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Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Vita Vea Gets Tooth Knocked Out During a Play

Talk about smash-mouth football. The Buccaneers nose tackle Vita Vea lost a tooth Sunday during the team’s win over the Indianapolis Colts and laughed it off. It’s the second viral moment for the rising star this season.

It happened during the second quarter Sunday. Vea wanted to sack Carson Wentz, but as he battled to bust through the offensive line, his helmet came loose. Colts guard Mark Glowinski slammed the crown of his helmet into Vea’s mouth, breaking his front tooth in half. The 26-year-old laughed as he probed the new hole in his face with a finger.

Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olson were calling the game for FOX. They couldn’t believe how well Vita Vea took the injury.

“Oh, he lost a tooth!” Burkhardt said as he watched the video in slow motion. “And he’s smiling,” Olsen replies. “That’s the best part.”

Vea must have great dental insurance or an in with the tooth fairy because after the game he was still all-smiles. That could be because the Buccaneers won a tough game 38-31on the road. Or it could be because he’s in line for a massive contract extension soon.

He didn’t get any sympathy from his coach though. A reporter asked Bruce Arians about Vea’s tooth after the game.

“I don’t care,” the Buccaneers coach said. “He’s got 30 more.”

This is the second time Vea’s made headlines this year for things outside of his play. After the Oct. 14 game between the Buccaneers and Eagles, Vea and Philadelphia tackle Jordan Mailata went to swap jerseys. But Vea ended up getting stuck in his shoulder pads and needed an equipment manager to free him. Thankfully, this all happened at midfield, right in front of the FOX cameras.

Darius Ruck Says Football Players Are ‘Not Soft’

If Vita Vea doesn’t show you that football players are tougher than your average bear, then maybe you’ll listen to Darius Rucker. The country crooner defended the players after Jimmie Allen called them “soft.”

Allen said he was fed up with all of the flags during Saturday’s college football games. He tweeted that the rules were ruining the sports.

“Football is so soft now,” he posted. “All these flags. I’m like if you don’t wanna get hit, don’t play.”

He found a lot of support in the comments.

“There’s something wrong when there are more flags in football than golf,” one person replied.

But Rucker pushed back. He agreed with the sentiment but said it was unfair to call out the players.

“I agree, too many flags,” he tweeted. “But to say football is soft is not it. The rules are soft but the reason we know that is cause the players are still ballin out. Those boys are never soft!!”