Eric LeGrand now gets to stuff his face full of bread and meat products and get paid to do it. What a dream job!

LeGrand has inked a deal with Subway to be one of the TV marketing faces of the franchise. FOX Sports Florida delivered the news. (By now everyone is familiar with LeGrand’s story and Joe feels no need to reset LeGrand’s role with the Bucs and the tragedy the befell him while playing for Rutgers.)

LeGrand is the latest athlete hired by Subway, joining Tuck, Michael Phelps, Apolo Ohno, Blake Griffin and Robert Griffin III.

“I am grateful for the opportunities,” LeGrand said. “I gain additional inspiration and motivation from that as I train to achieve my next goal.”

Joe’s damn happy for LeGrand. And Joe sincerely hopes this deal leads to a sandwich named after LeGrand’s mentor and friend Greg Schiano. Joe could see himself ordering a footlong “Schiano” — 6.3 ounces of capicola, three melted 1/8-inch slices of provolone, with tomatoes served at 100.4 degrees.

You want softball, weakass takes on the Bucs and the NFL?

If so, then you better not listen to the interview below with former Bucs defensive end Steve White.

White joined JoeBucsFan.com on 1010 AM last week to talk all things Bucs, as Joe served as fill-in host for Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski. White explains whether he thinks practice discipline will equal wins, why he’s not sold yet on the Bucs’ playcallers on both sides of the ball, as well as his takes on Eric Wright, Gerald McCoy and more. … The interview picks up about 1 minute in. Click the arrow below.

[audio: stevewhite703.mp3]

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Those who read Peter King’s massive, must-read Monday Morning Quarterback column on SI.com noticed that former Bucs general manager Bruce Allen was the guest author today.

Bruce Almighty did a solid job and went out of his way to reference Team Glazer and other of his past NFL employers. Joe found it interesting that despite getting fired along with Chucky with multiple years left on their contracts, Bruce Almighty praised Team Glazer’s loyalty.

During the Al Davis celebration it dawned on me how much I have learned from the NFL owners for whom I have worked. The Glazers of Tampa Bay are an extremely loyal and honest family, and are becoming the leading experts on sports franchise ownership around the world thanks to their time with Manchester United. Similar to the Davis family, they have a burning desire to win on the field (or pitch).

Now Joe knows some cynical/psychotic Bucs fans that will claim Allen has some sort of agenda and is just kissing up to Team Glazer because it looks good and he wants another job someday. Of course, Joe is not in that conspiracy camp.

It’s simply nice to read good things about anything related to the Bucs.

Mike Florio, of the renowned ProFootballTalk.com, gives indirect applause to Team Glazer in this NBCSports.com video.

Florio says that with all the focus on technological enhancements at games to improve the fan experience, it seems much of the NFL has simply forgotten to lower prices on concessions and tickets to get fans in the door and happy. Team Glazer, as we know, has slashed prices, including half-price concessions on opening day. … Interestingly, it seems Florio is bitter at Jerry Jones for his popcorn prices.

Former New York Giants wide receiver Amani Toomer raved about the Bucs hiring Mike Sullivan as an offensive coordinator.

There have been many stories in recent weeks coming from a variety of sources — Jeff Faine and Aqib Talib being a couple — referencing what a country club-like atmosphere there was around One Buc Palace under the Raheem Morris administration.

But two former NFL players, Tim Ryan and Amani Toomer, while co-hosting Movin’ the Chains Friday, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, pointed a finger at Bucs players for the grotesque 10-game losing streak to end the season, not on Morris.

A caller mentioned to Ryan and Toomer he found it odd all of the stories that have been typed in recent weeks condemning Morris.

Caller: Kellen Winslow leaves and all of a sudden, things come out about a lack of leadership. Talib comes out and talking about how loose things were…

Tim Ryan: He’s got no room to talk! Talib should just put a cork in it.

Caller:… Right right, but is that an indictment on Raheem?

