Stop Making Stuff Up

September 21st, 2013

Perhaps Roger Goodell should fine NFL Network reporters for wasting fans’ time with BS about the Bucs.

Joe’s really had enough of the outright BS being slung around by various media types.

Frankly, Joe’s embarrassed to be connected to a lot of the stupidity seen in the past couple of weeks.

Darrelle Revis, if anything, is no fool, and he’s a very savvy businessman. One could argue he’s the smartest player off the field in league history. Essentially, Revis engineered three new post-rookie contracts six years, the last being $16 million annually from the Bucs with no guaranteed money. The Tampa Bay deal was amazing considering he signed it with plenty of uncertainty surrounding the health of his knee.

Revis literally got back on the game field two weeks ago, and early this week an unsourced report from FOX Sports claimed Revis was upset with how he was being used in the Bucs defense and with Greg Schiano’s rules.

It made no sense that Revis would want to paint himself as a malcontent, or that he would actually be unhappy. And why would Revis want to piss off the organization that holds the keys to him earning $16 million a year — state tax free? Keep in mind Revis, by his own admission, is not yet 100 percent game-fit. He played about two-thirds of the snaps on opening day against the Jets and had cramps against the Saints. He’s had his own special set of rules and didn’t have to put his toes on the line during training camp.

Joe’s talked to Revis several times, and Revis says he addressed the rumors in a 1-on-1 meeting with Schiano to be sure his coach didn’t believe them and so his new teammates were certain his commitment to the Bucs was authentic. Revis has told anyone that would listen that there’s “zero truth” to the rumors.

But none of that logic and reality satisfied NFL Network.

They flew top “insider” Albert Breer to Tampa yesterday in order to gather intelligence, and Breer wasted no time getting on the air to deliver more nonsense Friday.  In this video, Breer references “the Revis problem” and what’s happening at One Buc Palace “after the little blowups there with Freeman and Revis.”

Perhaps Roger Goodell could fine Breer $20,000 for pelting defenseless fans with garbage?

As for the Josh-Freeman-will-formally-request-a-trade report floated by CBS Sports last weekend, that had to be the most unbelievable BS Joe’s heard in a while. So we’re to believe that happy-to-be-here, laid back Josh, and/or his agent, decided to leak a story that would make Freeman look like a team-killing, immature cancer by requesting a trade? In a contract year? That’s just lunacy. 

Not only does that not fit Freeman’s history in any way, it’s stupid. Freeman and his camp know he’d never be traded to anything but a lousy team, one without Vincent Jackson, Mike Williams, Doug Martin and three Pro Bowlers on the offensive line to keep him upright.

Again, Joe’s had enough of the outrageous, unsourced media assaults. And that’s another reason to hope for a Bucs win in New England. The only way to beat back the growing swarm of sharks is with a victory.

48 Responses to “Stop Making Stuff Up”

  1. SeanyMac in SC Says:

    Nice take Joe. Well said. Had know idea how much of a soap opera the NFL has become.

  2. Paul Says:

    I don’t believe it was a mistake that Revis was playing zone. Schiano doesn’t want to settle for the 0/0/0 stat line, they want turnovers from him. Revis wasn’t even getting looked at, no balls thrown to him, so they sometimes put him in zone to jump some underneath stuff.

  3. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Thanks Joe….the only way to stop this is to expose it….attack it and when one media holds the other accountable for BS reports….they will think twice.
    This latest one appears to be no more than an old fashioned ‘witch hunt”.
    The common thread appears to be out to get Schiano and it has worked with some of the naive fanbase.
    Sciano is solid and has a great future as an NFL coach with the Bucs…he will be battle hardened from this and so will his players.
    Its time for Buc fans to “buck back”!!!

  4. Splengo Says:

    Let’s go in a different direction. Let’s suppose this is all made up and there is a cabal, an orchestrated attempt to smear the Bucs. The question becomes why? These national media reporters are credible, respected, we’ll-known reporters.

    None of them has tried to smear Gruden or Dungy, former Buc coaches. Is there some undercurrent in the Bucs locker room or talk among other NFL professionals that’s like blood in the water that’s inviting sharks to a feeding frenzy?

    There is something about this coach that is causing this media interest that goes beyond losing two games. Other 0-2 teams are not getting this kind of press. If this is a perpetrated fraud, it’s got legs and is not going away soon. And is most likely to intensify with another loss.

