Blocking for Tom Brady.
Joe is trying to forget Sunday, which was very likely Tristian Wirfs’ worst game in the NFL.
Against New Orleans, shockingly, Wirfs looked like just a guy. And he ain’t just a guy. He’s a two-time All-Pro. What happened in New Orleans, Joe isn’t sure.
This week Wirfs appeared on “Bussin’ With the Boys” co-hosted by former NFLers Will Compton and Taylor Lewan. With Lewan being a former left tackle, he wanted to know from Wirfs how freaked out he was when he was drafted, when he learned he’d be blocking for Tom Brady. It’s a story Wirfs has told a few times.
Wirfs admitted it was an immediate “Welcome to the NFL” moment before he even stepped foot into One Buc Palace.
“Talk about nightmare fuel, dude,” Wirfs remembered. “That’s what [Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht] told me when they called me the night of draft, ‘You ready to protect Tom Brady?’ And I was like, ‘WHAT? You’ve got to be kidding me?'”
First, Wirfs had to gain confidence. The Bucs had told Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett, knowing Wirfs would start, that they had to use every tool in their toolbox on Wirfs. Hold nothing back.
There was no training camp or OTAs or worthless preseason games thanks to The Sickness. So the Bucs had to get Wirfs as prepared and ready as possible to square up on mouthy Cam Jordan of the slimy Saints in Week 1.
“I had Shaq Barrett and JPP my first training camp,” Wirfs explained. “And they were just cooking me. And I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I’m cut out for this.'”
The last thing the Bucs needed was to have a rookie with his confidence shot, trying to block for Brady. And Wirfs said it was Brady’s calm, simple encouragement one day that helped him mentally turn the corner.
“He said, ‘Don’t get beat fast and don’t get beat inside and we’ll be okay,'” Wirfs said. “And I was like, ‘Sounds good.'”
And we all know the rest of the story. Still, for Wirfs, there were reminders for whom he was blocking.
Wirfs didn’t specify the culprit, but a pass rusher got past him once and drilled Brady. Wirfs expected to get his tail royally chewed by Brady. Instead, Brady, just gave him a death stare from hell, Wirfs said.
Brady didn’t say a word. He didn’t need to. Wirfs got the message: Pick your damn game up.
Wirfs said his biggest fear was to give up a block and have his man blast Brady into retirement.
“I don’t want to be the one to end Tom Brady’s career,” Wirfs said. “Which it turns out I did. The last play of Tom’s career I gave up a sack.
“That’s going to stick with me for the rest of my life.”
Well, Wirfs shouldn’t fret. That was not Brady’s final snap. In a home playoff game against Dallas, in the Bucs’ final possession, Brady was sacked on second down by Micah Parsons.
Brady completed a 12-yard pass to Julio Jones on third down and on fourth down, Brady’s final play of his career, he threw an incompletion over the middle intended for Jones.
Getting drafted and realizing you’ll be blocking for the GOAT, as Tristan Wirfs puts it, “is nightmare fuel.” pic.twitter.com/RqAqaBKBOg
— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) October 29, 2025