Ryan: It is.

Amani Toomer: Yes.

Ryan: I think the biggest indictment Amani is the 10 consecutive losses last year and the play they were putting on the field. It was putrid.

Toomer: No question. If you are a head coach, the one thing that people up top, the executives, are most scared of is they are scared the team is going to quit on your head coach and obviously with 10 straight losses in a row, that team quit on their head coach, there was no way they could bring Raheem Morris back. There is no coming back from losing 10 games in a row, especially when you have the talent which they showed the year before that they can be a contender. To go from that to being a laughing stock — Tampa Bay has come way too far from where they were at in the 70s and 80s and then to win their Super Bowl, they did so much to get that fanbase to be on board and to go backwards was just not acceptable.

Ryan: Alright, Vincent Jackson comes in, Carl Nicks comes in. They draft Doug Martin, Dallas Clark comes in for K2, your thoughts on what the Bucs did on offense and does it parlay into more points scored and more W’s for the Bucs.

Toomer: Oh, I think it really does, especially when they got their new offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan. He is going to put this thing together. He was my position coach at the Giants for a while. I really respect him a lot. I know he understands how to deal with personalities and to deal with people. I think he will get Josh Freeman — he is the guy credited with changing Eli Manning’s fortunes around, to cut down on Eli Manning’s 25 interceptions he had the year before (Sullivan was the Giants quarterback coach). So I am really looking at Josh Freeman being a much better quarterback than he was last year; more of the quarterback he was in 2010. With Carl Nicks on the inside and Vincent Jackson on the outside, this team, they show signs of being reckoned with in the near future.

Joe’s of the mind both Ryan and Toomer have a point. One can debate whether Morris was cut out for the job or not (his overall record after three seasons suggest he was not) but it wasn’t Morris that was dogging it on the defensive side of the ball, a pattern that sickened new Bucs coach Greg Schiano as he studied tape of last season, flatly saying in his first full-length interview after getting the Bucs job that such cowardly play against the run “will not be tolerated.”

Joe also was intrigued by how strongly Toomer spoke about Sullivan. In Joe’s eyes, that’s high praise coming from a guy that practiced with him for years.

Ex-Bucs captain Jeff Faine talked about some former teammates and Bucs offseason moves.

Former Bucs captain Jeff Faine had no problem praising the Bucs front office and serving up a backhanded slap to Raheem Morris during an interview with J.P. Peterson of 1010 AM Friday evening.

Typically, Faine was one of the more candid Buccaneers during his time in Tampa, except when he was dishing out “Saltines and anchovies” labor union spin. So it’s also worth noting his gushing praise Friday of Gerald McCoy and Brian Price, two guys Faine lined up against in practice.

Peterson asked Faine directly about McCoy and Faine seemed to struggle to find words to express how very highly he rates McCoy, emphasizing that McCoy is an extraordinary talent and “he’s a very, very, very special player.”

Faine went on to say Adrian Clayborn is a top talent “with a mean streak” and a guy with great versatility against the run and pass in a division where that’s critical. And Faine had similar McCoy love for Brian Price.

“I’m telling you, J.P., if he can stay healthy, Brian Price is a very, very, very special player. He was out of shape the entire season. And it wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t run because of his [previous medical issues,]” Faine said.

As for Faine’s future, he explained that he passed on offers to join team in free agency, and Faine expressed confidence that he’ll find a new and competitive team soon.

“Some teams have to make some decisions internally that we’ve been talking to. There’s definitely interest,” Faine said. “I could have jumped at some teams that don’t have the pieces in place to win. … I want to go where they have some pieces in play and what’s a winning situation.”

Faine identified the Bucs’ top move of the offseason as the re-signing of Ronde Barber because of his veteran leadership. He also said Vincent Jackson brings a “legit threat and legit leadership,” and he painted a picture of Mike Williams yearning for the kind of hands-on guidance and teaching Jackson will deliver.

