Buccaneers Don't Feel Bad About Taunting Tyreek Hill In Super Bowl: 'It Was Funny'
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Buccaneers are set to open their Super Bowl defense on Thursday night at Raymond James Stadium. Yet before the 2021 season begins, Bucs fans enjoyed back-to-back premieres of a couple of NFL Films productions on Wednesday night, with NFL Network debuting "America's Game" and "No Risk It No Biscuit."
Those two films captured the Bucs' run to last year's Super Bowl, covering the acquisition of Tom Brady all the way through the hoisting of the Lombardi Trophy on home turf in February. They also touched on a memorable case of some old-fashioned, old-school taunting of Tyreek Hill by the Buccaneers.
You'll surely remember Antoine Winfield Jr. throwing up a peace sign in Hill's face after a Chiefs turnover on downs late in Super Bowl LV:
Winfield Jr. later said, "It felt amazing to be able to do that, not even gonna lie."
While Twitter exploded with rage on that unsportsmanlike scene, some people remembered that Hill had done the same thing to the Buccaneers during the regular season, adding a goal-line black flip for a little extra flourish.
Hill also grabbed a phone on the sideline and emulated Shannon Sharpe's classic "We are killing the Patriots" act from the '90s.
The Chiefs won that game, but the Bucs obviously never forgot it.
And when Super Bowl LV was well in the Buccaneers' control, linebacker Devin White grabbed a sideline phone of his own and let it rip: "Hey, you better call the National Guard! We done kicked their ass, they need some help!"
In an interview on "America's Game," White said that it was all fair game.
"He couldn't be mad over that, because he initiated it," White said. "It was revenge on him. And it was funny. So that's why we did it."
In "No Risk It No Biscuit," cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross shared a similar sentiment.
"You don't let nobody do that on your field. You know, nobody taunts you on your own field. That's disrespect," Ross said. "And Tyreek helped us a lot, because he got on the phone: 'They need help, they need help.' Nobody forgets that. Nobody forgets none of that stuff. Once you do that kind of stuff, you better own up to it the next time around."
For Hill's part, the Chiefs star has never complained about the Bucs. As a famed taunter, he likely understands that if you dish it out, you've got to be able to take it, too.
Yet for the rest of the league, the message for 2021 is pretty clear: Taunt the Bucs at your own peril. They've got long memories down in Tampa.