    A clear and bothersome signal is the absence of Mark Dominik – a politician who clearly that does not want to be caught in a drive-by.

  5. BFFL Says:

    We live in a strange time when our news outlets have become based on fiction and our TV shows have become based on reality…WTF

  6. Raphael Says:

    Other teams seem worried and Know it’s a matter of time when the Bucs reel off about 8 wins in a row…a lot of the stuff is planted BS and your right joe, it will take a lawsuit or Goodell stepping in. he won’t though because the Media creates buzz which means money.

    What’s funny is I think Josh’s agent is his Dad ….It’s a made up story…thankfully

  7. Splengo Says:

    Raphael,

    Josh’s dad may be a big influence over what he decides, but his agent is Eric Burkhardt.

  8. lightningbuc Says:

    In this day and age of so many TV networks and websites, there are way too many NFL “experts” who have to try and remain relevant by spewing this nonsense. I mean, half the people Joe reports on as “insiders” I’ve never even heard of.

  9. Bobby Says:

    There IS something about Greg Schiano that pisses reporters off. It started with the defense crashing the offensive line at the Giants game when the Giants went into victory formation. A lot of them didn’t think that was up to ‘NFL standards’ for coaching although why a team should just give up because the other team is a few points ahead and time is running out is beyond me. If there is still a chance, no matter how slim…keep playing. That’s just called ‘football’. These are the same reporters that lobby to make the game ‘safer’
    when in reality it is turning football into flag football. They see Schiano and his hard nosed football attitude as a threat to the evolving, pussified game it’s turning into.

    Personally I love what he’s doing with our defense. It’s making Bucs games fun to watch again. Once the offense starts to click these reporters will crawl back into their caves. They won’t report any good news on the team.

  10. pewterpirate99 Says:

    Very well put Splengo. I Happen to agree with your perspective. Yes WHERE THE HELL is Dominik.

  11. chris Says:

    The only thing is, I heard yesterday that Joe Buc fan reported there are sources within the organization that are not too pleased with Greg Schiano as the head coach.

    Now once I heard that, there could be things being leaked out of one buc place. I know it’s crazy, but where there is smoke, there usually is fire. Do I think the Freeman Trade Rumors are true? Not exactly, but I do think there is a scenario where if Josh loses the job to Glennon in the next couple weeks, the Freeman camp may not want him ot be a back up behind glennon. I do think the relationship with Schiano and Freeman is not a good one. It’s been reported all offseason that they do not like each other. I do think that Freemans camp, as long as Schiano is the head coach in Tampa, may want a fresh start.

    The rift with Revis and other players, even if you want to call it that, happens to every team. Every players and coaching staff will be displeased, especially if they are 0-2. But that they are 0-2 , it’s a problem.

  12. lightningbuc Says:

    Good point Splengo. Is the alleged “rock star” in some sort of witness protection program?

  13. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Its not a conspiricy or completely fabricated….it has a small hint of truth and much like other stories achieves a life of its own….there are too many media outlets with too much time to fill.
    Remember how Congressman Gary Condit was crucified and viliffied by the media for months over the death of Chandra Levy?….then 911 came along and Condit (the only person who benefited from 911) was off the news completely.
    All we need to do is win a game we aren’t expected to win (NE) and nobody will care what is going on at One Buc!!!

  14. Ryan Says:

    To be fair, the Freeman requesting a trade report was floated out there by Jason LaCanfora, so we all knew right off the bat that the origins of that rumor were on his own pencil and paper.

  15. MadMax Says:

    Give this Defense a QB, and this defense will give you a Playoff run!!! They play hard all 4 quarters…..Josh only plays hard (if you want to call it that) in the final minutes of the 4th.

  16. joseph mamma Says:

    Breer also states that the Buc’s players are circling the wagons.

  17. bucfan999 Says:

    I think that the media in general….not just the national media but also the local sports talk media has been making stuff up intentionally. I have stopped listening to the sports talk on the radio on my way home from work because every day all they do is make up stories attacking Coach Schiano. It has gotten sickening to listen to and I for one have stopped. Every day I heard Booger McFarland say that Schiano rigged captain vote because he didn’t like Freeman. Then he said Josh missed the team photo because it was on labor day at 7:00 AM but he never admitted that no one else missed the photo. Now he says that the play calling is bad and all other coaches would have put the ball in Freemans hand at the end of the game. He must forget who he played for………TONY DUNGY…….Dungy would have done the same thing Schiano did and run the ball, kick the field goal and rely on the defense to win the game. I can’t take the lies from the media any more and have stopped listening to them.

