Thong-friendly Warren Sapp

No. 99 never had a problem screwing with media types.

Joe recalls doing some work for a Milwaukee newspaper that was seeking a quote from Warren Sapp about playing against Brett Favre back in 2001 or 2002. [read more]

Gil Brandt is an iconic figure to many current NFL general managers and draft gurus. Brandt is a living, breathing dinosaur of scouting, having been the architect of the ancient Dallas Cowboys dynasty and leading the player-evaluation way in many areas into modern times.

Brandt remains busy with various duties for the NFL and media, including penning a column for NFL.com. [read more]

When Joe thinks physics, Kaley Cuoco springs to mind. But Bucs special teams coach Kevin O’Dea thinks kick and punt returns.

Joe isn’t about to try to talk physics. First, you actually think Joe took physics in college? Closest Joe got was getting a “B” in anatomy.

Besides, it’s beyond boring. And for some odd reason when Joe thinks physics, he thinks of Kaley Cuoco. But perhaps Joe should starting thinking football instead?

It seems Bucs special teams coach Kevin O’Dea believes getting touchdowns off of returns is as simple (?) as physics, types Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times. [read more]

Bucs icon and current linebackers coach Hardy Nickerson weighs in on shrinking Mason Foster. Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.

Joe’s detailed how Mason Foster is shrinking. He’s leaning out through diet and training.

Joe talked about this 1-0n-1 with Bucs icon and current linebackers coach Hardy Nickerson this week at One Buc Palace. [read more]

Glennon’s numbers out of the shotgun last year were, well, less than desirable.

Yesterday, Joe brought word from the Pro Football Focus nerds about Josh McCown and his impressive numbers while throwing out of a shotgun formation, a possible clue to what Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford’s offense may look like.

Though the story had nothing to do with backup quarterback Mike Glennon, the Mike Glennon Mob — you know who you are — seemed irked because Joe didn’t write anything about Glennon. [read more]

Joe’s been intently watching the NFL Network series: Top-100 Players of 2014, as voted by NFL players, and Joe’s getting a little nervous.

Players 51 through 60 were rolled out last night, and some of the games greatest linebackers were named in that group: [read more]

The more hobbled Carl Nicks wears a floppy hat — and not a helmet –adds to the doubt he will ever suit up again.

Each team that turns fortunes around always has a key player in that mix. A rock. A core element to that foundation.

Many Bucs fans point to Hardy Nickerson, the current Bucs linebackers coach, who was a veteran on a young Bucs team that turned the corner from woeful to an eventual Super Bowl champion.

Such a guy isn’t always a skill position player or a guy that racks up sacks like Joe does empty beer bottles on a steamy Florida summer afternoon. [read more]

What’s a Wednesday night without Joe talking all things Bucs with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620?

Never fear, Joe dove into various things that came out of yesterday’s OTA practice at One Buc Palace. [read more]

Josh McCown was solid throwing out of a shotgun formation last season in Chicago.

OK, so yesterday, Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford was asked directly what comments about “up-tempo” offense from players meant. Tedford said, in so many words, think two-minute offense.

OK, fair point. Now often, a two-minute offense involves a quarterback throwing out of a shotgun formation. It’s not an absolute, but it often is. [read more]

Frazier is coaching his coaches with his unique style

Bucs defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is a quiet man of measured words, and it’s not because he’s still in shock by what Josh Freeman did on Monday Night Football for his Vikings last season.

Frazier lives in that Lovie Smith, Father Dungy mold, a teacher who makes his teachings count. [read more]

The Bucs’ rookie running back will get his shot

Yes, offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford was in on scouting rookie running back Charles Sims, so Tedford told Joe yesterday.

And now that Tedford has focused his microscope even further, he’s extremely impressed. [read more]

Bucs OC Jeff Tedford waved off any notion his mysterious offense will reinvent the NFL.

Of course, when something is shrouded in mystery, its reputation tends to get blown out of proportion. Take Jeff Tedford’s offense.

The offense is akin to Enigma, like some secret code that will save Bucs football. Since Tedford had been hired, he has been kept in a virtual closet, only out to speak with reporters yesterday, the first time in months.

Players have painfully tight-lipped about the offense, only giving generalities with their body language sensing the NKVD lurking just behind their shoulders. In some ways, when it comes to Tedford’s offense, it’s as if One Buc Palace has become Area 51. [read more]

D.J. Moore appears to be the front-runner at nickelback.

Of course it is early. Despite Joe watching baseball at night, he can feel it in the air. The heat of the Florida day, the brutal sunshine. Yes, it all means summer.

And summer means training camp is the light at the end of the tunnel. It starts next month and, before you know it, the kickoff of the regular season will be here. [read more]

The Carl Nicks mess hit a new level of doom and gloom yesterday.

Yes, Nicks was absent again from the voluntary workouts his healthy and injured teammates all seem to enjoy. [read more]

Leslie Frazier was all smiles Tuesday talking about the Bucs’ cornerbacks.

It wasn’t long ago that the play of Bucs cornerbacks brought about several emotions from Bucs fans — and none were good.

From throwing beer bottles at TVs and punching windshields, to being tossed out of bars, to dogs running away in panic and cats cowering under couches from fear of being drop-kicked, to fans vomiting on the seats in front of them, it was no less than appalling what the Bucs trotted out on the field masquerading as a pass defense. [read more]

Buccaneers defensive line coach Joe Cullen looks and sounds like a football coach. The Rod Marinelli disciple is an excitable guy but was mellow talking with his unique voice to media today at One Buc Palace.

Cullen went into the Bucs’ “friendly system up front,” when it comes to what his men will be asked to do. [read more]

Derrick Brooks’ induction into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor should have been enough to get you excited to attend Game 2 of the Buccaneers’ 2014 season. But now there’s a new incentive, a Brooks bobblehead doll for every fan in the house.

WDAE-AM 620 broke the news with reaction from Brooks this evening. [read more]

Joe was sweating and buzzing around Bucs practice today and is in a sharing mood, as usual.

Here are plenty of sights, sounds and happenings from One Buc Palace. The Bucs’ mandatory, three-day minicamp starts next Tuesday. [read more]

Yes, the Bucs may keep a fullback. And his name may be Jorvorskie Lane.

Joe has seen various people come out with their guesses on who the Bucs will keep for the 53-man roster. At this point, in early June, it’s just an educated guess who will be practicing for any NFL team in three months.

Every guesstimate of the Bucs roster Joe has read does not contain a fullback. The Bucs are stocked with running backs but fullbacks? No. [read more]