Graham Barton Is A Football Dude
May 12th, 2024
Football comes first.
Joe remembers graduating college, already working maybe three or four weeks before graduation. Joe had no intention of going to graduation but got roped into it by family members.
Joe is still irked by that.
But Joe didn’t graduate from a prestigious institute of higher learning like Duke. That’s one of the very best universities in the country.
Joe can only imagine how the family of a Duke graduate would be so proud to watch their son/daughter walk across the stage and grab that sheepskin. Bucs center (?) Graham Barton had to be stoked to know all of the work he put into his studies was about to pay off.
He will never know. There’s football to learn at Bucs rookie minicamp.
Barton noted yesterday at One Buc Palace that Duke graduation is today. Barton decided not to go.
Now Joe is confident that the Bucs would happily give Barton the opportunity to go to his college graduation. How many times in your life do you get a degree from Duke? But Barton proved to the world he’s a football dude first. His post-football life (possibly in politics) can wait.
“Football is my passion,” Barton said yesterday. “Graduation is overrated. First-world problems, you know?”
Football always comes first for football dudes.
May 12th, 2024 at 8:07 am
Graduation may be a show, but it is not meaningless. Your choice, young man.
May 12th, 2024 at 8:12 am
It’s true. The graduation ceremony is overrated. I have three and never attended a ceremony.
Football is way more fun than graduation.
Plus: NFL.
Barton may grind to an All Pro ceremony. THAT is worth attending…
May 12th, 2024 at 8:15 am
Gents and Gents, we have a dude on our Interior Offensive Line and these next 4-5 years are about to be a blast!! Go Bucs!
May 12th, 2024 at 8:28 am
It’s more than his play, too. Barton is already acting like a captain and those qualities pay big dividends thru preseason, and for everyone in the locker room. Love this guy’s attitude.
May 12th, 2024 at 8:30 am
I disagree, walking in graduation from college was one of the best days of my life! I earned that degree, and it was a hot day for sure. I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to walk in graduation from Duke….. no way!!
May 12th, 2024 at 8:35 am
This guy is going to lead our O line for the next ten years.
May 12th, 2024 at 8:39 am
I was bummed out when my son graduated from his university last year and didn’t want anything to do with walking the stage.. in my mind it was the grand finale to all the years of hard work and sacrifice he made and by extension, the family made. His world though and if a paper on the wall is all he needs then that’s that.
It’s a good look for our new Center(!) to stay on point and keep putting in the time and effort even when the expectations would allow for other activities. I remember Wirfs and his first year. Maybe my expectations are a wee bit high, but Barton may bring that level of dominance his first year as well.
May 12th, 2024 at 9:07 am
Wow A duke graduate? That Joe, is impressive! Especialy these days.
When I was his age I probably would have been the same.
Now however I feel like Education is a bit more important than I used to. Hope he does not regret not taking the time to go.
Go Bucs!
May 12th, 2024 at 9:10 am
He’s focused on the Gold Jacket ceremony.
May 12th, 2024 at 9:15 am
Thats some quality up to the minute Bucs news. Great job Joe.
Trying to keep expectations in check because – well – Barton’s a rookie….
But I watched Marpet play well his rookie year – and Wirfs was a stud from day 1 – so hopefully Barton can hit the ground running and the Bucs interior OLine play will be vastly improved in 2024. Mauch’s added strength and development should aid in that cause (move him to LG please!) – as does legit competition among 4 competent candidates for the final starting spot (RG?).
Better line play = better running game + more time for Baker = more points = more WINS!
LFG!!!!!
May 12th, 2024 at 9:38 am
Many students decide to not walk in their college graduation. I am on the fence about not walking and if it is something that he may regret not doing years from now. In the end, he has the degree from Duke and no one can take that away. It is great to see how excited he is about playing for the Bucs. He is definitely a good guy.
May 12th, 2024 at 10:22 am
Heyjude
” He is definitely a good guy.”
Indeed and my kind of football player. You don’t have to be a jackwagon like Sapp to be successful. That first SB was loaded with high character guys…Brooks, Lynch, and many more.
Merlin Olson was one of the best at his position and he was viewed as a gentle giant.
Barton seems to have it all, including a little nasty as he is known for playing to the whistle.
But I’ll defer to Pickgrin as I usually do because he’s real about the situation.
May 12th, 2024 at 10:23 am
My nephew graduated magna cum laude from Liberty a few days ago, and I saw untold thousands of very proud parents (including my brother) who I’m sure would have been heartbroken to miss watching their kids walk the stage
(I don’t mean to BRAG, but I graduated Hillsborough Community College, the Harvard of the South…didn’t walk the stage though, Mom and Dad were long passed)
May 12th, 2024 at 10:27 am
When you graduated college did they let you keep the chalk and slate?