  18. Couch Fan Says:

    Joe, why are you not angry with Mike Florio’s idiotic reporting? His BS is much worse than any of this stuff. Florida called Revis a liar in not so many words…

  19. Couch Fan Says:

    Florio*

  20. snookau Says:

    The part that really bothers is me is that the media will run and run and run with an unnamed sources report. Yet when the actually player or person claims the report is false (Revis and Freeman), they completly ignore it.

  21. RBellBuc Says:

    Wow! Joe is finally coming around. I’ve been pointing all this out for weeks now. I even asked the commenters if they thought there was a smear campaign against the Bucs. But most didn’t believe, in fact most believe that there must be something to all this because the media said so. There is a conspiracy but most of us have drank to much of the kool-aide, and have joined in on the witchhunt. I don’t think any of this will go away, even if we win.

  22. Eternally Optimistic Homer Says:

    Splengo
    “None of them has tried to smear Gruden or Dungy, former Buc coaches.”

    You have revisionist memory. The media attacked both Gruden and the Bucs. They didn’t like the way Dungy was fired. We were treated time after time to images of Tony Dungy loading boxes into his video in the middle of the night while it was raining.

    In fact, ever since then espn has had a mad-on toward Tampa…never giving them the respect they deserved.

    What you really need to consider is who these media guys follow as fans. Remember, we not only have Jets media guys out for us. We also have Giants media guys who hate on us because of the kneel down thing. New Yorkers never forget. Add to that the Revis hate from up there and you get a lot of bull.

    Locally, our media guys range from Eagles fans to Saints fans. Other than Joe and maybe a tv guy here or there, you won’t find any quality media guys from Tampa or who claim to be Bucs fans truthfully.

    Networks go out of state for talent for a reason. Just look at our true local guys.

  23. Eternally Optimistic Homer Says:

    ” Tony Dungy loading boxes into his video”

    Meant vehicle. Tablet auto correct got by me.

  24. Leon Says:

    Thanks Joe.. Don’t know what’s worse the media carp or the Mike Glennon mob garbage. We go as far as Josh and company takes the naive fan base needs to wake up.

  25. Dp4life22 Says:

    Notice all this stuff has circled around the saints game , it’s obvious it’s coming from their camp. Bully little coach who does what ever it takes to win even if it’s purposely taking guys careers away.. Wanna see bounty in progress look at tape of old saints and buc games they always went below Freeman’s knees even when he was running out of bounds. Let them go back to their FEMA trailers in ORlins and let’s get on with beating the pats. Hmm jimmy Johnson and belichek sure had praise for schiano and backed his hiring. Two of best coaches ever in nfl

  26. BucTheMedia Says:

    Well in other news AC was just fined $21k for his hit on Screw Brees. This BS is really out of hand at this point with all these damn fines and penalties they give this team….

    They’re out to get us

  27. will b. Says:

    I’ve been a a bucs fan my whole life. Born here. We have always been an afterthought with the NFL. We are the forgotten Super Bowl winners. Since day one with all the losing and Culverhouse to the current bs. We’ve always been treated like an AFL team. Think about all the crap we go through on Sundays alone. Home cooking? Never! I watched Andy Dalton take two shots to the head on national tv. Flags? Nope. Same game,running back gets destroyed out of bounds, refs not interested. That’s not paranoia, its truth. I don’t know if the powers that be hate the Glazers or what but me and my buddies have always thought the NFL has had it in for my beloved Buccaneers. Now all this half baked made up distraction crap. Makes you wonder.

  28. Buc1987 Says:

    Right now tis better to be a Bucs fan than a Browns fan….See there is always a silver lining to every thing.

  29. Bobby Says:

    @ MadMax says ….”Give this Defense a QB, and this defense will give you a Playoff run!!! They play hard all 4 quarters…..Josh only plays hard (if you want to call it that) in the final minutes of the 4th.”

    Isn’t that when the defense has it’s monumental collapses…the final minutes of the 4th quarter??

  30. Buc1987 Says:

    “Josh only plays hard (if you want to call it that) in the final minutes of the 4th.”

    True.

