ALAN DELL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers demonstrate the power of love with Kwon Alexander
TAMPA
Don't ever underestimate the power of love.
It was evident in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' locker room following their win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
The Bucs did more for the NFL shield than any of Roger Goodell's PR butlers could do in an entire season. The National Felony League, as some call the NFL, looked more like the National Family League.
But this is more about the Bucs and beleaguered head coach Lovie Smith. That first name of his really grips your heart this week.
Standing in the middle of the postgame locker room was rookie linebacker Kwon Alexander. He couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his face after going through the emotional treadmill of losing his 17-year-old baby brother in a shooting Friday night and then leading the Bucs to a victory.
Logan Mankins, the Bucs high priest of the offensive line, showed he did not lose his humanity working in Bill Belichick's salt mines for nine years.
He draped his arm around Alexander, praising him for his heroics and what the young man had to deal with. The room erupted, engulfing Alexander in a sea of love.
This could be a watershed moment for the Bucs and Lovie. Times like these don't come around that often.
"I thought what you saw in that locker room is what was real, unscripted," Smith said. "Sometimes when you to go through something like Kwon is going through, for him to find out just how much he really means to the group and Logan asked me if he could do that. It wasn't just Logan. All of his teammates were feeling for him the entire game."
When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways -- either by losing hope and falling into self destructive habits or by using the challenge by finding our inner strength.
Last week might have been the toughest seven days of Lovie's coaching career. After blowing a 24-point lead two weeks ago in losing to Washington, everyone on the planet seemed to be calling for his head.
To Lovie's credit, he stood firm. He refused to call out any of his players and steadfastly kept saying the real Bucs were the team that took that 24-point lead.
As the calls for his scalp got louder, Lovie showed you don't want to get into a back-alley brawl with this guy, his mild demeanor notwithstanding.
"You have to fight through adversity a lot of times. Things kind of hit you in the face that makes you take a step back, but it's how you respond," Lovie said. "Our team really went to work last week. We knew we had a great opportunity ahead of us."
What Alexander did on the field was a gem, coming up with a career-high and team-leading 11 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He is the first Buccaneer to record an interception, forced fumble and fumble recovery since John Lynch in 1996.
What he did just suiting up for the game and how his teammates responded was priceless. Sometimes we don't get to really know how somebody feels about you until a tragedy occurs.
Lovie never doubted his players' devotion to each other.
"The team doesn't need anything else to bring them closer. It's just sometimes, as a man, you don't let it out how you feel about someone always. It's no more than that," Smith said. "I don't think this team can get any closer. They like each other. They know that there's a responsibility that you feel to do your job for your teammates so I think we're already there."
Alexander is more than a one game player. He hadn't missed a defensive snap all season and is third among NFL rookies with 49 total tackles.
Lovie describes his team as a tribe and says when you are a tribe, you are really connected. This incident won't galvanize the team because he says it is already that way thanks to the power of love.
Alan Dell, Herald sports writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports.
This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "ALAN DELL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers demonstrate the power of love with Kwon Alexander ."