Lavonte David Remembers Teammates That Stopped Caring
August 11th, 2025
Tough times for Lavonte David.
One of the mindblowing lines delivered during the dark side of Bucs history came in January of 2019.
Then-Bucs cornerback Brent Grimes had just finished his three year Tampa Bay tenure. Grimes explained that the Bucs having the audacity to request he cover then-Steelers receiver Antonio Brown 1-on-1 four months prior trashed his vibe for the entire 2018 season.
In Grimes’ mind, the Bucs didn’t paying him enough to shadow Brown all over a field.
Enter Lavonte David, the ultimate team player. David is filled with gratitude, in part because he no longer has to play with teammates sharing Grimes’ selfish vibe.
David talked about this phenomenon during his recent visit to Green Light with Chris Long.
Nowadays, the Bucs have an overhauled culture, David said, unlike the one that greatly challenged David during the seven years of Schiano-Lovie-Koetter nightmares.
David told Long that checked out teammates of those eras were difficult to deal with — for a player who cares.
“Every year your mindset, you feel like you can win it. But it wasn’t so good, by Week 10, you know you’re not going to make it to the playoffs. Now you got to figure out, ‘How can I keep pushing? How can I keep guys motivated to let them know they can still play relatively good football? … And that’s kind of the tough part for me,” David remembered.
“You know, by Week 10, people saying they’re packing up their house already to go back home. And people saying like they’re not going to play as hard just to try not to get hurt, and stuff like that. That’s kind of tough to deal with. I mean, we did have some guys who really did compete and had love for the game. But then you had a few here and there that kind of like knew the business part of it, like, ‘Oh, this is over so I’m going to try to protect myself to make sure I’m healthy for the next season, or to get another contract.’
“Those were tough things I kind of had to like get over.”
David added that he was confident the Bucs’ organization sensed those problems and negativity within the team.
David reflected on committed teammates from his Bucs past that he wishes could have shared in Tampa Bay’s success of the past five years. He said there were several but he singled out Gerald McCoy, Alterraun Verner, Kwon Alexander and E.J. Biggers.
August 11th, 2025 at 12:25 pm
wow…ej biggers…havent heard that name i n a while lol….cant believe he was a starting CB for the bucs lol….
but i dont think anyone comes close to eric wright lol
GO BUCS!!!!!
August 11th, 2025 at 12:57 pm
Wright did have that epic pick-6 versus the Giants. Too bad it ended in a loss.
I forgot about Grimes. He was good but not great. Why sign the contract then say what you don’t get paid to do? Smh…
August 11th, 2025 at 1:00 pm
Grimes was a puppet, and his wife his puppeteer…..
I hated the guy!!!!
August 11th, 2025 at 1:01 pm
813. MJ Stewart is still on the Texans roster lol
August 11th, 2025 at 1:02 pm
Stuff like this is far more likely to happen when you bring in a bunch of mercenaries to your football team instead of drafting players who are far more likely to have some loyalty to the organization.
August 11th, 2025 at 1:06 pm
dewey
thats insane lol
he must have some naughty photos of roger lol
GO BUCS!!!!
August 11th, 2025 at 1:13 pm
Ill always remember kwons game against ATL after his brother died. kwon was electric.
August 11th, 2025 at 1:22 pm
BRENT and MIKO GRIMES!!!
Y’all remember his wife, right? She got arrested for assaulting a cop. She blasted offensive social posts about her husbands employers. You’re telling me, Brent was a malcontent? Hard to believe.
Brent, Winston, AB … are why Licht looks hard at a players character before the draft.
August 11th, 2025 at 1:28 pm
For some reasons the Bucs were glued to those players
They held onto Myron Lewis like he was a Deion clone
But l admired EJ Biggers, he was a tough cookie
Especially for a 7th round draft pick
He was close to Lavonte, both from Miami
August 11th, 2025 at 1:50 pm
Best story I’ve read all summer from Joe. Good Job Joe!
August 11th, 2025 at 2:12 pm
Baker Mayfields first year, you had to blind to miss that our two starting CBs were playing soft, to stay safe- not to win.
Apparently they believed the preseason Press that we would finish last that year.