  31. Buc1987 Says:

    “Isn’t that when the defense has it’s monumental collapses…the final minutes of the 4th quarter??”

    Bobby…Without Mason Fosters pick 6 it never comes down to a collapse by the defense in the 4th qrtr against the Saints.

  32. 76buc76 Says:

    Victory formation, the parade of Jet’s to the locker room week 1. Hit’s on Brees and Sproles. All reason’s the NFL player’s (other than safety’s),NFL media and NFL brass have a growing “hate on” for the Buccaneers. These fines are eveadence enough. If Goldson layed the hit on Floyd. He’d be suspended for 4 games. If Clay Mathew’s hit Brees like Claybourne he’d not even gotten a flag (NFL’s golden boy). We will never get the benefit of the dought. Even if a player with no history of illegal hits. Are the ref’s in on it? Ref’s are people too. They talk to each other. Put it this way if everything going around OBP. Was happening to the Falcon’s. We’d all be up in arm’s about those goon’s in ATL. Fan’s like hit’s so the percentage of fan’s that dislike Schiano is less than other group’s. Except the fans of team’s that had victory formation run on them(Den,NYG) or the team’s the Buc’s beat up week 1,2 Jet’s and Saints. Long story short the NFL want’s Schiano out of the NFL

  33. ShutTheBucUp Says:

    Been saying this for a while now. Someone out here wants Schiano to crash and burn and is chumming the sharks in the sports media. The unfortunate thing about sports “reporting” is that rumors are assumed true until proven false. Glad you posted about it Joe! Hopefully it calms down after we win in New England!

  34. Bobby Says:

    @ Buc1987 says.. “Bobby…Without Mason Fosters pick 6 it never comes down to a collapse by the defense in the 4th qrtr against the Saints.”

    If a frog had wings it wouldn’t bump it’s ass on a lily pad. There’s excuses everywhere. If the receivers didn’t drop the third down passes…if Dotson doesn’t line up wrong on the TD to Jackson…if Freeman didn’t stare down his receivers…blah, blah, blah. We lost in a team sport. Defense played well for all but 1 minute of the game but it’s that one minute that we needed them most. How is that any different than the offense only getting it together in the final minutes of the 4th? It’s the final minutes of the 4th when we need it the most… when we are behind by 2 points or whatever. That’s when the offense was money in the Jets game. They missed the field goal in the Saints game but they left the Saints with no time outs and 50 yards to go to get into field goal range with less than a minute left and no time outs. There’s blame on both sides of the ball in both losses but I won’t call this defense great until they can close a game out when they have to. The offense is nowhere near great but with this defense they don’t have to be. Our Super Bowl offense was far from ‘great’. We just need to get back to last year’s production level. Give us 24 points a game and we win a whole lot of games.

  35. Couch Fan Says:

    I disagree. I think “we need it the most” all 4 qts, not just the end.

    That is rather silly.

  36. Kevin Says:

    It is clear as day that these officials are targeting the bucs defense. Aside from our team they are abusing they’re power along with Goodell. This league is going to probably rack up about 30-40 million in fines by the end of the season. Don’t tell me that all goes to charity…bull shit. I have loved football my entire life…I LOVE IT!!! This is the first season that every game I watch is in disgust. What’s funny is the ref, Goodell and the league are giving passes to teams playing in prime time night games that are nationally televised. The only time they make a call or throw a flag in those games is if it is BLATANTLY on purpose…..but ohh nooo nook, not the buds. They are flagging us for playing football. MAYBE IT IS SCHIANO….Maybe they have a grudge against his style. That doesn’t make it right. This team SHOULD be 2-0 right now regardless of how sloppy it is. Funny how vegas picked us to go 5-11 and it sure seams like the league is trying to help make that true. My stomach won’t be able to handle much more of this and I’m sure there are millions of other fans of the game that feel the same way. It’s not a game anymore, it’s not fun to watch anymore. Every single play we are looking to see that yellow flag fly across the screen for some bullshit call. I love the game but I hate what this league is doing to the sport. I could go on and on but it won’t solve anything…Hell typing all this shit means absolutely nothing. It is going to continue to get worse. Going to have to find something else to do on Sundays….maybe I’ll start watching golf because at this point the excitement level is now about the same

  37. Kevin Says:

    p.s
    Goodell loves Penis

  38. MadMax Says:

    @Bobby, Josh has the worst completion percentage (as a starter) in the ENTIRE LEAGUE!

