Blame Bruce Arians?

March 4th, 2021

Changed the NFL?

One great thing about the NFL is it’s not the non-basketball association.

That league is made up of the biggest crybabies and pampered elitists Joe has ever seen. The ultimate spoiled brats. The players, sadly, run the league. (This Joe hasn’t watched a full non-basketball association game since 1989 and this Joe has never seen this Lebron James play once. Don’t even know his number.)

Currently, you have Russell Wilson trying to strong-arm his way out of Seattle (apparently for a good reason — he’s tired of getting beat to a pulp with a lousy offensive line) and then in Houston you have Karen Watson threatening to never play for the Texans again.

(Column Intermission: If Karen Watson was demanding the team change its name to the “Oilers” and wear those beautiful blue-and-white uniforms with the oil rig on the helmets — wouldn’t *that* get folks triggered — Joe would be fully supportive. Apparently, Karen doesn’t like how the Texans run their business. Boo, hoo. Then why did you sign your $175 million contract last year? If Joe were Houston owner Cal McNair, Joe would absolutely call Watson’s bluff. Let Watson sit out and of course the Texans will stink out loud and likely beat out the Jets for the No. 1 overall pick in 2020. Then trade Watson for a haul and just about instantly you could turn around your team and save $30 million — Karen’s 2020 salary, which he will never get back. Gone for good. Then Karen will get his wish and play for a new team and you save a small fortune while restocking your roster. Win/win.)

Appearing on the Ross Tucker Podcast, hot-dog-eating-contest-protestingmock-draft-scowlingL.L. Bean-wearingSecond Amendment abolitionistMike-Florio-arguingparrot-insensitivechewing-with-his-mouth-opensoup-gulpingCalifornia-train-romancinganti-football proliferationouthouse-admiringairline-nappingsteerage-flyingYogi Berra-worshipingurinal-picture-takingvideo-game-playingTaylor-Swift-listeningpickpocket-thwartingBucs-uniform-frowningAllie-LaForce-smittenBig-Ten-Network-hatingpedestrian-bumpingolive oil-lappingpopcorn-munchingcoffee-slurpingfried-chicken-eatingoatmeal-lovingcircle-jerking, craft-beer-chugging, cricket-watchingscone-loathingcollege football-naïvebaseball-box-score-readingNPR-honkfilthy-hotel-stayingfight-instigatingbarista-trainingBudweiser-tolerantbaseball-scorecard-keeping, pasta-feasting, vomit-dodging scrooge, Kay-Adams-following, Coors-Light-souring social activist and NFL insider Peter King of NBC Sports said the reason why Wilson has become so publicly agitated and wants out of Seattle is because of the Bucs.

Yes, really.

Wilson saw how much influence Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians allows Brady in crafting the offense. And Wilson wants the same latitude with the Seahawks — Joe cannot blame him one bit — and apparently Seattle Super Bowl-winning coach Pete Carroll is unwilling to budge.

“He didn’t feel like he was listened to,” King said, recounting a story of Wilson stomping out of a meeting with his Seahawks coaches.

“And then, really the icing on the cake Ross, was sitting there at the Super Bowl and watching Tom Brady parachuting into Tampa and Russell Wilson heard the stories all year: Bryon Leftwich and Bruce Arians were letting Tom Brady say, ‘This is what I want to run, let’s do this.’ And so they did it. And I think Russell Wilson thinks, ‘Well, why can’t I do that?'”

So did the Bucs inadvertently start a trend, where the NFL morphs into the non-basketball association? Joe isn’t sure, but there is one thing clear to Joe: The Bucs have become a destination for players, not a franchise like it was in the Lost Decade, where quality players treated the Bucs as if One Buc Palace was infected with the Ebola virus (or the MRSA).

How refreshing is that?

36 Responses to “Blame Bruce Arians?”

  1. SufferingSince76 Says:

    A few folks on here get upset when they think they read posts indicating Brady is the only reason the Bucs won the Super Bowl. This story is a good example of how one guy can change a team. In this case, it’s Seattle!

  2. BD Says:

    does anyone remember when quarterbacks use to call all the plays? we forget there was a time when it was just the QBs that made decisions.

