Peter King makes a case that Josh Freeman was no better than Tim Tebow and that Greg Schiano is a victim of lies and distortions

Josh Freeman was ousted by Tampa Bay because he didn’t play well and wasn’t going to get a new contract. Everything else is just circus noise.

Joe sees a very similar bottom line for Greg Schiano, barring a stunning 2013 turnaround. The head coach has lost nine of 10 games and is routinely outcoached. Everything else is just circus noise.

But a renowned NFL writer sees Schiano as a man getting a bad rap — courtesy of a bad quarterback no better than Tim Tebow. 

Olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve,baseball box score-reading Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, issued a passionate backhanded endorsement of Schiano yesterday during a radio interview on WEEI-FM in Boston.

“I think that we’ve only gotten one side of the story — the side of the story that says Greg Schiano is a total nincompoop, idiot, you know, just a bad human being, spy, all that stuff. I just am going to tell you this right now: I think about two-thirds of the stuff out there about Schiano is absolute bullcrap,” King said. “I think that Greg Schiano, I think he’s a good man. I really do. And I think that given a chance, a fair chance, he’s going to win. But I see this snowball rolling downhill right now. This everything against Greg Schiano.”

“And I just will make this point, over his last 10 games, Josh Freeman is 1-9, and over those 10 games he has a lower quarterback rating through those 10 starts he has a lower quarterback rating than the last 10 starts of Tim Tebow’s career.

At some point we can talk about, ‘Oh, [Schiano is] invading the privacy. He’s this. He’s too hard on these guys. He’s coaching them like they’re in high school.’

At some point, you’ve got to perform. And Josh Freeman is a 50 percent passer over his last 10 starts in the NFL. I’m sorry if I’m not getting in the violin line for Josh Freeman. And if I am not quick to shovel dirt on Greg Schiano’s NFL career. Because he cast his lot — at least for the first two years — with a quarterback who, for whatever reason — maybe coaching is part of it, it probably is — but he cast his lot with this guy. And regardless of why it happened, how it happened, to me, I think it’s pretty unfair to absolutely kill Schiano in this thing and paint Josh Freeman as some sort of wronged saint. End of sermon.”

Here’s what doesn’t make sense about King’s assessment of Schiano. If Josh Freeman was so bad, then why did Schiano stick with him in 2013?

Schiano had the full respect of the Bucs organization last winter and could have told his bosses Freeman wasn’t the guy — his guy — and ordered a trade of Freeman and rolled with Mike Glennon or whatever QB the Bucs could have gotten on the market in March and April. Please don’t try to sell Joe that anyone twisted Schiano’s arm after a 7-9 opening season and a franchise overhaul that he was hired to lead.

That absolutely must factor into the evaluation of Schiano, who adamantly claimed a few weeks ago — and repeated recently — that he has the “components” in place to win now.

Again, Joe’s trying to keep his head clear of the circus noise. Schiano has to win. Plain and simple. This is not a rebuilding year.

Enjoy world class live greyhound racing, watch college football, play poker, feast at the Derby Club — and win FREE cash all night long on Saturday!

It’s always an awesome time at Derby Lane in St. Pete, a Tampa Bay tradition. The action never stops. And if you haven’t been to Derby Lane, Joe strongly advises you to wake up. Admission is free.

“Failure” is a such a harsh word. No wiggle room there. No gray area.

According to ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik’s 2009 draft was just that — “a failure.”

But Joe thinks that’s an unfair grade. Let’s look at the picks.

1st round: Josh Freeman – Joe can’t call Freeman a complete bust of a first-round pick. He played pretty well for a 21-year-old rookie thrust into the starting lineup midseason. That year Freeman had very little training camp and preseason reps, and was without a dedicated quarterbacks coach for much of the season. Freeman moved on to a tremendous season in 2010, before becoming inconsistent. The Bucs made an organizational decision to draft a QB, and Freeman was the best available. Yes, first-round picks have to become impact, good players. Pick grade: D+

2nd round: Traded pick for Kellen Winslow – DJ Toes On The Line Winslow played well for two Tampa Bay seasons and declined in his third but was still productive. He didn’t miss a game in three years, which is more than Joe can say for the Bucs’ current crop of tight ends. Winslow also aided greatly in the development of Freeman before dragging Freeman down in 2011. Winslow, overall, didn’t equal what you’d want from a solid second-round pick. Pick grade: D.

3rd round: Roy Miller – Miller gave the Bucs three lost seasons before playing excellent ball in 2012. Early in his career, Miller battled weight issues — some team inflicted by the Jim Bates fatten-them-up order — and he had various injuries. The Bucs gave up on Miller and he went on to get a new contract. For a third-round pick, Miller wasn’t what the Bucs hoped, but he wasn’t a total loss: Pick Grade: D+.

