The ol’ ball coach once challenged local media and said, “I dare you” to write something bad about blocking icon Michael Clayton.

The comment was funny and sad at the time (very un-Schiano-like) and, of course, the blocking icon went on to dig his own grave, aided by hands of stone and deposit slips. 

Recently, the blocking icon provided an intriguing peek into Bucs history during an interview with Joe’s friends over at OffTheRecordSports.com.  Clayton essentially wrote something bad about himself, admitting to having a shoddy work ethic during some of his time with the Bucs.

After that, people said I fell into coach Gruden’s dog house. You know, I’ve never had any issues or problems. I’ve always played hard and had a great relationship with my coaches and been respectful. But, you go through that ordeal and I didn’t know what that was all about. And then it was just the NFL was looking for somebody to blame. I got a lot of praise behind closed doors, but I got a lot of blame in the media. But, overall we just weren’t that good, weren’t winning many games. Had a lot of injuries. Had a lot of different quarterbacks I played with. I played with almost nine quarterback’s in my six-year tenure with the Bucs. There was a different quarterback…sometimes I had two or three quarterbacks in a year. As a receiver, that’s never a situation that’s going to give you those big numbers that you want. A lot of great receivers have suffered personal goals because of that. So that’s really what happened.

But for me mentally, after going through that for a few years being young, not fully devoting myself was another part of it. I felt that they weren’t committed to me and I lost that mental battle of not being totally committed to my job. It was a situation that I had to go through and had to mature from. Learn how to be the better man. Played special teams to redeem myself from the hole that I had for myself. I eventually got my job back by humbling myself and working my way back to the top by playing special teams. A lot of things happened and I learned a lot. It put me in position to play for the New York Giants for two years and win a Super Bowl. Because I was mentally prepared to be a true professional and lead older and younger guys. I was thankful for my tenure with the Bucs.

Now it’s unclear when Clayton wasn’t “totally committed” during his Bucs tenure. But regardless, that comment makes one of rockstar general manager Mark Dominik’s biggest signing blunders look even worse. Though it’s interesting to note that Clayton went on to earn the respect of Tom Coughlin and earn a Super Bowl ring.

You can click through above to read more.

Joe’s so glad Dominik finally relieved Bucs fans from the dark days of having to watch the blocking icon disappoint repeatedly.

Helmet-wielding, cabbie-slugging, Adderrall-popping, coach-cussing, referee-charging, pistol-friendly, granny-hassling Aqib Talib appeared at his first Patriots practice today, and Bill Belicheat praised Talib for three days of hard work since his suspension ended Monday.

Joe’s intrigued by the marriage of Talib and his new head coach, a couple of cheaters united. Also, it’s been amazing seeing the reaction out of Boston, where Talib is being viewed as a savior of the Pats defense in many circles.

Belicheat was asked today about why he’s sure Talib won’t have off-the-field trouble. Belicheat responded saying the Pats only sign players they’re confident in. Good luck with that, Bill.

Bucs starting left guard Jeremy Zuttah was held out of practice today as the wear and tear of playing guard was catching up with him, said Bucs coach Greg Schiano.

Yes it looked very bad this afternoon when Joe saw right guard Jamon Meredith hobble noticeably when he was quickly whisked out of the Bucs locker room before any of the Tampa Bay pen and mic club could have a few words with him.

Meredith apparently suffered a nasty left foot injury of some sort and has his foot wrapped and was on crutches. His locker is right next to the entrance to the locker room and Meredith was helped out of the locker room, limping considerably, just as the open locker room session began.

Meredith’s injury — its severity is not yet public but Joe can say there is no way he could have stepped on a football field today and played — isn’t the lone bump or bruise the Bucs are concerned about on an offensive line already wracked by injuries.

Bucs left guard Jeremy Zuttah was held out of practice today with a sore shoulder. Bucs coach Greg Schiano tried to downplay it saying that Zuttah had just gone through two “physical” games at left guard since replacing Carl Nicks and Schiano wanted to make sure Zuttah was healthy enough to start Sunday at Carolina.

“What kept him out was the game [last Sunday], he got bumped a lot,” Schiano said. “His shoulder, we just want to make sure he is OK to go. he had a great game Sunday. He’s had two physical games at that position we just want to make sure he is ready to go Sunday. hopefully he is ready to go tomorrow.”

Schiano went on to laud Zuttah for being such a team player in a league full of me-first players.