  3. PassingThru Says:

    Why shouldn’t players have more say over their destinies? These guys aren’t fry cooks or cashiers at your local fast food stop. I’ve heard that repeated harangue that they’re overpaid, but they’re not. If anything they’re underpaid, because if you take away the Collective Bargaining Agreement in either the NBA or NFL, guess what? Would salaries go down? NO. They’d skyrocket. Welcome to free enterprise.

    Many teams are run like political fiefdoms, so you cannot say, “Hey Player X doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he’s just a player.” Really? And GM clowns like Bill Polian are enshrined in the HOF? Take Watson for example. Fans cry, “Hey, he signed a contract”. Yes he did, and he was promised before that contract was signed that he’d have some input when a head coach was to be hired. While it isn’t in the contract itself, a verbal agreement was breached. It isn’t like the Texans are well-run, they’re a dysfunctional mess and could probably use direction from a player. Hell, I respect the opinion of Watson over a con man like Jack Easterby seven days a week.

    It’s a two way street. If a QB wants to help decide that the offensive line needs upgrading, promise that you’ll do it, and get some quid pro quo agreement in return that the QB take back less pay in order to finance it.

  4. Davenport Says:

    Excellent thoughts there Joe.

    Let them both honor their contracts or sit out. Giving in to these selfish b***hs will encourage more to do the same thing.

    If they had reservations about the team they are on, its simple – dont sign the second contract.

  5. August 1976 Buc Says:

    As soon as Brady and the Bucs beat Green Bay, the Rams trade Goff. It took the Rams about a week to get rid of Goff. That is instant Brady effect. I will say this, just keep Russ and Deshaun out of the NFC South. GO BUCS!!!!!

  6. Bucfanforever Says:

    7 rings to 1. And remember, Brady has more NFL experience than his offensive coordinator.

  7. geno711 Says:

    Joe does not follow the NBA but makes general comments about the league is made up of the biggest crybabies and pampered elitists Joe has ever seen. Sure Kyrie Irvin is an idiot but most of those guys are not.

    Really dude, if you have not watched an NBA game since 1989 can you really speak with even a little bit of authority on what the players are like.

    Really the 2nd best sport to watch other than NFL football. All those years of San Antonio and Golden State winning. Those were well coached teams. Those were teams that played defense and were elite at sharing the basketball.

    The physicality of playing 80 plus games in a basketball season is tougher than anything that baseball players have to go through. Baseball players are the pampered athletes. Blake Snell, David Price and others complaining they wanted their full salaries during a Pandemic.

    Baseball did not attempt to work together during the Pandemic because of the prima donna players union.

    Basketball players and ownership worked together much better. There are some lessons to be learned for a cooperation standpoint of basketball players and owners that the rest of the sports world actually lags behind.

  8. Formally Tampa 2 Says:

    NBA needs to move to China. I’m with Joe! could care less about those China loving a**holes!

  9. Adrnagy Says:

    Athletes are paid to play. Athletes became famous and rich playing. Not being in politics , activism etc.
    athletes should remove their uniforms and the platform that comes with sports and go elsewhere and put a suit and a different platform if the athlete chooses to do something else than sports.

    I pay to watch sports. NBA I do not pay or watch.
    NFL , nhl , mlb , I do.

  10. Unbuc'n Believable Says:

    I don’t belive Russ leaves Seattle this year, but if he continues to bump heads with Pete and Tom is not allowed to play in 2022 … then there may be a new super model in town in 2022.

  11. Adrnagy Says:

    Never liked Russell Wilson. Never did nothing but open his mouth. The legion of boom and beast mode got the SB ring.

  12. Bird Says:

    ^^^

    I remember legion of boom had issues with russ too
    Thought he was already management and not one of them

    I would love him here in tampa after another year of brady though 😂

  13. Cobraboy Says:

    Brady>Wilson²

  14. Tom S. Says:

    There is enough politics in this post to gag on MAGAJoe.

    If we’re being honest, baseball players are the absolute worst in professional sports. Between domestic violence, DUI’s that kill people, boating/airplane tricks that kill people, the complete lack of knowledge combined with arrogance that makes Curt Schilling and Aubrey Huff the poster boys….don’t even pretend that NBA comparable even if it hurts Joe’s snowflake heart when a group of people dare support a movement that says minorities shouldn’t be killed by police unnecessarily. I’m sure it triggers MAGAJoe as much as Colin Kaepernick did. Somehow he didn’t quit following the NFL like his crybaby compatriots though and good for him.

