Brate, The Forgotten Stud
August 28th, 2020
Strong summer.
A lot has been written about the two name Bucs tight ends this summer.
Yeah, foot-rubbing tight end Rob Gronkowski grabs the headlines. With his many high-profile TV and new media ventures and his SI swimsuit covergirl girlfriend is a total smokeshow who, judging from her Instagram account, has taken to Tampa Bay area and its warm waters quite well. Gronk is in some ways, a more recognizable football star.
Oh, and he can play football, too.
And of course, O.J. Howard is rejuvenated and is playing his best football since he came into the league.
Lost in the tight end discussion is Brate. And man, he too is playing some damn good football. Brate has always had good hands. But in Joe’s eyes, Brate has made crazy catches in practice that Joe doesn’t remember Brate pulling off regularly before.
That continued today in the Bucs’ scrimmage in the Den of Depression. Brate skied for a touchdown pass from park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring Tom Brady as the chemistry the two are developing in practice was also seen by the pen and mic club at the stadium this morning.
Yeah, Gronk and Brady have chemistry — and a long history. And yeah, Howard has at times been a favorite target of Brady’s.
But so too at times has Brate. And with the catches he is making, good grief, the amount of reliable weapons for Brady to use is just sick to think about.
“He’s really been fun to work with,” Brady said of Brate. “I really love having Cam as a teammate. … Cam plays a lot of different roles for us and embraces all of those. He just does a tremendous job.”
The Bucs have a ridiculous amount of depth at tight end, something even Brady noted is very important.
(Yeah, Antony Auclair, barring injuries, will be relegated to part-time blocker and special teams. On some teams, he could be a No. 2 or even a No. 1 tight end.)
Brate almost seems leaner than he has been in the past year or two and he certainly appears quicker. Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians believes one reason Brate is flashing so much is that he’s healthier than in years past.
“He is moving real, real well and looking good,” Arians said. “I think the hip surgery and some of those things are behind him now.”
The way Brate is playing along with Howard — and we all know how good Gronk is — Joe doesn’t know how defenses will be able to consistently shut down this passing attack.
August 28th, 2020 at 2:14 pm
I like him as a receiver, but has his blocking improved?
August 28th, 2020 at 2:20 pm
He’s not a blocking tight end. Never was, never will be.
No need to ask a guy to do what he can’t do well.
August 28th, 2020 at 2:24 pm
Would that tip the defense off that its a passing play? If hes only used as a receiver?
August 28th, 2020 at 2:34 pm
brate just has to keep the defense honest with his blocking…lol…we dont need him to be gronk when it comes to blocking….
GO BUCS!!!!
August 28th, 2020 at 2:37 pm
JOE-
I am putting this back on because now it’s turning SAD. You’re trying to defend your foolish childishness by lying? MIGHT show its 50% bad-mouthing BRADY? Why do you it at all? Do you thinks it’s funny? Witty?
You will agree at least that it is bad-mouthing besides insulting right? Only your band of kool-aid drinkers would not agree. And the Peter King waste of keystrokes and our time attempt at humor is where in the archives, 97% ?? LAME
HEY JOE-
park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring Bucs quarterback Tom Brady
Does feedback matter to you or is your obsession with bad-mouthing the GOAT and being childish take precedence over all? 1) Joe cannot and does not care much about reader feedback since Joe gets praised and blasted for nearly everything here. Joe isn’t a politician who cares about polling data and tries to cater to the masses based on which way the wind blows. Joe would rather get a real job than worry about who likes/hates what’s written. 2) Joe doesn’t use that string before Brady every time. A quick search of the archives might show it’s 50 percent. 3) It’s neither meant as disrespectful, nor does Joe feel any disrespect. –Joe
Quick Search-Disrespectful and Childish. Let it GO JOE !!
August 28th, 2020 at 2:43 pm
And JOE by the way I have been a fan and reading your site for YEARS. This foolishness with Bad-mouthing BRADY aka the GOAT
Your Peter King weirdness
Praising of JW non-stop America’s QB Pro Bowler that set the franchise back 5 years is the only thing that I’ve ever not liked. But I just couldn’t take it anymore with the Brady Moniker. It’s OK to admit it’s DISRESPECTFUL and CHILDISH! Come clean with your loyal readers. I am not the only one that this is a very common theme here. WE LOVE YOU JOE BUT……
August 28th, 2020 at 2:53 pm
Tremendous set of TEs.
August 28th, 2020 at 2:59 pm
get ready to bring it in a couple weeks bitch payton!
August 28th, 2020 at 3:01 pm
50% of the TIME LAME Attempt at walking it BACK JOE!
You must have struggled in math. Check the archives again. I just double-checked and you badmouth BRADY 94% of the time.
park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring Tom Brady
WHY do you do it Again? TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME
August 28th, 2020 at 3:09 pm
Shut up Paul. While I too do not like the silly nicknames, only an idiot can’t see that it is in jest. When it comes to informing us about the Bucs, both Joe’s are second to none.
