“We Want To Be Feared”
August 6th, 2021
“We are the Gravediggers.”
Cynthia Frelund, what did you unleash on the NFL?
The NFL Network’s stat queen last summer ranked the Bucs cornerbacks as the very worst in the NFL. We all saw how she swung and missed with that projection. It was one of the all-time fails in sports forecasting.
Bucs defensive backs willfully admit Frelund’s ranking was a fire that burned inside them throughout the season to prove how wrong she was.
And even though the Gravediggers, as the Bucs’ secondary glossed themselves last year, had a performance for the ages against Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, the mission is not yet accomplished.
Yesterday, Bucs second-year safety Antoine Winfield said there is much work to do. Why? The Gravediggers have a goal, he said.
“I still feel like we are still fighting for recognition,” Winfield said. “We also know that we are still young. And we want to continue to get better and better. Like [Carlton Davis] said before, we want to be feared.
“That’s our goal this year: To be feared every time we step on the field. … We are the Gravediggers.”
That may have started in February by Winfield himself.
It will go down as one of the greatest sports moments in Tampa Bay history. In the final minutes of the Super Bowl, when yet another Mahomes pass targeting Cheetah Hill fell incomplete, Winfield flashed a peace sign in Hill’s face. It was payback for Hill doing the same to Winfield in the regular season before he back-flipped in the end zone in a Chiefs win.
Winfield said Bucs fans “everywhere” flash him the deuce to honor the moment the last shovel of dirt was thrown in the Chiefs’ faces.
Had a little fun with this as @AntoineWJr11 talks about life after the ✌️. #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/HwiHWDssYi
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) August 6, 2021
August 6th, 2021 at 12:38 am
LOL Winfield is a gem. Howard really likes this guy.
Howard wants a Gravediggers t-shirt
August 6th, 2021 at 1:25 am
Best part of the super bowl!!! I could watch him do that over and Uber again!!
August 6th, 2021 at 2:43 am
It shouldn’t have even been a penalty. You got Wide outs constantly throwing the bye sign you can’t catch me. Back flipping and Taunting. I guess the NFL only allows offensive players to celebrate. Stupid stupid hypocrisy.
August 6th, 2021 at 6:16 am
He needs to market the two finger sign
August 6th, 2021 at 6:23 am
I love the mentality this defense has adopted. It is a far cry from that garbage we saw prior to Bowles.
Those that were around for our first SB will recall that teams did not like playing against our defense. We had thumping safeties, a nasty DL, awesome LBs, and corners that would come up and hit you in the mouth.
That’s the way a defense should play.
August 6th, 2021 at 6:56 am
Love this kid
The relationship with his dad who played in the nfl forever is pretty cool
His dad got to live a super bowl dream thru his son
August 6th, 2021 at 7:06 am
Love it. I’d rank that up there with joes jurivuisis and ronde barbers pick of shutting the vet down.
August 6th, 2021 at 7:28 am
When they build the statue for this Super Bowl at one buc this needs to be apart of it. One of the best moments of the Super Bowl.
August 6th, 2021 at 7:32 am
Winfield was a top 5 safety in his rookie year, just like Tristan Wirfs was a top 5 tackle in his rookie year.
Yep, Licht hit two home runs last year. I get the feeling he has done the same with Joe Tryon.
August 6th, 2021 at 7:46 am
They will be feared when they hit like John Lynch and not wreck themselves. Can they? Will they? Hopefully so.
August 6th, 2021 at 8:43 am
He is. And has.
August 6th, 2021 at 8:45 am
Sadly, hitting like John Lynch in Roger Goodell’s league will get you banned. No longer 2002.
Jordan Whitehead lays the wood.
August 6th, 2021 at 10:00 am
folks sleeping on Dean…
GO BUCS!!!!
August 6th, 2021 at 10:09 am
Will Hill ever do that sign again? It should remind fans of the Bucs not him. That was so cool, it made me remember Reggie Miller choke sign to the Knicks.
August 6th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Dyno-White … Will Hill ever do that sign again?
That’s such a good question. He’s an arrogant guy but he has to be haunted by AWJ.
August 6th, 2021 at 5:12 pm
I think it was really the one finger sign doubled up. He sure ain’t Winnie The Pooh. Winfield is the real deal. Wish he was taller tho. Heard him being interviewed. The kid is very articulate.
August 6th, 2021 at 5:50 pm
John Lynch was the prototype safety. Played some tennis with him at Cheval. He was built like a linebacker. Big for a defensive back but fast and smart. Great guy and humble in person.
August 6th, 2021 at 7:02 pm
LOL. The “Nosepickers” haven’t proven anything yet.
The didn’t have one for the ages against Mahomes in the Super Bowl!
Devin White did. Lavonte David did (on Kelce). JPP, Shaq, Vea and that D-Line did.
How many superman flying side throws and running-for-his-life off balance throws did Mahomes get off that still hit his players IN THE HELMET and they dropped them?
The Nosepickers had terrible coverage up the left side when Mahomes on the run threw that pass that hit Tyreek in the facemask and bounced off. He should have caught that. It had nothing to do with coverage and pass defense.
Same thing happened when Mahomes made that miracle pass while diving sideways and it hits his WR in the face masks and gets dropped.
David was the one that played “one for the ages” in coverage against the Kelce and the Chiefs. White did a lot as well in dropping to help cover.
The Nosepickers, Davis specifically, got DESTROYED on a 48-yard pass in the NFC Championship where he fell down and gets beat one on one. Elite or “improving” players don’t get beat on 50-yard plays after falling down in man to man coverage.
How did the Nosepickers do against Washington in the playoffs again an XFL QB? They gave up over 300+ passing yards and got SMOKED. Again and again. They kept an anemic WFT Offense in that game until late giving them a chance to still win.
These guys are nowhere near as good as people are saying they are. It’s all HYPE.