“First thing is, the thing we really talk about here is to be an unselfish teammate and I think that is what Jeremy has done,” Schiano said. “He finally had a chance to be the center and was moving along and all of a sudden , the best thing for the team was to move back to guard. Trust me, I’ve know the kid a long time. He did not want to do that but he did it for the team and has really played well.

“I know flying back [from Oakland], that was a physical game. and this week he plays another physical game. I have to make sure we have him for Sundays. We don’t have many more moves left.”

Mind you Schiano stated this knowing about Meredith’s injury.

It didn’t sound dire about Zuttah, based on what Schiano said. But, in the worst-case scenario, if both Zuttah and Meredith can’t go, that means the Bucs have lost four of five starting offensive linemen, with Donald Penn being the lone starter still standing (though Jeremy Trueblood is still a backup).

If Bucs offensive line coach Bob Bostad can pull through that mess, then the man truly deserves a raise.

Though there’s no word about how severe this is, it sure looked ugly to Joe.

Just as the Tampa Bay pen and mic club was let into the Bucs locker room today, Jamon Meredith was hustled out of the Bucs locker room by Bucs staff. He had his left foot taped up and was on crutches, hobbling noticeably.

In simple terms, there’s no way he could have stepped on a football field this afternoon in the shape he was in.

Per a trusted Bucs source, it is not known how severe Meredith’s injury is or his availability for the Panthers game.

Of course, Meredith was part of the chorus of backups the Bucs have started at offensive line due to the injuries to Carl Nicks, Davin Joseph and the benching of Jeremy Trueblood.

“Coach gives a pretty strong message. I think more than anything that resonates with guys. I mean there’s, you know, there’s obviously a bunch of different ways you can do this deal, but his way is very clear. He’s very concise about what he wants done. It’s not that he’s immovable on things, because he’s actually been pretty good to us as a team. But his word is really kind of his trademark. You know, he tells you something and he’s going to do it. And he’s always done that. He’s fair. He’s obviously difficult. I said earlier in the year during camp, it was probably one of the hardest camps I’ve been through in my 16 years. And that’s not only because I’m old, it just was a tough camp. It was a big committment, a lot of things we were trying to get done. He’s very honest. And I think guys really like that feeling of honesty. He tells you exactly what he expects. He tells you exactly what to expect during the week and those results will show up on Sunday and they do. That’s probably about the biggest amount of proof you can get. … He’s got the trust of the entire team. His way is a good way. There’s a lot of consistency in the way he’s doing things.” — Ronde Barber on Greg Schiano. Barber spoke Tuesday on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

What could Joe possibly add to Barber’s take on the New Schiano Order?

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The Bucs ain’t runnin’ no copycat offense, says Mark Dominik. Joe will hereby call it the Gulf Coast offense.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik is back on tour and landed on the popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging Peter King podcast this week on SI.com.

Using passionate tones, Dominik put his foot down on the bandwith to let it be known that the Bucs and Mike Sullivan are not running the Giants offense. No, the Bucs run their own new brand of high-flyin’ and punch-you-in-the-mouth football. It’s what Joe likes to call the “Gulf Coast Offense.”

King said he’s surprised how explosive the Bucs have become “sort of overnight” and asked Dominik why and how that’s happened.

“I would say it’s been a buy-in mentality of our players, really tying into Coach Sullivan and what he wanted to bring and his view, along with Coach [Ron] Turner, quarterback coach for us. Their view of what they wanted this offense to be in terms of our offense. We’re not playing the Giants offense right now. We are a Tampa Bay offense. It’s different than what the Giants do, but there are some things that are mimicked in it, but it’s not the same. And I think the buy-in from the players, and that starts with the quarterback and his work that he put in this offseason, and the buy-in of our players of our coaching staff.”

This chatter intrigued Joe on several levels. First, it was the passion Dominik used to say this Bucs offense is its own brand. Second was Dominik’s crediting Ron Turner and Sullivan and not mentioning other coaches in that take.

Dominik did go on to talk about how adamant Greg Schiano was in the interview process about how he wanted to be a coach that took a lot of shots downfield even though he had a ball-control philosophy. Dominik said it was clear Schiano had studied a lot of offense despite being a defensive-minded coach.

Bucs fans have watched undrafted rookie cornerback Leonard Johnson make everyone collectively say, ‘Aqib who?’

Johnson’s three interceptions and a touchdown in the past three games have turned heads, but Joe was most excited by the Johnson scouting report delivered by Bucs icon Ronde Barber last night on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

Barber explained why he believes Johnson is special. And he interestingly said he believes team’s are salivating over facing the Bucs young secondary.