Just the fact former Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson left town means to Joe that the offseason was a success.

It seems as though just yesterday the Bucs just got pistol-whipped by the Dixie Chicks, nearly coughing up “half-a-hundred” points… in the first half!

It was the most brutal of brutal NFL performances Joe had ever witnessed. The coaching staff should have got on their knees and thanked Team Glazer for letting them board the plane back to Tampa it was such a slap in the face to Bucs fans.

The reason why if feels like that alley-beating happened just yesterday is because the Bucs offseason was anything but quiet. They hired a head coach, then some sort of czar of the football staff, then the trickle of assistant hirings, then big and small free agents, and then came the draft and then minicamps and OTAs.

It was a busy offseason.

Mike Tanier of FootballOutsiders.com took note of this and believes the Bucs had both a bad half, and a good half during the offseason.

The first half of this essay was written just before the Combine, when Greg Schiano cobbled together his band of unlikely coaching misfits. There’s Butch Davis, whose job title is carefully crafted so he can double dip on his North Carolina University severance. There’s Jimmy Raye, last seen mumbling into a headset and losing a power struggle to Alex Smith in San Francisco. There’s Bill Sheridan, who was so terrible with the Giants that he was fired before season’s end in 2010 by the most patient organization in the NFL. This is one garbled mess of a coaching staff, with guys like Davis and Raye holding vague titles that all but guarantee chain-of-command questions.

The second half is more optimistic, because the Bucs had a solid draft, made wise free agent acquisitions, and appear to have a decent young nucleus in place. The coaching staff may have some hiccups, but the Bucs will be better than they were in December of 2011. To get any worse, they would have to have all the bones from their bodies removed and live on as jellyfish people.

If the New Schiano Order is such a “garbled mess,” then what exactly would you call that schlock last season running the Bucs? Joe still cannot believe he didn’t rifle his remote through his (then) new HDTV for the notorious Benn’d-around play week after week, game after game.

Then, there was the weekly irresponsible if not dastardly mishandling of LeGarrette Blount.

Watching the Bucs last year was like watching a decent football team on ‘shrooms.

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Joe has gone on record several times calling the Bucs’ 2011 linebacking corps the worst linebacker unit in all the NFL.

And it wasn’t close.

When teams ran the ball at the Bucs, once the ballcarrier got past the first level, it was quite simply a jailbreak, snap after snap, the way opposing running backs ran wild on the Bucs.

Since it is early July, the unofficial dead season in the NFL calendar until training camps begin later this month, the football eggheads at ProFootballFocus.com decided to study tape of the last three years and they camp up with the worst group of tacklers playing linebacker in the NFL.

Not surprisingly, two Bucs were in the top (bottom?) five, Geno Hayes and Quincy Black.

In 2,563 snaps, Hayes had more missed tackles than assists. So did Black, logging 1,833 plays.

Following hot on his heels in the list are Hayes and Levy, both of whom have racked up misses and whose ratios are only marginally behind that of Weatherspoon’s.

Hayes’ teammate in Tampa, Quincy Black also notched his fair share of missed tackles, as the entire Buccaneers defense seemed to be engaged in a competition last season to see who could miss the most.

Unless Sam Monson, who did the research, was totally off in his study, Joe has no earthly idea how any defensive player can have more missed tackles than assists. Hell, you just fall on a guy who is lying on the ground and you get an assist.

Yes, Joe knows Hayes is gone, but Black is still among us. Still, this is a disturbing thought that such a sloppy tackler remains in the Bucs’ starting lineup as training camp approaches.

No wonder new Bucs coach Greg Schiano said his No. 1 goal is to somehow fix the defense and to stop the run.

Joe will give Black some slack this season as this is a new regime and from all the whispers coming out of One Buc Palace, Black wasn’t coached up (along with many others, apparently).

Yes, Joe’s read all your emails about Team Glazer preparing to sell shares of Manchester United in the United States.