    Now, MAGAJoe, go back to OAN or whatever garbage you watch and complain about Dr Seuss while unironically supporting a bakers right to get triggered if gay people want a cake.

  15. Casual Observer Says:

    I agree with Joe about the NBA. I don’t follow that league.

  16. Defense Rules Says:

    @Joe … “Currently, you have Russell Wilson trying to strong-arm his way out of Seattle (apparently for a good reason — he’s tired of getting beat to a pulp with a lousy offensive line)”.

    A good reason Joe? Russell Wilson screwed the Seahawks, not the other way around. Wilson made $31 Mil in 2020, and had a dead CAP of $70 mil (making him close to untradeable). His LT made $12.6 mil, his RT made $3.4 mil, his 2 Guards made $3.9 mil together, and his Center made $1.4 mil. So Russell Wilson made $31.0 mil while his entire OLine made $21.3 mil for 2020.

    Seattle went 12-4 last year, better than we did, but got whooped by the wildcard Rams in Game 1 of the playoffs. And they scored a lot of points during the year (459) UNTIL it was showtime. THAT’S when the big dogs came out to hunt, and THAT’S when the beasts in the trenches become so important. Wilson got paid a LOT of money last year, money that went to him instead of to those whose job it is to protect him. Stop whining Russell; you got exactly what you asked for.

  17. Jason Says:

    BD.

    does anyone remember when quarterbacks use to call all the plays? we forget there was a time when it was just the QBs that made decisions.

    I thought the exact same thing.

  18. WorldChamps Says:

    Maga Joes stop being such a triggered snowflake. Most intelligent people dont speak on things they no little about. Since you admitted you dont and havent followed the sport maybe you should stick to talking about things you know. In a world of terrible hot takes this is up there with the worst ive seen in a min. Hateful boomers begone, the world had passed you by and you you cant stand it. With thats said Brady is unique and nobody has the cachet he does and he was a free agent so those other situations are notnreally comparable to what he did.

  19. Jaymiss Pick6 Again Says:

    Hahahahaha!!! Karen Watson!

  20. sincethebeginning Says:

    PassingThru, Geno711, and Tom S. — excellent points!

    All indications have been that Tom Brady wanted more say and control and he made that known at the end of his stay in New England, despite how he’s always deflected about that when asked. Nobody’s ever called him Karen for being unhappy with the way the Patriots were run at the end of his time there.

    JJ Watt wants a change of scenery and cites much of the same things as his quarterback as reasons for wanting to leave his organization. Nobody’s calling him a Karen.

    Aaron Rodgers has famously complained at multiple points in his career when management made personnel and coaching decisions that he didn’t like. Nobody’s called him a Karen either.

    Ben Roethlesberger was very publicly unhappy for a very long time when Bruce Arians left the Steelers, and he criticized his organization for it, and he didn’t stop well into the first season with a new OC. And nobody mocked him for that and called him a girl’s name, either.

    But I do remember when Doug Williams wanted to get his worth on his 2nd contract and the things that were said about him when he didn’t knuckle under to his owner’s ridiculous low-balling. Nobody called him and Karen. But they sure called him other things.

  21. Cobraboy Says:

    I kwit carting about the NBA with the advent of the shot clock and lack of enforcement on carrying the ball, double dribble, and walking with the ball.

    Oh, and the rim needs to be raised to 11.5′.

  22. SlyPirate Says:

    (SufferingSince76 … solid first post.)

    Russell (and wife) have wanted to leave Seattle for years. That’s the driving force here. They are prima donna celebs. Seattle is PNW geeky. They live next door to Microsoft and Amazon execs. They want to live amongst the stars.

  23. Cobraboy Says:

    $31 million dead cap in 2021 if Karen Wilson traded?

    Hilarious! Not gonna happen except for maybe five #1’s…

    (After “the summer of love”, I’d want to get out of Seattle, too…)

  24. BuccoDav Says:

    The problem is, as I see it, the divas on in the NFL want to make bank. When you pay too much for the QB, CB and pass rusher, you don’t have enough to recruit good players to round out your team. $35 million to one player kills your cap. Greed is what destroyed the Seahawks… and many other teams. The NFLPA should do an actual service to their constituents and try to find a balance for salaries.