4th round: Kyle Moore – Sackless Kyle Moore never got a sack during his regular-season time in Tampa, despite being gifted the starting left defensive end job. That’s hard to do when you play in 16 games. Moore also battled weight issues and was a napper in meetings. He moved on to Buffalo and finally got some sacks, but he’s out of football now. Pick grade: F.

5th round: Xavier Fulton – The offensive lineman didn’t make the roster. Pick grade: F

7th round:  Sammie Stroughter – Stroughter was a contributor immediately, catching 55 balls over his first two seasons before injuries cut him down. Stroughter also was a strong returner and won the New Schiano Order punt return job last season before a serious September foot injury. For a 7th-rounder, the Bucs got a lot out of him. Pick grade: B-.

7th round: E.J. Biggers – A member of the 2012 fearsome foursome of Bucs cornerbacks, “E.J., Leonard, Danny and LeQuan,” Biggers drove many Bucs fans crazy for years. His debut was in 2010, after being on injured reserve for all of 2009. Biggers just wasn’t good enough, which wasn’t his fault. The guy played, well, like a decent seventh-round pick given too big of a role. He finished his Bucs career with three interceptions. Pick grade: C.

Giving more weight to the grades of the highest draft picks, of course, Joe’s going to put a final grade on the Bucs’ 2009 draft: D+.

Doug Martin says the Bucs knew what the vaunted and feared Arizona Cardinals defense was going to do last Sunday in the 13-10 debacle at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway. But the Bucs just couldn’t stop them.

Martin explained on the Buccaneers Radio Network this week that the Bucs were ready but not able.

“They loaded that box. We knew that comin’ in. There was seven, eight, even nine in the box. We knew that they were going to do that coming into the game,” Martin said. “There was always one guy unblocked. You know, they did a good job swarming to the ball and getting off blocks. We just got outplayed.”

Martin had one of the worst days in history for a Bucs running back, 27 carries for 45 yards and many runs for negative yardage. But the Bucs kept pounding away. Some might say Tampa Bay took on the stubborn mentality of its head coach.

Greg Schiano said this week that the Bucs’ offensive line is still gelling, given that Carl Nicks and Davin Joseph are still getting back into top condition. However, Joe’s not sure that will make a ton of difference against teams that insist on making Mike Glennon beat them.

The rookie QB has really been thrown into the fire.

“Free, stay cool, man. We’re setting them up for the Benn’d around on 3rd-and-long.”

Based on Josh Freeman’s personality, No. 5 and Northern California seem like a great fit.

Greg Olson implied he thinks so, too, per BSPN. The former Bucs offensive coordinator joined the ranks of former Freeman coaches that have stepped up to publicly love him since his release.

“You know, I’ve always been a fan of Josh’s,” Olson said, per ESPN.com. “I have a lot of respect for him, as a person and a player, and it’s unfortunate to me to watch what happened in Tampa … really over the last couple of years.”

Freeman’s best seasons came with Olson as the play caller. With question marks behind starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor — Matt Flynn was demoted to third-string this week — a reunion in the Black Hole makes sense for both sides.

Joe would love to see Freeman land with Olson in Oakland. What great comedy theater that would be. What would make it interesting, though, is that Olson and the entire Raiders staff are battling to keep their jobs. That might prompt Olson to unshackle Freeman and let him run like he did in 2010.

Joe would love to know what future 2013 Bucs opponents are scrambling to sit down Josh Freeman and learn every last detail about the Bucs offense.

Freeman is a free agent; he can do or say what he pleases. And given that the Bucs surely don’t want to confuse Mike Glennon with all kinds of changes to the offense, Freeman could be a very valuable guy to any team lined up to beat the Bucs later this season.

Does anyone think Chip Kelly isn’t finding a way to reach out? Freeman is friends with Cam Newton and the Bucs play the Panthers twice this season. Ol’ No. 5 has a lot of buddies around the NFL.

Given how the Bucs and Freeman parted ways, Joe thinks it’s reasonable to think Freeman would be eager to cooperate and stick it to Greg Schiano. Joe hopes that’s not the case.

“Greg, I ordered my boys to roll grenades into your New Schiano Order. You’re just the easiest and most-popular target. You pissed off Tom Coughlin. The toes-on-the-line thing was great. You got rules for everything and you can’t win a game.. People hate rules. We haven’t had a villain this good since T.O. wore the black hat. Rich Kotite was damn lucky there was no Internet. Just win a little, Greg, and I’ll tell my dogs to move on.”

Joe finds the NFL fascinating. The league employs teams of reporters for NFL Network and NFL.com that dig up and distribute unsourced dirt from NFL locker rooms. And the owners pay for this to fuel the obsession with the NFL that lines their pockets — even if it hurts their individual organizations.

