“Emotional” Chucky Returns To One Buc Palace
October 1st, 2011
The last time Chucky was in One Buc Palace was on a fateful Friday night in January 2009, when he was told by Team Glazer to pack his bags and leave the premises, in so many words.
Saturday, Chucky returned One Buc Palace, not as a coach, but as a see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, everyone-is-a-Pro-Bowler-that-Chucky-loves type of TV analyst.
Tampa Tribune reporter eye-RAH! Kaufman documented the scene.
After the ESPN crew taped interviews with an array of Bucs players Saturday afternoon, Gruden stopped in the media room for a brief chat.
“I’ve got a lot of friends here and I was fired up,” Gruden said of his first visit to Bucs headquarters since his dismissal. “You get a little emotional.”
Unlike prior published stories, Monday night will not be Chucky’s first trip back to the stadium Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks built , known in some circles as “The CITS.” Chucky returned in January to broadcast the Outback Bowl when Penn State played Florida.
Also in Kaufman’s story is how Raheem Morris feels about his old “boss.”
For Joe, hearing what platitudes Chucky talks about the Bucs will almost be as fun as the game itself.
October 1st, 2011 at 9:44 pm
It was time for change…But we needed him more than most fans will ever admit, or acknowledge…just like with any head coach there was good and bad…Thanks are in order
October 1st, 2011 at 10:11 pm
Thanks Coach Gruden. You should never have to buy a beer in this town.
October 1st, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Joe…. is there a reason you continue to disrespect Mr. Gruden?
His name is Jon Gruden… NOT Chucky.
October 1st, 2011 at 10:45 pm
BucNGator:
The former Bucs coach has been Chucky from the date this site was born over three years ago and will continue to be Chucky for as long as this site exists.
Judging by how Joe’s traffic has never stopped growing, Joe’s going to be around for a while.
And so will “Chucky.”
October 1st, 2011 at 10:53 pm
let’s not get over sensitive people…I don’t see a prob with the chucky monicker ata all
October 2nd, 2011 at 12:47 am
Joe will continue to read, despite a letdown on picks and picks prizes.
October 2nd, 2011 at 12:50 am
You lose and owe people prizes then bail on them.lmao
October 2nd, 2011 at 3:35 am
If he would have agreed to draft a QB in the 1st round to build on IMO he would still be here… his style of plug in old players was not built to last. He was called out on it and fired!!!
October 2nd, 2011 at 6:14 am
I always called it the house the Hardy built! He set the standard make it respectable to come to the Bucs as a free agent.
October 2nd, 2011 at 6:18 am
CITS= The house that Hardy Nickerson # 56 Built!
October 2nd, 2011 at 7:10 am
I know for a fact that JON Gruden embraces the moniker “Chucky”. I know he has had it at least since he was HC in Oakland. I use the term in admiration for our former coach. He is “Chucky” and will always be until maybe he becomes “Grandpa Chucky”.
After watching the Gators get torn up by Bama last night, I think Mr BucNGator has more pressing concerns than what Buc Fans call Jon Gruden. BTW, Raider fans called him much worse than that when he left for Tampa and then destroyed them in the Super Bowl.
October 2nd, 2011 at 9:13 am
Welcome back Jon!
I’m sure he’ll get a deserved ovation when shown on the jumbo-tron at the game.
We’ve moved on but never forget.
October 2nd, 2011 at 9:57 am
Good lord…. posting in this joint, is like sitting in a rocking chair in a room full off long tailed cats!!
It’s just a respect issue. You’ll find NO other credible journalists that use as much “slang” as blogs do these days. I guess I’m from the “old school” of journalistic credibility.
I respect what you’ve done here Joe…. Gathering stories and adding your “own spin”, while flooding the pages with advertisements, along with pics of beautiful women, has probably turned the place into quite a little “gold mine”. It’s definitely in the category of “wish I’d have thought of that”…
…. but I also know that you’re skilled enough to generate your own material and contribute original stories, if you’d choose to do so.
It’s not just this particular site, because there are plenty of similar sites for every team… but, if regurgitating someone else’s stories and openly “stalking” Rachel Watson and other women, is the “sign of the times” and the “wave of the future”, I guess I’m glad I only have 1/4 of my life left on this planet, to endure such things!!
and Mac… sometimes you have to take a few steps backward, in order to move forward, but thanks for your concern!!
October 2nd, 2011 at 11:30 am
WELCOME BACK COACH!
October 2nd, 2011 at 12:25 pm
@BigMacAttack —- Actually, he can’t stand the “Chucky” nickname.
October 2nd, 2011 at 8:46 pm
Hey John, I thought you were calling the Atlanta / Seattle game today.
“Chucky will be back and hopefully my teeth will be as sharp as ever,” Gruden said.
He always did seem to speak differently in public than in private, and I have heard him use the Chucky term a few times, never in disgust. But hey John, you played for him and should know better than anyone.