A Season in the Sun

The Inside Story of Bruce Arians, Tom Brady, and the Making of a Champion

By: Lars Anderson

Narrated by: Roger Wayne

WITH A FOREWORD BY COACH BRUCE ARIANS

The extraordinary behind-the-scenes story of how Coach Bruce Arians, Tom Brady, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came together to deliver one of the most improbable Super Bowl victories in NFL history.

The pursuit was so shrouded in secrecy that it was referred to within the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ organization by codename: Operation Shoeless Joe Jackson. Indeed, the prospect of Tom Brady, six-time Super Bowl champion and widely-acknowledged greatest football player ever, joining the Bucs, a historically hapless franchise that hadn’t made the playoffs in more than a decade, seemed about as likely as Jackson emerging out of an Iowa cornfield in the movie Field of Dreams.

But come Brady did. At age forty-three, pushing the boundaries of football mortality and without Bill Belichick by his side for the first time in his NFL career, this would be the ultimate test for the ultimate football legacy. Brady’s new coach, Bruce Arians, also had much to prove. One of the great offensive minds of his generation, Arians returned to coaching in 2018, at the age of 65, in search of the one achievement that had eluded him throughout his illustrious career: a Super Bowl championship. Together, like so many aged snowbirds, Brady and Arians had decamped to Florida to make the most of their remaining years.

Renowned sports journalist Lars Anderson was granted extraordinary access to the inner workings of the Bucs’ organization. The result is a remarkable work of sports journalism, peppered with wild inside stories and new insights into Brady, Arians, and the Bucs. From the practice facility to the team plane, from the garage where Brady treats his footballs to the huddle on gameday, Anderson captures the rhythms of perhaps the strangest NFL season ever, turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. In his telling, the Bucs’ quest for one glorious season in the sun becomes a riveting sports epic.

Just nice to pull back the curtain

It was an easy listen, been a tb12 fan his entire career, nothing too surprising or intense… just a peek on the inner workings of his 7th Super Bowl win

Enjoyable and interesting

A fascinating portrayal of a single season in football, especially of the relationships within the team.

Great Story

Good book. Great story. It was an very enjoyable, relaxation book for me. As a Packers fan (and owner 🤣) I was more interested in the story behind the storybook season. I got it!

Tom Brady and Joan of Arc are the world’s greatest comeback warriors

For Brady fans, the behind the scenes detailed narrative is catnip. Well done and probably edited by Tom’s Dad, it is an unblemished but amazingly accurate tale of an impossible and improbable quest for greatness.

Tom, thank you for the incredible ride since 2001.

I need this for my daily long commute to work

My first audible book and I enjoyed it. Football fan n Brady and buc fan