What mad genius!

Joe wishes he was that smart.

So with that stated, Joe brings you the latest from NFL.com and NFL Network. Reporter Michael Silver continued the popular onslaught on Greg Schiano yesterday. Silver was busy learning the pulse of the Bucs locker room and paints a grim picture.

“You hear Greg Schiano pleading his case, and it seems a little myopic. They’re just trying to show everybody that it’s OK that they cut Josh Freeman,” Silver said. “There is a sense in that locker room that he over-coaches situational football, that there’s a sort of paralysis preparing for one-in-a-million scenarios. That instead of being able to go out there and play fast, guys are burdened with having to over-think things.”

You can read more by clicking through above.

Clearly, there are content editors at NFL headquarters who have determined that whipping Schiano and imploding the Bucs by any means necessary are good for business.

Hey, Team Glazer, perhaps you could make a phone call to cool the assault on your head coach?

Hmm, it’s ironic how these NFL reporters do so little digging to figure out what players had concussions but didn’t go through the proper medical protocols, given that the league is sooooo concerned about the health of players.

Joe gets what’s going on, but it doesn’t feel good when it’s your team that league employees are being paid to rip apart. But that’s exactly what the NFL wants.

As the NFL buzzes about a potential landing spot for former Bucs franchise QB Josh Freeman, one of his former position coaches (sadly he had four in five seasons) spoke out to share his love of Freeman.

Alex Van Pelt, the former NFL QB and Bucs QB coach (2010 & 2011), told BSPN that Freeman was a model leader and workhorse.

“I loved Josh,” Van Pelt said Thursday. “Josh and I had a good working relationship. He was nothing but a pro when I was there with him. He was never late for meetings. We actually had 6:30 (a.m.) quarterback meetings; we were an hour before anybody else, and I never had an issue or anything like that. He did everything that I asked him to do. 

“He was a great teammate, watched him work around the other guys and had a lot of respect for him. I don’t know what happened, but I know the guy that I was there with I really enjoyed being with.” 

When asked whether Freeman could still be an NFL starter, Van Pelt said: “No doubt.” 

Van Pelt is now the running backs coach for the Packers. It’s not like he’s been unemployed sitting on a couch somewhere drinking beer.

So Van Pelt says Freeman was a model teammate in 2010 and 2011, and the New Schiano Order viewed Freeman as worthy of leading the Bucs in 2013, after studying him for all of 2012.

It’s hard to understand why things went so wrong so fast.

The Josh Freeman saga is slowly coming to an end now that the Bucs have washed their hands of their tardy and disgruntled former franchise quarterback.

It isn’t over quite yet, as there are sure to be barbs tossed at the Bucs from the Freeman camp in the coming days.

The past month or so have been head-spinning for veteran Tampa Tribune scribe eye-RAH! Kaufman, the Custodian of Canton, who has typed words about Tampa Bay sports for some three decades.

Last night Kaufman spoke to Rich Herrera and Steve White on WHFS-FM 98.7 to discuss the sorry state of the Bucs.

“I have been in this town 28 years. I have never seen a saga like this. A solid month, day to day, new developments, new revelations, speculation, rumor. Every day for the past month. This is much worse than Raheem’s last 10 games when they were outclassed and couldn’t compete. Worse than Ray Perkins. Worse than [Bill] Parcells turning them down twice. I have never seen a story with these kind of legs, gentlemen.”

As for the job security of embattled Bucs commander Greg Schiano, Kaufman noted December will be the tale of the tape whether he returns for a third season on the Bucs sidelines. Kaufman believes Schiano’s seat is ablaze.

“I think it is very hot, very hot and very surprising this early in the year. I think Schiano still has the support of ownership at this point. They are not happy at the [public relations] beating this franchise has taken and the potential impact of free agents coming in here. But he has won 7 of 20 games. Not very good. I think they give him more rope. A quick hook in a couple of weeks? Not going not happen.

“Which way is the arrow going up at the end of the season? [Jon] Gruden lost his last four. Raheem was 0-10 in his last games. The arrow going down, they can’t support you. We will see about Schiano.

“I think in the short term he is OK. If he finishes [the season] 2-14, he won’t have a leg to stand on. I think they are growing uncomfortable with what is going on.”

Joe thinks Kaufman’s take on how Schiano and the Bucs finish the season is interesting. Or as Kaufman says, “the arrow.” If the Bucs win, say, their last four of the season, it is hard to deny that progress is being made.

Still, it is hard to believe the Bucs are now in their 11th season since winning their last playoff game, and counting. They are beginning to encroach on Bill Bidwill territory with that type of drought.

