When Jameis Winston And Gerald McCoy Nearly Threw Down
April 3rd, 2026
He’s got stories.
Joe is enjoying the new Lavonte David, even though he’s no longer with the Bucs.
David retired from football last week. After a day or two of rest, he’s been on a media tour. He stopped in Nashville to sit down with his old Nebraska teammate and co-host of “Bussin’ with the Boys” Will Compton and co-host Taylor Lewan.
Then David hit up the City of Angels. There, he had a studio appearance on NFL Network and visited Rich Eisen, also in studio.
David had never been overly comfortable doing interviews. He didn’t hate the coverage; he wasn’t hostile, but just wasn’t comfortable. David has never been a guy to seek the klieglights of network TV cameras.
But over the years, David has changed. Now no longer shackled by the NFL, David has been loose, telling quality stories from behind the scenes.
Joe could listen to David tell Antonio Brown stories all day. Yesterday with Eisen, David dropped a quality story of how America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, and Bucs All-Pro defensive tackle Gerald McCoy nearly threw down.
David explained it was a classic, brutally hot August Bucs training camp practice. Practice ended but GMC thought they should keep practicing. Apparently, things weren’t right and GMC believed they needed more practice.
Jameis then told GMC in so many words that, of course, he didn’t mind more practice because the defensive linemen don’t do anything in practice as it is.
GMC did not like that and began hollering at Jameis. David said GMC was hot as a firecracker in July and teammates had to get between GMC and Jameis.
David also said he thought Jameis was just having fun, running smack. But GMC sure never took it that way. David said that was the first time he ever saw GMC so mad that he wanted to square up on someone.
Joe could listen to these stories all night. LOL
@thericheisenshow Lavonte David remembers his favorite moments of being a teammate of @Jameis Winston in Tampa Bay… which OBVIOUSLY includes the infamous “Eat the W” speech 🤣 #nfl #jameiswinston #buccaneers ♬ original sound – RichEisenShow
April 3rd, 2026 at 12:57 am
These are awesome posts – thanks Joe!
My favorite player fight story ever is from basketball, when Scott Skiles had enough of Shaq being lazy or something in practice and charged Shaq, throwing a punch at him. At the time the story was Skiles jumped on his back and punched Shaq in the head before being thrown off – but now a more sanitized version that says Skiles charged Shaq and threw a punch at him, and Shaq dodged it Matrix style and then put Skiles in a headlock. I find it hard to believe that even young Shaq would have been able to dodge a punch – and had he put Skiles in a headlock, I’m pretty sure he’d have busted his head open like a pimple. I prefer to believe the original 1990s version of events.
Anywho, that story made me a lifelong fan of Skiles, and for many years in NBA video games I’d always give my created players a receding hairline hairdo to show my appreciation for him.
April 3rd, 2026 at 1:02 am
Gerald McCoy wouldn’t want to break a nail..
April 3rd, 2026 at 1:17 am
Loving his stories as well
April 3rd, 2026 at 1:33 am
So Jameis called GMC and his D-Line crew a bunch of softies? LOL, that is a good story, it is too bad that Gerald never shown that emotion when he was in an actual game. Dude was the polar opposite of Ndamukong Suh and JPP and with the possible recent additions from Carolina and Detroit on the D, I would venture that the D certainly has no glass eaters, guys who would not tolerate loafing or quitting on the team like what allegedly happened after the bye last season.
April 3rd, 2026 at 2:11 am
Most people I don’t necessarily believe. Lavonte David is not a liar. Period.
April 3rd, 2026 at 2:35 am
It would’ve been fun to hear what Evans had to say personally to The Big Huge Guy With Two Jobs He Sucks At after the TNF Atlanta collapse. Too bad that didn’t include a throwdown. Mike must have wanted to. Somebody should have done it.
April 3rd, 2026 at 2:42 am
I just watched the interview for a 2nd time and NO WHERE does Lavonte mention Jameis & Gerald even came close to throwing punches. Not sure what hat you are pulling that info from Joe.
April 3rd, 2026 at 2:43 am
The full interview is on Rich Eisen’s Youtube Page.
April 3rd, 2026 at 5:26 am
I’m sure Americans turnover machine was not too worried about mcsofty. He could have just started talking about batman , wonder woman , tellatubbies & then they both could have sat down Indian style & played patty cake while eating W’s and drinking chocolate milk until Winston had to pee the roaches off his porch
April 3rd, 2026 at 6:13 am
You think Jameis would have ever had the conversation with Suh? Lmao.
April 3rd, 2026 at 6:30 am
You guys missed the point that Gerald wanted to practice MORE not less! It doesn’t fit the McSoftie narrative so don’t focus on it I guess. Gerald had what,…6 Prow Bowl nominations? You guys are sloooooooow.
April 3rd, 2026 at 7:12 am
One of the things with Jaymiss is he is not the dude he thinks he is. Eating W’s for instance. The look on some of his teammates faces said it all. Gerald was not gonna let that one slide and TBH…I don’t blame him.
Go Bucs!
April 3rd, 2026 at 7:20 am
Good stuff. But, can we please drop the excuse for David’s retirement is to spend more time with his daughter. Has he even been home since retiring?
April 3rd, 2026 at 7:58 am
You didn’t hear Lavonte say teammates had to get between them?
April 3rd, 2026 at 7:59 am
Joe didn’t.
April 3rd, 2026 at 8:47 am
James Winston was a physically gifted talent but he lacked the emotional and mental talent to be a really good quarterback. He really needed to be mentored by someone who had the fortitude to push him. That’s on the coaches. It’s not just about the x’s and o’s. A great example of that was Tom Brady. That’s a missing 😕 element in Football.
April 3rd, 2026 at 9:09 am
There is no such thing as nearly throwing down thats some weakling stuff either you get down or you punk out
April 3rd, 2026 at 9:10 am
James will eat a W when he becomes a Senator from Alabama. Book it. In today’s world of politics, Jameis rambling incoherent speeches with humor mixed in could take him far.
April 3rd, 2026 at 9:15 am
Jamies was a lot of fun. It’s too bad he refused to embrace the mental discipline required for game management. These stories from David are gems.
April 3rd, 2026 at 1:15 pm
Talk about a charmin vs marshmallow. Sheeh.
April 3rd, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Winston tried to throw a punch, but someone intercepted it.
April 3rd, 2026 at 8:58 pm
Oh, Koetter pushed him alright. No doubt about that. So much so Bruce Arians said his initial diagnosis on Jameis was that he was gun shy. Then, after the only season he had him, he said Jameis was broken.