“That’s For Mental Midgets”

January 1st, 2012

The Raheem Morris era has been quite a ride. Forget the failures of the Bucs’ coaching staff for a moment, Joe has to applaud the entertainment and honor Raheem has brought fans through his candid news conferences and by seemingly always taking on interviews even in the toughest of times for a head coach.

Raheem has been relentless in his desire to communicate with fans and media. It’s darn rare among NFL head coaches. Sure, Raheem has had tense moments with some media members over the years, but they are rare.

Of course, after today’s debacle in Atlanta, Raheem was peppered with questions about his job. Raheem answered them all, punctuating one response by describing spending time thinking about his future as, “That’s for mental midgets.”

Raheem is a North Jersey guy. Joe knows there are expressions from the armpit of the nation that part of the country that aren’t popular in Tampa Bay. As a kid, Joe heard the “mental midget” line a lot, and Joe’s not that much older than Raheem.

Joe suspects the dwarf population might take offense to Raheem’s comment, but Joe’s quite sure Raheem meant nothing derogatory.

It sure seems doubtful Raheem will be the Bucs’ head coach in 2012, and Joe would not be sad about that, but Joe suspects he’ll miss Raheem’s off-field persona.

30 Responses to ““That’s For Mental Midgets””

  1. Fear The Glow Says:

    He better damn well not be coaching this team next year. With that said. I think he is a good guy and I hope he gets a gig back in the NFL. He was one of the best db coaches in the NFL.

  2. TurnThePage Says:

    So you got called a mental midget in high school Joe?

  3. Hawaiian Buc Says:

    and heeeeeeeeeres Thomas…………………….

  4. brent Says:

    I heard Mike Sherman is going to be available, he’s been in the college ranks for awhile so familiar with working with young talent… Maybe can right the ship with the talent and with some free agents sprinkled in?

  5. Tampa2 Says:

    Off field,l on field, nor anywhere else will I miss Morris. Probably a nice guy, but waaaayyy in over his head. In coaching, as well as his oration.
    See ya Raheem. Not entirely your fault, but you have to go!

  6. passthebuc Says:

    I watched the game into the 4th quarter and left to attend another function. I was very surprised to arrive back to my residence to find that Morris still had a job

  7. eric Says:

    Is this related to the badass uncles?

    The guy is hilarious, ill give him that.

    Huggins was the driving force is still my personal favorite.

    The bulldog like granny.

    Core beliefs…..

    Get your face on somebodies underwear.

    Grown men team.

    Violent!

    Just gotta get better.(used at least 1000 times).

    Thanks for the memories.

  8. Bucbeliever Says:

    I’m just frustrated because we’re basically back to square one (maybe square 1.5).

    Thought this rebuilding junk was over one year ago.

    In any case,

    GO BUCS!

  9. Tj Says:

    Raheem was never qualified to have a NFL head coaching job. Just cause someone has a great personalty does not mean they are a head coach . I know a lot of women that have great personalty but cant do nothing else

  10. Mark Says:

    Raheem will be back…and maybe with an extension. They will get him for a bargain. The TV deal will bring in plenty of cash and the Bucs will have another year to save up on cash before 2013 when they must spend.

    Expect no announcements until mid January. The Glazers will take their time and let the media settle down with the “Fire Raheem” diatribes.

    When it all comes to pass you will remember I told you so!

  11. Fear The Glow Says:

    Only one problem Mark…the media isn’t fueling this firestorm. It’s not going away anytime soon.

    If Morris comes back (ESPECIALLY with an extension) the fans “voices” will be heard loud and clear all over Tampa and that stadium will look like a ghost town on Sundays.

  12. Plbuc Says:

    Thanks for nothing Glazer boys, Dominick and Rah for setting back this franchise back for several years until some owner who gives a damn about this franchise and community brings respectability, accountability and passion back to this team. You now have the result of your master youth and cheap plan. How can you call yourselves a professional organization and put that excrement on the field every Sunday. Mercifully, the season is over. You all have a bigger problem than draft strategy. You have a careless culture issue that will take years to cure. Ask yourself, what harm can it do to clean house when you’ve hit rock bottom. Have you no shame?!