May 12th, 2024 at 10:32 am
@stpetebucfan
Exactly that too – a little nasty as well as a gentle giant too.
May 12th, 2024 at 10:36 am
The paper on the wall is all he needs for his second career. He’s got that. It’s over and done. Right now he’s focused on his first career. A career that has the potential to give him name recognition in that second career. It appears to me that he has his priorities straight. He’s dedicated and excited. A ceremony is just a ceremony, unless it’s a HOF induction or a marriage.
I wanted a center drafted first, because the pick was so late in the first round. I was surprised that we got the best of the best. Obviously he loves the game. The Bucs will win more games because of the talent on this OL.
May 12th, 2024 at 11:05 am
There’s gonna be alot of decent players coming out of North Carolina overall coming up & they should look into them.
DAVIN VANN (North Carolina St) (underrated)
AYDEN WHITE (North Carolina St) (underrated)
ALIJAH HUZZIE (North Carolina) (underrated)
POWER ECHOLS (North Carolina) (underrated)
OMARION HAMPTON (North Carolina)
BRYSON NESBIT (North Carolina)
NATE MCCOLLUM (North Carolina) (underrated)
JASHEEN DAVIS (Wake Forest)
DONAVON GREENE (Wake Forest) (underrated)
JORDAN MOORE (Duke) (underrated)
JAQUEZ MOORE (Duke) (underrated)
May 12th, 2024 at 11:06 am
I graduated from a somewhat prestigious school and regret going to graduation because of the blowhard bleeding heart liberal who spent way too much time repeating herself!
May 12th, 2024 at 11:24 am
I walked in my graduation from USF. The only reason I did it was because I was naked under my cap and gown.
May 12th, 2024 at 11:35 am
Beeej – that HCC line was awesome! I too “graduated” from HCC – then finished at U Tampa – didn’t walk but would have had my parents requested.
May 12th, 2024 at 11:44 am
Lol 74, I was 35 in 1995 and about to move away. Would have lost all the credits of accumulated between there and USF since 1978. Had to take a speech and some sort of humanities at MacDill too make the new AA standards happy
May 12th, 2024 at 11:47 am
Odds are that Graham is the highest paid graduate from the 2024 class at this point in time, and maybe will be for many years to come. Smart of him IMO to maintain focus on what’s now his primary career.
Graduation day is probably more significant to momma & daddy & family than it is to most graduates themselves. Like I used to say about my daughter’s college graduation … ‘My daughter & my money went to Georgia Tech’. Paid off for her handsomely, but I can’t say that any of us now remember the details of that graduation day.
May 12th, 2024 at 11:48 am
Let’s see. Graduation, getting yelled at by protestors or practice, getting yelled at by coaches?
Good call, Barton.
May 12th, 2024 at 2:08 pm
I skipped graduation and my degree is as good as it would be had I gone to the ceremony.
May 12th, 2024 at 2:27 pm
Hard to believe this kid is only 21. Carries himself like a much more mature dude, just like Wirfs and Marpet did in their rookie years. We are so lucky that Dallas decided to trade down, because I think they would have taken him at 24 otherwise.
May 12th, 2024 at 3:00 pm
Guy is trying to start his new career off the right way and fans are mad he didn’t walk. Very low-IQ behavior
May 12th, 2024 at 4:05 pm
@Not. Nope. Big state university. I just didn’t care about the cap and gown stuff, because I was older than my classmates. I didn’t go back to school for pomp & circumstances, just to get even with where I needed to be in life.
Different strokes, different folks, the cap and gown stuff.
May 12th, 2024 at 5:09 pm
I understand the tests and studying at the University of Tampa can be quite grueling if you don’t spend at least one hour a week hitting the books.
May 12th, 2024 at 7:15 pm
It’s a good thing he didn’t attend the Duke graduation because some pro-Palestinean protestors walked out during Jerry Seinfeld’s commencement address and honorary degree presentation. Kinda spoiled things for all the others.
(I wonder if Seinfeld’s degree was about nothing… 😉 )
May 12th, 2024 at 9:15 pm
Touche Cobraboy!
May 12th, 2024 at 9:26 pm
Yeah Cobraboy. The Duke President’s intro was drowned out by competing chants of “Free Palestine” and “Jerry, Jerry!” but his commencement address went off without issue except for a hundred or so students walking out, a small minority. Seinfeld recently made a comment that the world is simply too PC, much like what Bill Maher said a few years back. My respect for Jerry has risen a lot.
May 13th, 2024 at 11:24 am
My graduation was split into 2 days since it was such a big class (UCF).
I was walking on the 2nd day, which started at about 8am, but we were still up until 6am drinking from the night before… that was a a long 3 hours lol.