do you know what color the Bucs used to have?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“Orange.” I smiled. “And there were times they felt like quitting, too.”
She wiped her eyes, listening.
I let the moment settle before adding, “But when things get tough, we get tougher. And most importantly, the one thing we never do—is quit on our team.”
She stood there for a second, taking it all in. Then, without a word, she dusted off her pants, took a deep breath, and walked back onto the field.
She didn’t quit.
And when the final at-bat of the night came, Maggie was up.
In tee ball, the last batter doesn’t just hit the ball—they have to clear the bases. There are no outs, no stopping at first or second. The moment the bat makes contact, they have only one goal—run home.
She stepped up to the plate, took a deep breath, and swung.
The ball rolled through the infield. She took off, rounding first, then second, then third. The crowd was cheering. Her teammates were waiting at home plate, arms raised, ready to celebrate.
And as she crossed home, she found something more than just the end of a game.
She found the joy of pushing through.
The pride of not giving up.
Final Thoughts: Finding Your Way Home
Whether it’s a five-year-old on a tee-ball field or a team watching the Super Bowl slip away in a historic blowout, the moment always comes—the moment when walking away feels easier than pushing forward.
But that’s when champions are made.
Baker Mayfield has lived it. From Cleveland to Carolina, Los Angeles to Tampa—he never gave up on his team.
Just like Maggie, rounding third and racing toward home, he kept moving forward.
Because when you refuse to quit—even when you’re tired, even when you’re doubted—you don’t just reach the next base.
You find your way home.
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent any other individual, organization, or company. This content is intended for general knowledge and to highlight tools, techniques, and ideas that inspire positive change. Readers are encouraged to explore the topics further and form their own conclusions. This article was originally published on Speak4MC.com and is shared in collaboration with Bucs Report. The views expressed are solely those of the author.
About the Author
Curtis Campogni is the founder of Speak4MC, a motivational speaking and training organization dedicated to inspiring growth and change. Curtis is a lifelong Bucs fan, husband, and father. Learn more at Speak4MC.com.
*In collaboration with Speak4MC and the Bucs Report, Thank you for reading the Number 1 Resource for Buccaneers Inspired “Monday Morning Motivation.”