  13. FlBoy84 Says:

    Saw Winslow fumbled again with no repercussions, even after Rah came out last week with his whole diatribe ending with “those things won’t be accepted or tolerated so you have to put the next man in and let them think about it.” when asked about Blount being benched for fumbling last week. You may miss his persona Joe, but most of us won’t miss his endless blathering and blatant favoritism and coddling of certain players.

  14. gotbbucs Says:

    This is a team absolutely full of “mental midgets”. I’d say maybe only 1/3 of the players actually know thier assignments play in and play out. Mental mistakes at the NFL level should be pretty minimal, especially for a team that’s been running the same schemes for 2 1/2 years. A major portion of that blame falls squarely on coaching.
    This team is full of players that you can tell aren’t buying the scheme, especially on defense. I saw Roy Miller dropped into the middle of the field again today in zone coverage. Who in thier right mind would buy into a defense that does that every week. I don’t have a problem with Zone Dog Blitzes, but for the love of God, get the right personnel on the field to run it.
    Morris has tried to sample bits and pieces of the great defenses around the NFL and incorporate all of them into his bullsh!t Tampa 2.2 and it looks like an absolute cluster you know what. I don’t think he fully grasps how to work with the personnel that he had at his disposal, trying instead to make guys do things that they aren’t physically able to do. How uncomfortable do you think Roy Miller and Adrian Clayborn have to be trying to cover the middle of the field in zone coverage or trying to run down the sideline with TE’s? It’s ridiculous.
    On offense, Freeman’s got players running routes right next to each other, running into each other, and an OC that doesn’t understand how to scheme plays for certain players to get open with rub routes and clear out routes. On top of all of that, he’s got five guys in front of him that never have come together and learned how to pass block as a cohesive unit.
    There are certain players that obviously need to go like Black, Jones, Faine, and every RT on the roster, but I think there are alot of guys that are either out of position or just haven’t been schemed into the offense and defense correctly.
    Whoever the new coach is, he’s got a ton of film to evaluate before the new league year starts to figure out who can or can’t function in a correctly schemed O and D before FA starts. Next year will be another learning year.

  15. A Real Bucs Fan Says:

    @Plbuc
    I don’t think it has wasted the past few years. I think we’ve seen some talented young players brought in that just need proper development.

    Really, it was the fans that built all the hype going into this season. Last season made us forget we were still rebuilding.

  16. Pete Dutcher Says:

    @Plbuc
    I don’t think it has wasted the past few years. I think we’ve seen some talented young players brought in that just need proper development.

    Really, it was the fans that built all the hype going into this season. Last season made us forget we were still rebuilding.

    Joe,
    How do I change my posting name and how long can it be?

  17. marks Says:

    Raheem was awful, let’s forget and move on!

  18. adam from ny Says:

    ****here is an interesting statistic you might want to consider on some strange level****

    adam from ny has seen every bucs game religiously since they switched over to pewter & red….and has been a fan since 1979….however 10 games ago adam made a decision to no longer go to the sports bar to watch the games anymore and instead to stay home and watch via the internet….and moving foward from there, the buccaneers never won another game all season…were the buccaneers winning for adam?….are the buccaneers and adam somehow spiritually connected?….what happened here?…..did adam cut the bucs mysterious winning umbilical cord with his simple sports bar disconnect?

    no, actually the bucs just really suck….but i just thought i should mention this little factoid….adam actually contemplated going back to the sports bar solely to change the bucs mojo back to it’s former self…..but adam said the heck with it and figured to stop dumping money into some crappy watering hole and sit back in his crib in his skunked underoos and just watch via the net.

    this is a true story

    adam from ny

  19. Fear The Glo Says:

    After this post ^^^ it’s clear that “adam from ny” is the problem with this team.

    I propose we send Geno Hayes and Quincy Black to capture this miscreant with Sean Jones and Tanard Jackson as back up.

    …he got away untouched.