    Like Ive said, Ive given up on him. I hope if the powers that be who keep starting him will eventually see what I and many others see….but until then, UHG its so ugly pulling for him when you know he’s not going to perform well! He has his moments, but this team IS READY NOW!!! Trade him DOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  39. 76buc76 Says:

    The charity’s are probably cheering the big hit’s. Let’s see now, of that $100 000. 50% addmin fee. Maybe this is a way to recruit new fan’s. With a Goldson wing at the children’s hospital. The kid’s should know who funded that new playroom. Big Goldson fat heads everywhere. Don’t worry about the boogie monster kid’s. Goldson wiill get him

  40. Just A Juggalo Says:

    Jadaveon Clowney Project (JCP) is on.

    “Making stuff up!”

    Wait till the bye week and you won’t believe the crap that comes out. All the players will have an “open mike nite” with their personal anecdotes with how petty and stupid the Little General was after he gets fired.

  41. 76buc76 Says:

    That Claybourne hit was brutal. That play, is where the line should be drawn. Last year a very similar play went unpunished. One of those McCoy hit’s on Romo. Yes there was helmet to helmet. But what part of the helmet is the difference. If facemask and the forehead part of the helmet is making contact. That in itself is playing HEADS UP FOOTBALL. More often than not it’s more of a glancing blow. The force of the blow caused Brees helmet to come back in a whiplash motion. Making it look worse than it was. That crown, that 5 inch radius around the top hole of the helmet. Is the part that causes head injury’s. The fact is QB barely ever face the crown down situation unless they are running. How many QB have been concused in the pocket since this helmet to helmet crackdown? These crackdown help the running back’s. But the TE’s and WR’s are the guy’s getting lit up. Those Goldson hit’s were illegal. Those are crown down hit’s. Line the guy up and at the last second duck your head. I don’t want V-jax or MW taking a hit like that(Stocker go ahead…kidding). Plus Goldson is gunna jack himself up one of these times

  42. Jake S. Says:

    The stuff about Revis not being happy are just plain lies for the simple fact that even though he makes 16 mil a year none of it is a sure thing for him. If at any point he is not a ‘Buccaneer Man’ the Bucs can cut him loose for any reason they like without penalty.

  43. Buccsfan76 Says:

    Great Post Joe! I visit your site AT LEAST once a day! Keep it up!

  44. LUVMYBUCS Says:

    @RBellBuc-Preach It Brotha

    @MadMax-Hey Hey Hey
    @Couch Fan
    @Tampabaybucfan
    @Buc1987-Happy B-Day Brotha
    @lightningbuc

    Whats good all my BUC brethren. Hope everybody family is well and in good thoughts.

    Time to get our 1st win tomorrow and go on a run.

    GO BUCS!!

  45. LUVMYBUCS Says:

    (2-2) By the Break Baby!!

    LETS GO!!!

  46. MadMax Says:

    @LUV, a win is certain as long as Sheridan doesnt blow assignments with his play calling and Gosh doesnt blow his nose on the football while he’s crying about something……

  47. Eternally Optimistic Homer Says:

    Jake S. Says
    “The stuff about Revis not being happy are just plain lies for the simple fact that even though he makes 16 mil a year none of it is a sure thing for him. If at any point he is not a ‘Buccaneer Man’ the Bucs can cut him loose for any reason they like without penalty.”

    Without penalty is a little bit of a stretch. The Bucs would be liable for the current year. So he would get his 16 mil. Your point is still valid though.

  48. papawill13 Says:

    LMAO!! What a hypocrite. I used to read this blog but when I made a comment how crappy and biased the Media was Joey felt the need to defend the media with BS minor stories (kind of like Muslims talking about all those Christian, Jewish, Hindu etc.. terrorists). I was told today about this peice you wrote a few days ago and had to drop one last message down.

    85% of everything written by a Journalist is a Lie or Biased. And in Journalism there is no difference between Bias and Lies, both destroy credibility just as fast.

    Joe you are nothing but a Biased Fan. You support Lies and Bias in the Media when you agree with it, then attack it when it goes against you. The fact you only mention these Lies and Bias when it upsets you has made me lose what respect I had for you and your work.

    OK. Glad you feel better by speaking you peace, misguided as it may be. –Joe