Joe’s simple response is that Joe really isn’t too interested, and Joe’s confident all this talk about a $100 million IPO isn’t going to get the Bucs defense to get after the quarterback, it won’t make Mike Sullivan an experienced playcaller, and it won’t drive the Bucs to buy more expensive free agents.

More importantly, no matter how much cash Team Glazer raises in this venture, it won’t force NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell to raise the salary cap ceiling.

For those still interested in Team Glazer’s kickball cash, Joe recommends this video from the folks at Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal. Click below.

Former Bucs center and captain Jeff Faine, a man who Joe crossed swords with over the years, opened up on all things Bucs this evening to electronic media czar J.P. Peterson on 1010 AM.

In a stunning show of professionalism, Faine said the Bucs made the “right decision” to cut him (and the mega-millions left on his contract) and re-sign Jeremy Zuttah and sign Carl Nicks.

“I can understand the decision. They made an investment in Carl Nicks. Looking into the future and trying to build through youth, and I think it was the right decision,” Faine said. “I’m going to be playing for two, three more years, and they’re looking to build something to last.”

Faine went on to praise rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and how he communicated with Faine through the process that led to his release.

“I had a fantastic time. I have nothing but good things to say about this organization and how they do business,” Faine said. “I can’t be bitter. I still have years to play, and hopefully win games wherever I go.”

In rather telling commentary about the unraveling of the Bucs last season, Faine said Greg Schiano’s leadership style was “desperately needed.”

“Coach Morris will be a head coach again, but he’s gotta be a head coach of a very veteran team that can handle the style that he brings,” Faine said.

That’s not much of an endorsement for Raheem, considering he led the youngest team in the NFL to a 10-6 record in 2010.

Joe will have more goodies from Faine’s interview this weekend.

Yeah, the Bucs have legitimate talent wide receiver. And with the addition of Vincent Jackson, it seems his presence as a top-flight No. 1 receiver puts everyone else where they belong within a hopefully great offense.

Tampa Bay Times beat writer Stephen Holder penned a piece today talking about how wide open competition is in the Bucs’ receiving corps. But Joe doesn’t buy into that premise.

Jackson and Mike Williams are the clear Nos. 1 & 2. Joe realizes some fans are down on Williams, but he has elite skills and he’s caught 65 balls in each of his first two seasons.

Arrelious Benn was the 39th overall pick in what widely was considered the deepest NFL Draft in history (2010). Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik was calling for Benn to get the ball more last season — a very telling statement, on the Buccaneers Radio Network of all places — but Greg Olson and Raheem Morris wouldn’t listen. Benn is fully recovered from his knee issues and Joe has no doubt Benn will be maximized under the New Schiano Order.

Preston Parker got a new contract and was an offseason standout, per Greg Schiano. He’ll fill his role nicely.

And if Sammie Stroughter can remain completely healthy through the preseason, he’s a lock for the No. 5 receiver slot, in Joe’s opinion. Stroughter plays special teams, is an above average returner, and he’s got the work ethic and runs solid routes. The Bucs would be nuts to dump him, assuming he’s healthy, and considering Parker’s past ball-security issues on returns.

Joe thinks it’s a big “if” whether the Bucs will carry six receivers. Given that the New Schiano Order wants to pound the ball like the 1972 Dolphins and will need more than typical depth on the defensive line and in the secondary, Joe would be somewhat surprised to see the Bucs with six receivers on opening day.

Joe’s got nothing against Dezmon Briscoe, but one would think he’s lost his “Buccaneer Man” card with his offseason absences, and he’s not as valuable with Jackson on the roster. Tiquan Underwood and Ed Gant, Joe considers them huge longshots. Briscoe, Underwood and Gant all likely need banged up teammates in the receiving corps to make it to opening day.

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Look, Joe’s not going to even attempt to make an excuse for Eric Wright’s mistake the other morning in Los Angeles, getting into an accident and being charged with a felony DUI.

