If you were shocked by the news that the Giants had traded defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul to the Buccaneers, you weren’t alone. Pierre-Paul was stunned by the news.
“I got the call and I was like, ‘What?’” Pierre-Paul said Friday during his first press conference as a Buccaneers, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “Obviously, I had to soak it in for a little bit. Everybody says it’s a great move. I think it’s a great move. My family is excited. I’m going to be close to my son.”
The father of a three-year-old boy mentioned his own father when explaining the ability to keep playing after a fireworks mishap permanently disfigured his hand.
“What I learned was that I’m unstoppable, man,” Pierre-Paul said. “I thank my dad for that, because he’s been blind for 29 years and he never complained once. From that, I know I’m unstoppable. It’s going to take a hell of a lot to get me off that damn field. That’s what it is.”
Pierre-Paul’s return to field after his July 2015 injury came in Tampa, in the stadium where he played his college home games and will now play his NFL home games.
“I was proving to the world anything was possible,” Pierre-Paul said. “And from that day, anything was possible.”
It may take a lot more than Pierre-Paul to make a return to prominence by the Buccaneers possible, especially in a division that featured three playoff teams in 2017. But the Buccaneers obviously are trying their best to turn things around. With Pierre-Paul, maybe they will.
