Joe loves fan passion.

Some Bucs fans are actually riveted by the process of hiring radio talent on a team broadcast.

Joe is not in that camp. Boring! If you get hired, it means somebody important likes you. If you don’t get hired, it means somebody didn’t like you enough. Simple as that.

However, Joe loves Bucs drama, so Joe wrote all about how 20-year Buccaneers Radio Network sideline guy TJ Rives was somewhat irritated by the Bucs not hiring him to replace legendary radio play-by-play man Gene Deckerhoff, after the iconic Buccaneers voice and ambassador retired after last season.

(Side note: Shame on Team Glazer for not already announcing Deckerhoff as a Buccaneers Ring of Honor inductee. The man is 81 years old, and he’s deserving. For what could Bucs owners possibly be waiting? Joe sure hopes Deckerhoff lives a healthy full year and is here to enjoy an induction in 2027, or if Team Glazer sees the light and puts him in this year.)

Rives had a lot to say after he stepped down following the hire of Tony Castricone to replace Deckerhoff. But there were no formal announcements or public comments on Rives by a Buccaneers official — until this week.

Speaking on the Salty Dogs podcast, Buccaneers vice president of broadcast operations Jeff Ryan addressed the team hiring Castricone — and not Rives — to call games.

Ryan painted a picture of Rives and Castricone being finalists in a somewhat close race. Rives not keeping his job as radio sideline reporter was Rives’ call, Ryan emphasized.

“TJ decided to leave on his own. That was not us,” Ryan said. “We — a little inside stuff — when I broke the news to TJ, it was, ‘I want you to know that we as an organization, the ownership group wants you back’ — and he elected to move on. And that was his prerogative. And it’s one of those things and I think, you know, there’s always gonna be a disagreement, a who’s what and where. That’s just the nature of the beast. It’s kinda like a [NFL] player. You know, they’ve been there a while, it’s all of this stuff.

“But at this stage of TJ’s career, he really wanted to pursue even more play-by-play stuff. And he felt that was best for him to do. And we wish him the best of luck. On our part, there’s no ill feelings.”

Ryan went on to say Rives was “totally” involved in the selection process for the radio play-by-play job. The Bucs, per Ryan, were simply looking for best person for the gig.

“When a role comes up, you have to just open it up. What else is out there? You know, what’s behind door No. 2. We ended up with Tom Brady because the organization decided to look behind door No. 2,” Ryan said.

“So that was the premise. It was auditions. It wasn’t a willy-nilly thing; it wasn’t a haphazard decision. It took from February until the end of June to finally come to the conclusion we came with. There was a lot of thought. There’s a lot of stuff into it. And I can see how you might think that it was disrespectful to TJ, but he was in the loop all the way across the board.”

“In all fairness to everybody, it’s a sound, you know, you decide a sound. That’s what you’re looking for because it is radio,” Ryan said.

“… That’s what it is when you’re on the air or when you’re out in public; there are gonna be people who aren’t gonna be fans of yours or [are] fans of yours. And so we move on. It’s a new beginning. And listen, whoever was gonna replace Gene has a hard road ahead. It takes time. And that’s all. And that’s what happens. It just takes time … But I just wanna make it clear, the decision not to be here was TJ’s. And TJ was very professional throughout it.”

Joe hopes this saga is now put to bed. Rives didn’t get the job he thought he deserved and quit. That happens in many industries across the Tampa Bay area every day.

When it comes to Bucs football, however, everything gets magnified. And that’s a beautiful thing.

Kudos to Rives for having a following that cares. Joe has watched longtime Bucs writers and analysts disappear over the years and nobody seems to care.