We were able to ditch one of the CBs to Detroit.
We should be able to dump the other one before next season.
I posted that the two of them were lying down. Many on JoeBuc said that NFL players don’t quit on their team.
Yeah they do.
August 11th, 2025 at 2:28 pm
There are several players I wish could have experienced this culture.
– Micheal Spurlock (just because)
– Gerald McCoy
– Kendell Beckwith
– Ali Marpet
August 11th, 2025 at 2:40 pm
That car accident with Beckwith was a shame, never know what could have been
August 11th, 2025 at 2:54 pm
In fairness the Bucs negotiated Grimes contract pretty low that year based on him not being in that role. Then they asked him to do what they refused to pay him for. Got to blame GM partially for that one.
Not a single one of us would agree to be paid for x and not yz. Only to have a customer then demand y and z when they knowingly chose to only pay for x
Actually, many people work on jobs and give their all in roles that were not in their job description. That doesn’t mean it was fair or they felt good about it, but they give their all for their team, overall pride in their craft … and until they find another job. Or they do it happily to impress management. Happens every single day. –Joe
August 11th, 2025 at 3:54 pm
off subject: where is the best place in pinellas to get bucs gear? thanks
August 11th, 2025 at 4:04 pm
McCoy, Alexander, Verner… not sure if there were many that were deserving because, quite honestly, those players are part of the culture that is their responsibility to try to help turn it around.
Grimes thinking he didn’t get paid enough to cover AB?
That’s why he didn’t get paid. What a horrendous mindset.
ITZOK – he’s a professional athlete getting paid. That means you cover whoever the they tell you to, play special teams if you have to, etc. The mind set he had is why he’s long gone and almost forgotten about. Sorry, but to think that’s justified in anyway is crazy. Would not accept that with people who work for me and I sure hope no one in the NFL accepts it.
Feeling really grateful right now for Jason Licht. He started drafting differently, drafting better, and is a major reason this franchise has been turned around.
August 11th, 2025 at 4:05 pm
It’s funny when you’re an NFL player, and a decently good one, like Grimes was but the real thug in the family who has a record is his wife. LOL
August 11th, 2025 at 4:21 pm
“Actually, many people work on jobs and give their all in roles that were not in their job description. That doesn’t mean it was fair or they felt good about it, but they give their all for their team, overall pride in their craft … and until they find another job. Or they do it happily to impress management. Happens every single day. –Joe“
That’s spot on. If you signed the deal, play as coached. If you don’t like it, retire.
It is good to know that as long as Licht is in charge, the Bucs aren’t signing or drafting these kinds of people.
August 11th, 2025 at 4:28 pm
Im glad McCoy made the list of committed players.
I hate the amount of trash he endured here, it wasn’t his fault others checked out
Btw looks like the rays checked out a few weeks ago
August 11th, 2025 at 7:31 pm
Pffft… McCoy. You want to know the difference? Ponder what Sapp would say to a checked out player? Can you imagine?
August 11th, 2025 at 8:22 pm
There are some bona fide cretins blabbering amongst the fans on this website.
August 11th, 2025 at 8:31 pm
Grimes definitely wasn’t wearing the pants in his house. His last year as a Buc was painful.
August 11th, 2025 at 11:50 pm
Instant nightmare hearing the name EJ Biggers… dude was just so goddamn awful. TERRIBLE.
But good to hear he was one of the guys at least playing hard til the end. I can respect that.
August 11th, 2025 at 11:53 pm
Vjax would’ve been awesome to see!
August 12th, 2025 at 11:14 am
I’ve been a Buc Fan since 77 & it’s nice to have a culture like the current TEAM has. TAMPA BAY BUCS are a CLASS ACT now from top to bottom & players want to be BUCS.
August 12th, 2025 at 11:15 am
I’ve been a Buc Fan since 77 & it’s nice to have a culture like the current TEAM has. TAMPA BAY BUCS are a CLASS ACT now from top to bottom & players want to be BUCS. You have e to Build a.champinoship TEAM not buy it
August 12th, 2025 at 12:47 pm
I still think today’s team would benefit from a good Defensive Coordinator that is not the head coach.