Joe could sort of understand this happening in the sticks someplace where there is no such thing as a cab. But Wright was in the second-largest city in the United States. Throw in the fact he could afford to buy a limo service much less afford a cab, this was stupidity at it’s worst.

But the dumb move could be worse for the Bucs, so writes Bradenton Herald columnist Alan Dell, who believes Wright’s dumb-headed stunt could really screw the Bucs.

He was brought in to play corner opposite Aqib Talib, who just got a get-out-of-jail-free card, but still hasn’t escaped the long arm of NFL top sheriff Roger Goodell.

The Bucs could begin next season without these two cornerbacks if Goodell seeks to suspend them a few games for conduct unbecoming to everything pure and wholesome in the NFL.

Wright could become another Dominik mishap and an embarrassment to himself and the organization.

This is a subject Joe didn’t exactly think about when he heard of Wright’s arrest. There is no guarantee NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell won’t suspend Talib, despite the fact Talib’s charges in Texas were dropped.

Throw in Wright’s wreck, and Goodell could see to it that the Bucs are down two cornerbacks to open the season. This leaves open the door for Ronde Barber to return to a starting cornerback gig.

Reports in their respective cities reveal that the Bengals and Chargers, two teams that struggle to fill their stadiums, are wrestling to decide the best “magic percentage” to choose for their new TV blackout cutoff.

So what the hell does that mean, Joe?

Well, the NFL’s decision to let teams only sell as little as 85 percent of tickets for home games and still have them televised comes with a catch. Per Mike Florio, of ProFootballTalk.com, a team must pick an exact percentage that covers every game for the entire season, and if a team sells more than whatever percentage it chooses for a game — 85 percent, 88 percent, 92 percent, etc. — then the team must give 50 percent of the ticket revenue over the percentage to the visiting team, versus the 34 percent previously required.

That could discourage every team from picking 85 percent as its new blackout threshold. The San Diego Union-Tribune says the Chargers are unlikely to take advantage of any rule change, despite two blackouts last season.

If a team lowers the bar for blackouts, the number is fixed for the season. Whenever the team clears the mark, it will be required to share more ticket revenue than usual with other teams in the league. It’s that part of the new rules that the Chargers believe would be too high a price to pay, said A.G. Spanos, the team’s executive vice president and chief executive officer.

“And even if you went to 15 percent lower, hypothetically an 85 percent manifest, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee you a lift of the blackout for every game,” Spanos said Monday. “It’s also important to understand that the manifest is set for the year for every game, whether it’s a big game for us or a game with a less attractive opponent.”

Joe gets teams like the Bengals and Chargers wrestling with the new rule; the Bengals have a night game against the Steelers and their home-opener against state-rival Cleveland, two guaranteed sellouts. The Chargers also have two night home games.

But the Bucs on the other hand have no home night games and no opponent guaranteed to put butts in the seats other than Philadelphia in December. Joe would think it would be an easy decision for the Bucs to choose the 85-percent mark or something darn close to it.

Regardless, barring an intervention or a huge rush of ticket sales, Joe’s not seeing how the Bucs’ preseason games are going to find their way to live television next month.

It’s a blast to go to one of the official Rays watch parties at Hooters, and there’s one tonight at the Original Hooters on Gulf to Bay Boulevard in Clearwater, aka State Road 60, just east of US Hwy. 19.

Why watch the Rays at home when you can take advantage of the great beer and food specials at Hooters? Plus there are amazing Rays giveaways all night long — gear, tickets, all kinds of stuff. Nobody can top the great viewing at Hooters. (Yes, Joe’s talking about the multitude of cutting edge TV sets).

Visit OriginalHooters.com now to find the location near you.

National NFL insider and all-around wiseguy Mike Florio, creator and curator of ProFootballTalk.com and a NBC Sports personality, reminds Bucs fans in this video that Eric Wright can be punished by the Buccaneers for his recent actions. The Bucs don’t have to defer to Roger Goodell, Florio says, and while Wright has rights, he also has the right to “take his medicine” for his alleged misdeeds if the New Schiano Orders wants to send a message.