  20. adam from ny Says:

    come on man!!…those guys couldn’t catch mean gene deckerhoff dipping to the urinals for a quick bathroom break during a commercial

  21. Squadoosh Says:

    I think if Rah stays th bucs should legally be able to change their name to theTampa Bay Mental Midgets…
    This team is so depressing all you can do is laugh anymore

  22. K2theSoldier Says:

    The mental midgets are the pathetic excuse for players we have on our team. Absolutely disgusting, and the fact that there aren’t more posts regarding Mark Dominick’s job security bothers me. He’s the one that’s primarily responsible for these garbage players, and he’s escaping all the blame and letting Raheem take the fall. If I were Raheem I would revert back to New Jersey Hood Style and beat the living hell out of that smug jackass Dominick. Not encouraging anything, just what I’d do.

  23. K2theSoldier Says:

    And no I’m not taking blame away from Morris…he’s a terrible defensive coordinator (Roy Miller dropped back into coverage at one point today, yeah enough said). And Raheem has obviously played buddy buddy with his guys too much. He did it last year and part of this year, and finally became a hard ass but it was too late once he did. He’ll learn and become a good coach some day.

  24. DaveL Says:

    Raheem needs to go sure but..

    Can someone please fire the owners?

    The Glazers have treated this team with benign neglect ever since the Super Bowl year and decimated the fan base, including me.

    If anyone thinks replacing the affable hapless Raheem will fix anything, they are dreaming.

    I actually think Dominic has done well in the areas where he has a choice(draft). He cant be judged in the area of free agency as he has been given no money to spend.

    Rah’s been given substandard talent to work with and thats not the GM’s fault that rests solely on the owners.

    All bucs coaching staffs comments going into the season that they were happy with the ingrediants they had to make this souffle were an attempt to make a virtue out of necessity. WTF else could they say publicly?

    I suggest going back to creamsicle colors until the team earns thier pewter and red

  25. j lynch Says:

    The wide reciever reverse worked pretty well on our defens oh yea 2 recivers running into each other nice scheme there huh mental midgets coaching undiciplined players…

  26. bucyea Says:

    Morris is the shortest “mental midget” of them all!!!!

  27. Scott Says:

    I love the fact there are folks out there that actually think Morris should be back!

    The one thing that owners care about it MONEY! And if Morris is brought back, they will lose a lot of it. I do not care how much the TV revenue is, but its not going to put asses in the seats!

    Fans that boy the tickets will do the loudest talking and will win in the end!

    So long Raheem go back to Jersey and coach your local HIgh School where those kids want to hear your BS!

  28. Bucnjim Says:

    You know things have hit rock bottom when I can sit here and watch a division opponent score 42 points in the first HALF and not even react to the A$$ beating. It’s like I’ve been in some kind of coma for the whole NFL season. Thanks Bucs! One more season of Raheem and we’ll all be staring in the remake of one flew over the choo choo’s nest.

  29. Bucnjim Says:

    Scott, you are right about the money but the Glazers also have pride! This entire coaching staff has made them the joke of the NFL and that will be the end of Morris.

  30. BigMacAttack Says:

    @ Tampa 2,
    that was real nice post, and I know how hard its been for you. I agree and look forward to a brighter future for the team if this finally wakes up the Owners.

    As much as I hate these blowouts, yesterday the offense played better than they have in the last 10 games. Not saying much, but at least a glimmer of hope since the Falcons kept most of their starters in the game. I honestly expected a much worse performance from the Bucs’ offense. Still too little, too late. It will take one heck of a Coach to turn this around. There are some FA’s to be bought this season if they can lure them here, but not of the quality they missed out on these last 2 seasons. My guess is that the Bucs low ball every player they ever talk too. If you want a player in demand, you have to have to make a serious offer, the highest offer, and the Bucs just can’t seem to do that. As much as wanted to believe this young team could do it, there is just no way in hell.

    Seeya Rah, I believe you gave your best effort, but it just wasn’t good enough. To be the worst Buc defense ever is just beyond any embarrassment. It will take years to to mend the damage of reputation, when the National media already so hates the Bucs. When all else fails, Nuke it.