August 28th, 2020 at 3:10 pm
Paul: Not half as annoying as multiple reader posts in comment section on the topic. Chill out, Cool Breeze. Plenty of other things to worry about.
August 28th, 2020 at 3:11 pm
I have never forgotten about Cam. I have always liked him over OJ. OJ hasn’t done spit. You watch, OJ will be mediocre, Gronk will be banged up, and Cam will rule 2020-21.
August 28th, 2020 at 3:21 pm
The Pride of Quebec has a a fanbase, Joe. Don’t diss us. What better way to drive the opponent nuts that to tout all the stars, then dump it to Auclair, who can make a point of running over the safety?
August 28th, 2020 at 3:25 pm
the only way they’ll defeat the passing attack is with a pass rush. still a huge worry for a lot of bucs fans.
August 28th, 2020 at 3:36 pm
Yeah, just like Eric Dickerson would tip off defenses it’s likely a run play with him on the field. Or the Bucs top-heavy with receivers might tip off defenses they may pass.
You use players’ strengths. Only dumb coaches use players’ weaknesses. And the Bucs have had their share of dumb coaches the past decade.
“Don’t tell me what a player can’t do. Tell me what he can do.” — Bill Belichick.
August 28th, 2020 at 3:39 pm
Not sure how you came to that conclusion. Com’ on man. smh
Auclair is a nice bit player. He’s a very good blocker. Maybe a starter for another team. There’s no way he’s a No. 3 or higher tight end on this team as currently constructed.
August 28th, 2020 at 3:53 pm
Hey Paul – its called sarcasm. You think Brady would be upset by this? Then why should you?
August 28th, 2020 at 5:27 pm
The Charles Sims of TE’s
August 28th, 2020 at 6:21 pm
Just ignore Paul. He seems a bit unbalanced. Which is saying a lot when compared to some of our long time posters here.
August 28th, 2020 at 7:15 pm
Not sure what the Charles Sims of TEs mean but if it means Brate is outstanding I agree.
August 28th, 2020 at 7:23 pm
Ok, we have 3 really good tight ends. There are teams that don’t have a good starting tight end. Time to trade Brate.
August 28th, 2020 at 7:53 pm
Cannon why ignore Paul? He just had a breakdown and shared it with us on the internet. It was amazing to read that.
I get a chuckle everytime I see somebody get bent up about one of Joe’s nicknames. If Joe can raise somebody’s blood pressure over a nickname I say he done good. And we all get to read the reaction for extra entertainment.
Joe’s worst nickname. Bucco Bruce. Yawn
August 28th, 2020 at 7:58 pm
Alvin I might gotta disagree. That’s a bit shorter imo. Gronk retires now we are down to 1 passcatching TE who you could consider injury prone.(All respect to Auclair who I like a lot when he’s not holding).
Then OJ hit free agency and we are back at square one.
August 28th, 2020 at 8:04 pm
That said I hope we find a way to keep T.Hudson. If I’m the Bucs I’m considering having a TE fill up on of the WR spots on the roster. I think Gronk can even play out wide too. Pretty sure I’ve seen OJ line up wide too and he has the skillset to play out there.
August 28th, 2020 at 8:25 pm
@Jimmy
You got a point, it is amusing.
August 28th, 2020 at 8:51 pm
@hoop Because they use to call Simms the catching back, because he was a running back who wasn’t good at running all he could do was catch, so defenses knew we weren’t running the ball when he was in, it was going to be a passing play, making the offense 1 dimensional, because the defense was only worried about the pass. Gronk is an elite blocker, and supposedly OJ is getting better at blocking. So if you have Gronk and Oj on th field at the same time the defense wouldn’t know what was coming. I do love Cam as a receiver though.
August 28th, 2020 at 11:18 pm
Paul: lay off the drink you making a fool outta yourself
August 28th, 2020 at 11:22 pm
chris L Says:
August 28th, 2020 at 2:59 pm
get ready to bring it in a couple weeks bitch payton!
Lol! Love it and can’t wait for it to happen!
August 29th, 2020 at 10:40 am
@Paul
I’ve gotten really good at completely skipping over the stupid Joe monikers. He praised Winston with the nonsense long after everybody knew Winston would never live up to the billing, and now he’s moved on to Brady.
It’s one of those deals where someone in the group tells a joke and laughs so hard at his own joke that they don’t realize that know body else laughed.
It’s ridiculous, but if I’ve learned anything from read JBF for years and years, Joe could care less what any of us has to say unless he feels it’s misrepresenting Joe. Then he gets pretty butt hurt.
Joe’s gonna Joe, for better or worse, readers opinions be damned.
August 29th, 2020 at 12:29 pm
In his press conference Brady said Brate was going to play a lot of different roles. In Arians press conference he mentioned that Brate appears to have left his hip injury behind. So Cam is ready to have a very fine season you would have to think.
With all of the talent at WR, TE and RB we can look for the ball to be spread around greatly. We should have a high powered offense good enough to help in a play off run. Who can guess what the stats are going to be for any given player this season. After Evans and Godwin it probably is a moot point.
Go Bucs!!!