Florio’s got some intriguing takes here, including one that says the Bucs might not care as much about public perception of how Wright is handled because the change in blackout rules will alleviate much of the pressure to sell tickets.

When Mike Sullivan was hired as the Bucs’ new playcaller and offensive coordinator, much was made of his twirl drills with Eli Manning and other unconventional quarterback training techniques.

Bucs fans’ hopes/expectations were that Sullivan would be able to help Josh Freeman recapture his 2010 form and develop into the poised, two-time Super Bowl champ Manning is.

“I don’t know if he’s gotten any credit but … he’s certainly been a catalyst in the good year Eli’s had,” offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said last month.

Manning also threw much better while moving in the pocket and on the run, which backup quarterback David Carr attributed to Sullivan’s unconventional drills.

“He has some different drills where it’s uncomfortable movements,” Carr said of Sullivan last month. “You’re not just dropping back, moving to the left and right, stepping up and throwing the ball, which never happens in the game.

“You move up, you sprint out, run away from someone and then try to throw off balance. We do that drill every Wednesday and something every Thursday and Friday that’s similar to that, where we move around and twirl.

So it was interesting to Joe to read NFL Films guru Greg Cosell’s new breakdown of Manning. It’s a long enjoyable read for football junkies, and one that seems to back up that Sullivan’s tactics with Manning brought direct results.

In 2011, I saw significant improvement in two other elements of Manning’s game: progression reading and pocket movement, with the corollary ability to extend plays outside the pocket. We all remember the 38-yard completion to Mario Manningham late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLVI; it was the single biggest play in the game. It also reflected many of the attributes that I have often written about, beginning with pre-snap recognition of the coverage. … …

The other part of Manning’s game that dramatically improved in 2011, and I believe it was a defining reason as to why he had his best season yet, was his efficiency moving both within the pocket and outside the pocket. As I’ve discussed numerous times, pocket mobility is an essential trait to perform consistently at a high level. Manning, once a little frenzied and out of control when he was forced to react in response to the pass rush, is now more poised and composed. His movement is more deliberate and calculated. His downfield focus is sharper, with better clarity. In addition, his ability to extend plays on the perimeter was particularly evident last season. In years past, there were times Manning would be somewhat scattershot with his throws off movement. That deficiency has been lessened, and it’s led to better overall play. It’s a huge reason why Manning elevated his game in 2011.

Now Freeman is not Eli Manning, and surely Sullivan is busy crafting his playbook and Joe is concerned that Sullivan has never called plays on any level. However, there’s no question that Sullivan is here, in part, because of his work with Manning and for what he can do for Freeman.

The optimist in Joe believes Sullivan, while busy with other duties, will at least be successful in improving Freeman in the areas noted above: progression reading and pocket movement. Joe suspects the former will be most critical, given that the Bucs’ pocket should be more stable than usual given all the accomplished beef on the offensive line.

The strange tale of the Aqib Talib local fender bender in 2010, after which Talib allegedly told the other driver that he was going to put “a cap in” her, has not gone away.

Four months ago, grandma Betty Atwood, 54, sued Talib in Hillsborough County civil court (not criminal) for damages related to the car accident and alleged resulting pain and suffering.

Joe’s recent review of the civil court hearings and events of the case reveals that motions to dismiss two of the three counts against Talib were denied, and after various subpoenas of Atwood’s medical records, the court recorded two “notice of service of proposal settlement” entries last week, covering all three counts against Talib. So one can assume a check likely is forthcoming to put this matter to rest.

Another weight off Talib’s shoulders should only help him as he works to stay out of trouble and on the positive path he’s been on the last eight or nine months.

Joe will keep you posted on the case, and Joe promises to look deeper into the case file.