Renzo Downey
Despite the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ regular season loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Gov. Ron DeSantis doubled down Thursday on his prediction that the Bucs would become the first National Football League team to win the Super Bowl at home.
The two teams will face off in Super Bowl LV on Sunday, with Quarterback Tom Brady carrying the team to its first championship game since its 2002 victory. However, the Bucs appear at a disadvantage after they lost to the Chiefs 27-24 in November, which the Governor said “was not pretty for Tampa.”
Nevertheless, DeSantis told reporters in Aventura that “there’s just something about this playoff run.”
“But you know, it wasn’t pretty when New Orleans beat them in the regular season,” he continued. “It was pretty nice to watch them beat New Orleans in the playoffs. No one thought they’d be able to beat Green Bay in Lambeau.”
The Governor also repeated his assertion that a Tampa Bay victory could be the biggest achievement in football history.
“I think that will rival — I think Florida will then be able to say the two greatest achievements on a team-sport basis in NFL history — the undefeated Dolphins and Brady at age 43 bringing home the hardware for Tampa Bay,” DeSantis said.
The Governor recalled his early days as a Bucs fan growing up in Dunedin, back when the Bucs wore their orange jerseys.
“It’s been a lot of time in the wilderness, and so if we’re able to get that done, it’ll be really, really nice,” DeSantis said.
When Florida hosted the 2020 Super Bowl at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, DeSantis predicted a Chiefs victory that ultimately came true. The Governor did not make a public Super Bowl prediction the year prior.
However, DeSantis did place a losing wager in 2019, when he bet Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp that the University of Florida would beat the University of Georgia. If the Gators won, Kemp would come to the Everglades to hunt pythons. If the Bulldogs won, DeSantis would go to Georgia to hunt feral hogs.
The Governors never publicly announced if they ultimately went hog hunting.