“I know a lot of teams see these young guys [in the Bucs secondary] and they just want to keep taking shots at them. You know, ‘Go at 29,’ or whoever’s the youngest most inexperienced guy you want to take shots at him,” Barber said. “I don’t know if that’s necessarily true, but it sure feels that way.

“But every time they’ve done it this year Leonard’s kind of stood up to the challenge. You know, not only getting these couple of interceptions, a bunch of pass breakups, some key tackles, and that’s what I like about him; he’s shown the willingness to do it all. Put his face on somebody, running backs, tight ends, whoever it is coming around the corners. That’s the little stuff that I’m seeing out of him that can only make him a good player. I mean, I wish I was that confident when I was a rookie in the league. I obviously didn’t get the opportunity to play when I was a rookie, but I definitely don’t think I’d be playing with as much confidence as he is right now. And that’s awesome.”

That’s very high praise from Barber. Yeah, Joe knows Johnson screwed up in the opening seconds of the Chargers game, but if Barber believes he’s got all the elements of a strong cornerback, then that’s good enough for Joe.

In football, like in baseball, stats can be deceiving. One such stat in football is tackle assists. Shoot, even Joe could get an assist just by piling on top of a mound of players on the ground.

Now getting a solo tackle, which often means getting a tackle in the open field, is another ball of wax. Those tackles are very much legitimate and take a great deal of skill and effort to rack up.

That’s why Joe is of the mind Lavonte David should be a Pro Bowl linebacker this year. If one is to monitor just solo tackles, not total tackles, David, the Bucs rookie outside linebacker, has the second-most solo tackles in the NFL. He is one behind James Laurinaitis of the Rams; Laurinaitis has 68, David 67.

(Cool trivia: Of the eight linebackers listed with the five-most solo tackles, four are from the Big Ten, none from the SEC. GASP!)

David is just one of many examples of how this Bucs franchise has turned around under Greg Schiano and how Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik actually knows how to draft players. Dominik only needed a coach to develop talent.

OK Bucs fans, Joe’s hoping you are somewhat awake and have had your requisite morning caffeine. Please put down all liquid containers before you read the next sentence.

Adam Schein gave Bucs coach Greg Schiano a virtual wet kiss on NFL.com yesterday.

In a laudatory piece by the popular sports radio personality, Schiano stops just short of calling the Bucs a model franchise in the NFL and suggests that because of the success of Schiano, NFL front offices are already scouring the college ranks, hunting for the next Schiano to turn around their program.

The Bucs are back. Tampa Bay has scored 28 points or more in five consecutive games for the first time in franchise history. The Buccaneers punished the San Diego Chargers last Sunday on offense, defense and special teams en route to their fifth win of the season. The 5-4 Bucs are dangerous and very much in the mix for an NFC wild-card berth.

Schiano’s fingerprints are all over the turnaround.

Last year, the Bucs quit on Raheem Morris in embarrassing fashion, and the overwhelmed former “coach” couldn’t stop the bleeding. The 2012 version of the Bucs, meanwhile, is the NFL’s most improved squad on offense (the team’s points-per-game average jumped from 17.9 in 2011 to a whopping 28.9) and defense (opponents averaged an unacceptable 30.9 per game in 2011; that number is now down to 23.2, or about a touchdown’s worth).

While all of this is great, it still rankles Joe to remember how the Bucs gave away games to the Giants and Saints, and they had a win against the Redskins in their grasps.

The Bucs could have very easily been 8-1 and tied for first place in the NFC South. Damnit.

But still, Joe is counting his blessings. Look, the Bucs should beat Carolina this weekend and that means the Bucs will be 6-4 entering Thanksgiving Weekend. No one, not even the most drunken of fans in a bar, would have predicted that before the season.

Does all the credit go to Schiano for the turnaround? No, but you are damned straight most of it should.

It was no surprise this afternoon when the Bucs released word that starting strong side linebacker Quincy Black was placed on injured reserve, meaning his season is finished.

A nasty head-nick collision Sunday left Black hospitalized with nerve issues in his left arm, “complications,” as Greg Schiano called them.

Is this a big loss for the Bucs? Joe doesn’t suspect the team will miss a beat, though Black surely was playing better than he did last season.

