Every good ship needs a captain. The team that literally has a pirate ship in its stadium named five on Monday for 2022.
They are receiver Mike Evans, quarterback Tom Brady, linebacker Lavonte David, linebacker Devin White, and defensive tackle Vita Vea. Coach Todd Bowles said a special-teams captain will be named “at a later date.”
“The players vote on it, so that’s a plus and that’s a feather in those guys’ cap,” Bowles told reporters. “To have the respect of the players is more important than anything else. When your peers vote on you being a captain, it means a lot for them.”
For Vea, it was the first time he had secured that specific honor.
“Vita got a lot of votes,” Bowles said. “He prepared very well, he had a good offseason, he came back in shape, he shed some weight. He’s been leading the film-room charges and he’s become a leader on this team. I think that speaks a lot about him.”
The captains last year included Evans, Brady, David, and White. The team named punter Bradley Minion and linebacker Kevin Minter as the special-teams captains; neither are currently on the roster.