Aqib Talib says he wasn’t playing in NFL until he joined Patriots
By Bryan Rose
Although Aqib Talib joined the NFL in 2008, he says he wasn’t really playing in the NFL until 2012 – his first year with the New England Patriots.
Talib of course was drafted in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but recently suggested playing in Tampa wasn’t comparable to playing in New England.
"“I’ve been in the NFL since ’08,” Talib said. “But I’ve really been in the NFL since November of 2012.”“It’s totally different here,” Talib said. “It’s big games after big games. It’s Monday nights after Sunday nights, playoffs. Tom Brady is walking around here. There are countless people and media in the locker room. This is the NFL right here.”"
Some may take that as a slight to the Buccaneers, but I’m not really sure that’s what Talib was attempting to do. Rather, the former Kansas talent was simply trying to suggest how great it was to play for one of the currently premier NFL franchises.
He said playing in this type of atmosphere was something you dream of as a kid and frankly, he wasn’t far off. What kid doesn’t have visions of playing for their favorite team and throwing/catching/intercepting the game game winning play/touchdown?