Lavonte David's hatred for the New Orleans Saints runs deep. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker retired this offseason, but make no mistake, he didn't leave the animosity with his cleats. He told Kay Adams the Saints are one team in the NFC South he absolutely doesn't want to see succeed, but it doesn't seem like Tyler Shough got the message.
David's comments are yet another chapter in the one sided rivalry that is the Saints vs Buccaneers. There have been many times where players and fans from the Buccaneers side have framed this as a true rivalry, while the Saints side can't help but laugh because it's never been that for us. Other than Marshon Lattimore vs Mike Evans, there wasn't really any real animosity from the Saints.
That's because the Saints dominated the Bucs for years, and in the middle of his statement, David let it slip where some of that animosity stemmed from. "We've got to be honest, it was a hard time beating them early in my career, especially when they had Drew Brees." It was said like a small part of the equation, but it was likely a driving force.
Lavonte David's hate for the Saints runs deeper than Saints fans could imagine
David was 5-13 versus the Saints in his career, when Brees was the quarterback. That dominance of the Payton-Brees era explains a lot of the feelings towards the Saints within the division.
The Saints and Falcons are true rivals, but everyone else in the division just seems a bit envious. David pointed to how much the Saints used to talk trash back in the day, calling the Saints full of themselves and flamboyant. Adams questioned how he felt about the Cam Newton-led Panthers.
Apparently, Newton and the Panthers were showboaters, not trash talkers, and that made the difference. Can't help but wonder if the fact that their head to head matchup was much closer has anything to do with the feelings.
All that trash talk and flamboyance is harder to ignore when you can't shut up a team by winning. Saints fans are going to be loud, and the players and Sean Payton, especially, embodied the city. It made divisional foes sick.
David used to take joy in seeing the Saints lose in the playoffs. Then he called the Buccaneers beating the Saints in the playoffs one of the best moments of his career, and the giddiness was radiating from him as he reflected on it. Mind you, the Bucs actually won the Super Bowl that year.
The phrase "that was their Super Bowl" gets thrown around a lot, but it feels appropriate here. It meant a lot for Tampa Bay to beat the Saints that year, and it still sticks with David. Surely, the Super Bowl is higher on the list but not by much.
David is going to have to just sit back mad as Shough and the Saints reclaim this division.
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