Steve McLendon fulfilled his dream last Sunday, becoming a Super Bowl Champion.
After stops in Pittsburgh and New York, McLendon won the big game with a quarterback he tried to stop his whole career: Tom Brady. In an interview with SNY’s Jeane Coakley, McLendon said he and Brady reminisced about playing against one another in the AFC when the defensive tackle was first traded to Tampa Bay midseason.
McLendon told Brady that he had been “chasing him for years.” Brady admitted that McLendon got him a couple of times and then told his new teammate that it was time for them to go win a championship together.
They did just that.
“When he said let’s go win a championship together, I was ready to run through a wall,” McLendon said.
The trade to Tampa Bay also allowed McLendon to reunite with his former head coach in New York, Todd Bowles. The Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator also played an instrumental role in making McLendon a champion.
Bowles’ unit held Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to just nine points in Super Bowl LV. Tampa Bay won the game by 22 points, thanks in large part to Brady and Bowles.
McLendon believes that Bowles deserves another opportunity as a head coach. He praised the level of preparation that Bowles and his staff put in in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.
“I don’t think any coach could’ve done a better job than what he did,” McLendon said. “It was so easy for us to play on Sunday because of everything (Bowles and his staff) had showed us over the past two weeks.”