  25. Allbuccedup Says:

    Russell Wilson is making 25% of Seattles cap. Hes cries about no OLine well DUH! Work for 25 mil like Brady then maybe they can afford to get you an OLine what a cry baby.

  26. BuccoDav Says:

    Oh. By the way, Joe is correct about the NBA… Totally unwatchable. May as well be wrestling.

  27. DaBux Says:

    A good coach merges his ideas and melds them to fit the talents of his QB and team.

    Bucco Bruce Arians and Lefty did that.

    For Pete’s Sake Carroll is a dinosaur and always thinks he’s right.

    It’s that simple.

  28. Allbuccedup Says:

    Something is going have to give with the 35 to 45 mil QBs salary. Its not going to last in this pandemic and forward. KC will be history in a couple of years.

  29. Mike C Says:

    Geno, Hockey is a FAR better sport.

  30. David Says:

    I for one have not watch the NBA the past decade. That’s when it really changed to me. After Jordan and then after Kobe’s prime day.
    I mean, when the superstar they compare to Jordan, LeBron, flops when he gets looked at wrong, that’s just disgusting and pathetic to me.
    Anyway-
    NFL
    NHL
    GOLF
    MLB

    as for the premise of this article, I don’t think it’s a trend. Brady, like Peyton Manning, are a different breed. When you get a quarterback that’s in his late 30s and has the success that they have had then it’s understandable if they’re upset by not having input.
    Anybody younger than 35 without multiple rings doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
    On the other hand, if you have a franchise quarterback, the O coordinator should be getting their input and doing things they feel comfortable with.
    That just seems like common sense.
    Being a head coach or an OC that just runs everything like a dictatorship has worked in the past but it does not seem like the best approach anymore.

  31. Winny Testaverde Says:

    Brady truly is one of a kind…Wilson also was sitting with pop-star/wife Ciara…no doubt influencing his behavior/decision to lash out. Things could get really messy between Wilson & Carroll. He’s basically un-tradeable this season…Seattle would take a 30 million + cap hit alone. It’s not like Wentz & Goff where those teams were more than happy to unload those lead balloon contracts.

  32. ClodHopper Says:

    I dont want to take anything away from Wilson. He’s a great qb and is a sure fire hall of famer. But he is not Brady. He doesn’t have the resume.

    This is like George Costanza demanding Ted Danson money.

  33. Crack3rK Says:

    Joe you’re such a sour puss sometimes. Speak not of what ye know not.

  34. rrsrq Says:

    Can we say Eli Manning or John Elway. Did they hold their teams hostage? the only one to not listen was Hugh Culverhouse when Bo Jackson said don’t draft me. BTW, Joe, the NBA is not as good as it used to be and that’s because of the college game and allowing super teams to exist, but if it wasn’t for the NBA Timberwolves, Bucs would still have the wort winning percentage of any men’s sports professional franchise. NBA Playoffs are still a treat for the most part though

  35. Brandon Says:

    Brady HELPED bring in Gronk, Fournette, and Brown. Brown was a luxury that we really didn’t need as we were log jammed at WR… Fournette FINALLY paid off after almost getting cut and Gronk was excellent.

    Jason Licht, on the other hand, built the best OL in football… four through the draft and one FA (Jensen)… and found Stinnie as an UFA. Licht built what was already the best WR corps in football in Evans, Godwin, and Miller with a little Tyler Johnson sprinkled in. He also drafted Rojo, which most of the idiot fans wanted us to cut after year one…. he of the 5.1 YPC. Then defensively, he drafted young STUDS Vea, D. White, Winfield, Davis, Dean, and SMB… not to forget possible studs Edwards and Whitehead. He also signed or re-signed David and Barrett as well as trading for JPP…. so what, he sucks at drafting kickers. The man is damn near perfect at drafting other positions…. plus he signed Brady. Most morons wanted Licht ran out of town with Lovie… and Dirk… but failed to see what was happening… he was building a great nucleus for a championship dynasty. Let the man do his work and STFU.

  36. MadMax Says:

    ^^^^^ OH YEAH!!!

    He’ll work his magic again too….cant wait to see it.