TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady threw two of his three touchdown passes to Rob Gronkowski and the Tampa Bay defense frustrated Patrick Mahomes to lead the Buccaneers to an 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night for Brady’s record seventh Super Bowl title.
The win for Tampa Bay allowed rookie Ke’Shawn Vaughn, a former Vanderbilt running back, and Shelton Quarles, a former Vanderbilt linebacker, to take home Super Bowl rings.
The 76th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, Vaughn played 10 games this season during his rookie campaign with Tampa Bay. The 5-foot-10, 214-pound running back had 109 rushing yards on 26 carries and five receptions for 34 yards.
In the Buccaneers’ postseason run, Vaughn played in one game – an NFL divisional round win at Washington – in which he had five carries for 21 yards. He was not active in the Super Bowl.
In 1994, Quarles entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent from Vanderbilt by signing with the Miami Dolphins. He spent some time in the Canadian Football League before reemerging with Tampa Bay in 1997.
Quarles then spent 10 seasons with the Buccaneers as a linebacker and played in 148 games. In 2002, Quarles was selected to the Pro Bowl and in 2003 helped the Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXVII.
Now the director of football operations for Tampa Bay, Quarles was a second-team All-SEC selection for the Commodores.
In Sunday’s Super Bowl, Brady connected twice in the first half with Gronkowski to give the pair an NFL record 14 playoff TD passes and then added another to Antonio Brown to stake the Bucs to a big halftime lead that the defense had no problem holding.
Mahomes was unable to get the Chiefs into the end zone for the first time in his career. He went 26 for 49 for 270 yards and two interceptions.
Brady won it all in his first season in Tampa Bay after winning six Super Bowls with New England. The Bucs got their second championship following the one in the 2002 season.
