Todd Bowles Lauds Emeka Egbuka’s Ability To Adjust
September 2nd, 2025
Professional.
Years ago Joe had an NFL general manager (since retired from the NFL) tell Joe about Florida teams drafting players from the West Coast.
Joe was told by this suit that the climate adjustment from the very low humidity west of the Rockies to Florida is massive. And some players never adjust.
As a result, this former suit suggested Florida teams have to be very careful about drafting West Coast players. The Florida sun is a very different beast than even 110-degree summers in the desert.
Apparently, Bucs rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka was able to adapt, adjust and overcome. Yesterday Bucs coach Todd Bowles raved about Egbuka’s professionalism and how he grew accustomed to the Florida heat from his Pacific Northwest home.
“I think he’s come in in great shape,” Bowles said of Egbuka. “To come from Ohio to this weather down in Florida and adjust and not miss a day and be mentally sharp and physically sharp at the same time and not having to look like he had to adjust to the heat, I think that’s been outstanding.
“That takes a lot of preparation, which means he really worked hard this offseason to come into camp ready. That was very impressive.”
Well, Joe gets what Bowles was trying to say. Ohio does get hot and humid in the summer. Joe’s not sure how much if any time Egbuka spent in Columbus this offseason.
Tacoma, Egbuka’s hometown, rarely gets hot and humid. In fact, roughly less than 70 percent of homes in the Tacoma area have air conditioning.
Is there a house in the Tampa Bay area that doesn’t have air conditioning?
So yeah, that was a helluva adjustment by Egbuka.
September 2nd, 2025 at 9:52 am
He played in Ohio. Trained in Ohio. He knows humidity and heat in the Summer. I guess if a player NEVER played or trained an extended stint in a place with humidity and temps over 75 it might be a thing. But Ohio? Yeah, temps can moderate for a few days and humidity isn’t the same as living next to a Bay, but go.for a jog on a muggy Ohio afternoon in Cleveland or Dayton or Cinci….you get tough there if you train. But it does relent sooner in the season and more often with passing fronts, and you can avoid the worst of it by being done with training before 0900. I sorta think weather is a nothing burger with regard to most players.
September 2nd, 2025 at 9:52 am
Let’s pump the breaks on this guy, shall we? He has yet to play an NFL down that actually means something
September 2nd, 2025 at 9:53 am
I really wish everyone would stop hyping this kid up and just let him play. They’re going to need him and the added pressure at this point seems ridiculous.
September 2nd, 2025 at 9:58 am
I’m looking forward to seeing Emeka Egbuka on the field. He has to know that if he does well enough, Chris Godwin won’t be getting his starting role back unless Mike Evans is injured.
Off topic, but I will never understand why the NFL schedules our first two games anywhere near the East Coast of the US or in Tampa. We are almost always under the threat of a hurricane those first two weeks.
In this case, Gabrielle will be a hurricane by then, and heading directly toward the lower east coast…putting either Tampa or Atlanta in its path.
September 2nd, 2025 at 10:43 am
Bonzai
Just get a fool with a sharpie to change it’s course.
September 2nd, 2025 at 12:12 pm
Gabrielle may not even hit land. It’s still near the Cape Verde islands. They’re quite a few teams on the east coast and they have to eventually play home games. We start off with two games on the road, that’s about as good as you can do it. We can’t have four road games in a row. I think you’re oversimplifying what can be done with the entire scheduling process in the NFL.
Plus, if we don’t have some home games in September, we can’t take advantage of our heat & humidity to beat down the other team for us (LOL I think weather/temperature gets overplayed a bit).
September 2nd, 2025 at 12:20 pm
Having trained in this heat is definitely a factor. Hell playing in this heat is a factor especially for visiting teams, that’s why there are IV’s getting done during the game and halftime. I can remember standing there with the heat radiating inside that helmet with hands on knee’s, no breeze, you just have to “embrace the suck” and make it mental about pushing through and I mean by taking a deep breath and then concentrating and focusing. This heat and humidity is brutal.
September 2nd, 2025 at 1:15 pm
David Says:
September 2nd, 2025 at 9:53 am
I really wish everyone would stop hyping this kid up and just let him play. They’re going to need him and the added pressure at this point seems ridiculous
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Every once in awhile somebody says something wise on this website. You just did. Thanks.
September 2nd, 2025 at 3:37 pm
Buccaneer Bonzai Says:
September 2nd, 2025 at 9:58 am
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In this case, Gabrielle will be a hurricane by then, and heading directly toward the lower east coast…putting either Tampa or Atlanta in its path.
That’s a guess at this point. We are now crippled by cuts to NOAA, NHS, but the Bucs are covered. They’re the better team but this will be a good game.
September 2nd, 2025 at 4:41 pm
I remember Godwin’s rookie year, he had a lot of issues with the heat. With that said, this was one of the cooler summers I can remember, with a lot of cloudy days that kept the temps down. I don’t care what that scam BS fake news all-time high record nonsense said, my electric bill even shows AC use down a decent amount from last year.
In any case, for small guys, I don’t think the weather is as big of an adjustment. The big guys, however, it’s a lot more difficult – but so long as they’re in shape, they can get used to it over a summer of being in camp.
September 2nd, 2025 at 4:44 pm
orlbucfan Says:
We are now crippled by cuts to NOAA, NHS
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LOL!
Yeah, the NHS telling everyone to evacuate when all the models have the storm turning – going to really miss that.
Oh wait, they’re still in business, still pushing the fake new nonsense, not crippled at all. But keep repeating that nonsense, dummy.
Meanwhile, just go pull up the Euro models and you can see what the NHC is going to say 6 hours. Or just turn on any local TV station where they all go by the same info the NHC goes buy, yet the local TV guys get the forecast right a lot more of the time.
September 2nd, 2025 at 5:14 pm
The West Coast being humidity free is no longer true…
At least not here in SoCal. As of about 3 summers ago, humidity now gets up to 80 and sometimes even 90% in the Summer. That was never the case for the first 15 years I lived here, and people I know who have been here for many years longer all say the same thing. It also never rained here in the Summer until recently. Obviously not as hot / humid as the East Coast in the summer, but it’s much closer now than it used to be.
And the cuts to NOAA are real. LOL @ claiming otherwise. Gotta pay for all that tacky gold sh!t in the Oval Office, ya know? #Priorities
September 2nd, 2025 at 7:03 pm
Cutting back on everything scientific just puts this nation further and further back into the Dark Ages.
The weather can be a factor in the games but the NFL seems to purposefully minimize how much assistance we can get from it.
We really should have a dome.