Winston, Bradberry share Alabama bond

When Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston looks to throw downfield Sunday, he’ll be doing so against a familiar face in Panthers cornerback James Bradberry.

Winston, 23, and Bradberry, 24, grew up in towns eight miles apart outside Birmingham, with Winston in Bessemer and Bradberry just north in Pleasant Grove.

“We go way, way back,” Winston said with a smile Thursday morning.

“I’ve been playing football against James Bradberry since I was about 7, 8. We’ve been (in) rivalries, really since we started playing football.”

In Little League, Bradberry played for the Hueytown Saints and Winston played for the Bessemer Tigers. “We beat them then,” Winston said.

In middle school and high school, Bradberry played for Pleasant Grove and Winston for Hueytown.

“My junior year, they beat us and he had a great game,” said Winston, whose only regular-season loss that season came against Bradberry’s team.

The two have met twice in the NFL — Bradberry intercepted a pass from Winston in last year’s finale, which the Bucs won, and Carolina won their meeting earlier this season.

Last week, when Winston filled out his Pro Bowl ballot, he gave Bradberry one of his nods at cornerback.

“I gave him that. It’s so good to see people from your hometown doing great,” said Winston, noting that the Panthers have another player with Birmingham roots in DE Mario Addison, and had another last year in QB/WR Joe Webb.

The Panthers held the Buccaneers to three points earlier this season in Tampa, in part because of the play of outside linebacker Thomas Davis. But the 2015 Walter Payton Man of the Year won’t be on the field Sunday because he’s been suspended one game by the NFL for an illegal hit on Packers wide receiver Davante Adams last week. Davis apologized for the hit, saying he meant no harm and coach Ron Rivera said the hit wasn’t intentional.

David Mayo will start for Davis, who won an appeal to get the suspension reduced from two games. The good news for the Panthers is their other starting outside linebacker Shaq Thompson is expected to return.