Black signed a five-year, $29 million contract before the 2011 campaign, and his future years are no longer guaranteed. Though likely they would be guaranteed if Black’s latest injury ends his career. It’ll be worth keeping any eye on that potential financial situation, as it relates to the Bucs’ ability and desire to spend next season.

Probably not since all-around good guy and fan favorite Earnest Graham played fullback have the Bucs really had a decent, honest-to-goodness fullback.

When Joe talks about a fullback, he means one that can run for a few hard-to-get yards, a fullback who can deliver a bone-bruising block, a fullback who is also a weapon in the passing game.

The past few games have shown that yes, the Bucs indeed have a fullback. His name is Erik Lorig.

Originally drafted by Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik as a defensive end out of Stanford, Lorig has blossomed as one of the top fullbacks in the NFC, specifically catching the ball, so documents Buccaneers.com’s Captain’s Blog.

Lorig’s receiving numbers – nine catches for 63 yards and a touchdown – aren’t overwhelming, but they are pretty close to the best totals by any fullback in the conference. Only Carolina’s Mike Tolbert has more, and Tolbert is the one player on the NFC fullback ballot who is more involved as a primary ballcarrier in his team’s offense. (That, by the way, is no knock on Tolbert or his qualifications as a fullback.)

Lorig even has better passing numbers than one of the better fullbacks in football, Green Bay’s John Kuhn, who Packers fans swoon over like Joe does Rachel Watson.

Think about the toys No. 5 has to play with: Vincent Jackson, Mike Williams, Dallas Clark, Doug Martin, Tiquan Underwood and now, Lorig.

No wonder Josh Freeman is racking up yards better than Joe is polishing off beers. With five talented pass-catchers on the field at any one time, good luck to opposing defenses in trying to cover all five at once.

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Joe feels compelled to give it up for Daniel Te’o-Nesheim (plus Joe needs more practice spelling his name). The Bucs’ starting right end stepped up huge with the sack seen above.

Down only a touchdown, Philip Rivers and the Chargers got the ball back with 3:53 remaining in the game, and on first down Te’o-Nesheim beat the Chargers left tackle clean to the inside and swallowed up Rivers for a 10-yard sack. Jimminy Christmas! That was something out of Simeon Rice’s book 10 years ago, with the home crowd sent into an absolute frenzy. (Here’s the game link).

It’s no concidence that on the next play Rivers threw the game-sealing pick to LeQuan Lewis.

Te’o-Nesheim has two sacks since filling in for Adrian Clayborn — two more than sackless Kyle Moore — and it’s clear he won’t bow to the arrival of DaQuan Bowers.

Te’o-Nesheim won’t be confused with a Pro Bowler anytime soon, but he’s been a very sound reserve, a fine snatch from the Eagles practice squad by rockstar general manager Mark Dominik less than one year ago.

This morning, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman dropped a phone call into “The Opening Drive,” to chat X’s and O’s with co-hosts Bob Papa and Amani Toomer, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

In discussing the Bucs offense, it is easy to understand how the Bucs — and Joe still cannot believe he’s about to type the following sentence — are the new offensive standard in the NFL.

In short, Freeman and Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan, who Freeman calls “Sully,” hit it off like two peas in a pod. Once Freeman and the rest of the Bucs offense got on the same page as Sullivan, it was just a matter of time before the offense, stocked with talented skill position players, took off.

“First time I sat down and talked to Sully, at the time, I couldn’t even talk about football,” Freeman said. “We talked about life, we talked about our families and certain beliefs. I walked away just jazzed. I was excited. Coach Sullivan is high energy, he is a great teacher, believes in doing things the right way. He believes in hard work. Nothing changes.

“He is very passionate about the offense, very passionate about his offensive packages. There are a lot of elements to the offense that nobody other than him have experience running. He did an excellent great job of breaking it down and getting people to understand what we are trying to accomplish with each play. It’s really been awesome playing for Sully.”

And to think just a scant few weeks ago, a sizable portion of Bucs fans were clamoring for the Bucs to draft West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith in the first round of next year’s draft. At the time, Joe explained how patience is a virtue and often it takes time for a new offense to click with a team.

Joe was mocked for taking such a stance. Well, sometimes, patience is truly a virtue as the Bucs have melded into sort of a Gulf Coast version of Air Coryell.

Now Joe’s a fan of wiseguy superinsider Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru at ProFootballTalk.com, and a NFL analyst for NBC Sports, but Florio really went overboard with his latest jab at the Bucs and their fans.

In his latest and popular Power Rankings, Florio ranks the Bucs among the upper half of the NFL but can’t resist a shot team attendance.

 14. Buccaneers:  If this team played in a Super Bowl hosted at Raymond James Stadium, the game still may not sell out.

C’mon, Mike. Are we still going there?

First, the Bucs sold out two night games last year, so the premise isn’t even accurate. And Florio knows ticket sales are a leaguewide issue, hardly just a Tampa thing. Team Glazer not gobbling up tickets, like they used to in order to get games televised, is the only reason the Bucs’ attendance shortcomings stand out.

Joe’s had his fill of Tampa Bay bashing for this year.

New Bucs cornerback LeQuan Lewis, a hero Sunday with a late interception of Philip Rivers, couldn’t wait to leave the Bucs locker room following the game and text one of the guy’s he credits for getting him to the NFL. That would be Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

Last year, thanks to the asinine lockout, was a horrible time to be an undrafted free agent, as Lewis was out of Arizona State.

“Larry Fitzgerald was one of the biggest impacts for me that offseason, and I keep in touch with him. I can’t wait to tell him I got one [interception] today,” Lewis said after the game.

Fitzgerald hosted workouts at Arizona State during the lockout for Cardinals teammates and various NFL buddies and invited Lewis to join. “To see how it is to be an NFL pro was incredibly valuable, to learn from him and experience it hands-on,” Lewis said. “It made a huge difference for me. I really thank him for all he did for me.”

Lewis also is darn serious about his custom-made, rubber wristbands engraved with motivational messages. When Joe went to chat with Lewis in the happy postgame locker room Sunday, Lewis advised Joe to wait because he needed time to carefully put on those wristbands first.

This was no joke. Those eight bands are years old and could break if Lewis isn’t careful.  They’re also well-traveled.

Now with his fifth team in 16 months, Lewis is grateful for what he calls a true team family in Tampa. Of all those teams, Lewis said, the Bucs are the only one he had no connection to before signing a contract yet it’s been the most welcoming team. He played for the Cowboys against the Bucs earlier this season before Dallas cut him. Then the Bucs signed him, cut him, and signed him to the practice squad before he was promoted before Sunday’s game.

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network last night, Greg Schiano said the Bucs were “immediately” wowed by what Lewis put on film against the Bucs in Dallas.

“What an explosive player he was,” Schiano said. “He’s a talented guy. We just need to keep moving him forward in his football, you know, learning more and more. The way he works I’m sure he will.”

In his one sighting Sunday, LeGarrette Blount kept things high and tight near the goal line.

Maybe it’s raw fear of the head coach. Maybe it’s the constant drilling of fundamentals. But more likely both are why the Bucs aren’t coughing up the football very often.

Veteran scribe eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune notes that the Bucs have a +11 turnover ratio this season, good for fourth best in the NFL behind the Patriots, Bears and Giants.

At this point, Joe is stunned when a Buccaneer not named Josh Freeman fumbles; that’s a good thing.

Newcomer cornerback LeQuan Lewis was the surprise Bucs kick returner Sunday, and he promptly fumbled his first return, then recovered it and finished with a lousy eight-yard return.

Lewis was called to the sidelines immediately by Greg Schiano and the two chatted for a long 45 seconds. Joe talked to Lewis about that chat, and Lewis assured Joe that Schiano was all about love and confidence, not U-Haul reservations and intimidation.

“Coach just wanted me to get rid of it. ‘Get rid of it,’ is what he kept saying and that I’d have a lot of other opportunities to do my job again so go out and do it,” Lewis said.

After the game, Dallas Clark said the Bucs’ turnover ratio has been extraordinary. “It makes all the difference,” Clark said.

This did not the meet the New Schiano Order edict to “bite the football” and “chin, chin chin.”

Deion Sanders was lovin’ all over Leonard Johnson’s high-steppin’ into the end zone from the 20 yard line on the NFL Network yesterday.

Greg Schiano? Not so much.

The leader of the New Schiano Order said this evening that celebrating is reserved for the end zone, so he advised on The Greg Schiano Show on WDAE-AM 620.

Now Schiano wasn’t all toes-on-the-line serious. He acknowledged that Johnson’s probably was overcome and overwhelmed with excitement knowing he was about to score a touchdown and fulfill a boyhood dream of doing so for his hometown Buccaneers.

The loss to the Bucs really got under the skin of Chargers coach Norv Turner. It didn’t help when he was asked if losing to the Bucs is acceptable in this San Diego Union-Tribune video.