No NFL team was willing to trade for Josh Freeman, apparently, but now Freeman is free. And Joe expects he’ll have a job soon, considering a team could pay Freeman the NFL minimum for the remainder of the season. Reports say he’s officially on the market at 4 p.m.

It’ll be interesting to see if teams bring Freeman in for workouts and interviews — or they’ll just like the 2013 film on him and wonder how good he might look as a No. 2 with receivers and running backs that squeeze the football.

Josh Freeman is gone, but will he be replaced as a Bucs backup?

Joe has learned the Bucs will be shopping for a new QB. This could be a practice squad guy or an established player.

Don’t rule out a trade. The new Schiano Order believes it has the talent to win now, and it’s offseason movements proved it doesn’t have a lot faith that Dan Orlovsky can win football games if Mike Glennon gets knocked out.

A Lakeland Ledger photo taken at Sunday’s Bucs-Cardinals game

The Josh Freeman era is over. Today, the process to release Freeman began, so Twittered Rick Stroud, of The Tampa Bay Times.

Bucs fans spent five seasons living off the hope that the team mantra, “It’s all about No. 5,” would be a blessing and Freeman would return the Bucs to the playoffs as a true franchise quarterback.

It never happened.

It’s unfair to call Freeman a wasted first-round 2009 draft choice. Freeman did shock the NFL with 25 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2010, leading the Bucs to a 10-6 record — one bad call on Kellen Winslow (against the Lions) from an 11-5 record and a playoff berth. Freeman was the real deal, but something went wrong after the Bucs started the 2011 season 4-2.

Freeman joined the Bucs’ freefall and never recovered.

Inconsistency took over his career — and apparently his life. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but the majority of it lands on Freeman’s shoulders. He regressed to a point where he wasn’t good enough, especially not good enough to get a new starting-QB contract.

This was Freeman’s make-or-break year, and he didn’t start sharp and was the first casualty of the Bucs’ 0-3 record. One could argue, however, that Freeman was a casualty before the season. Greg Schiano didn’t trust Freeman on critical offensive plays dating back to 2012. That was a recipe for disaster and all on Schiano. Don’t make Freeman your starter if you don’t think he can play.

Yes, Joe also will comfortably say that if the Bucs won their first two games of this season — games that easily should have been locked up — Freeman would still be the Bucs’ starter. But that’s just the tough business of the NFL. Wins, performance and pressure matter. Just ask Kevin Ogletree.

The real truths surrounding Josh Freeman, on and off the field, might never be revealed. But they’re of lessened importance now. Freeman is gone.

Joe wishes Freeman well.

Super Bowl winning coach turned FOX analyst Brian Billick weighed in on all things Bucs this morning on the Ron and Ian show on WDAE-AM 620.

Billick took a very analytical approach to the mayhem swirling around the Bucs but said it’s a “coach’s worst nightmare” while trying to find a way to win a game. There’s plenty more, including Billick explaining how the Bucs could be working on building a case to suspend Josh Freeman without pay. Enjoy!

Bucs captain Davin Joseph dives into why the bye week is good for the Bucs, why there’s a lot of good to pull from the first month of the season, and Joseph explains that Josh Freeman worked his tail off for the Buccaneers and that his future is bright. Joseph laments the eventual loss off Freeman, explaining that Tampa and Freeman were “like rice and beans. (Audio via 620wdae.com.)

BSPN NFL insider Ed Werder talks in this video about Josh Freeman being “intercepted” by rockstar general manager Mark Dominik at One Buc Palace for a face-to-face meeting with Greg Schiano. Per Werder, it was to see where Freeman’s head was at after Freeman released a public statement in response to his confidential medical records getting exposed.

The nonsense continues on the national stage.

Joe wonders whether Schiano was on the details/prepared for the inevitable national circus when he declared Freeman a starting quarterback on a Monday afternoon, demoted him to No. 2 QB on a Wednesday morning, declined to talk about him the next day, and then deactivated Freeman hours later. The head coach takes great pride in his preparation and readiness. So should Joe believe this is what Schiano wanted for the Buccaneers?

The leader of the New Schiano Order typically never wavers in his public approach to a football season. Greg Schiano always, always, always talks about one-game seasons and how that’s the only mindset he has. But not on Monday.

During his weekly radio show, Schiano referenced winning 12 consecutive games out of the bye to close the season.

“Get a little break. Get on a run here. Go for 12 straight, and hopefully we have some more after that,” Schiano said.

Joe found it notable that the head coach stepped out of his core beliefs and talked about the big picture of the current season. Schiano drills it into his players to only talk and think one game at a time. But even he couldn’t stick to that. Humans are humans.

Interestingly, the last great Buccaneers season was built around the exact opposite of a one-game-at-a-time mindset. Raheem Morris’ famous “Race to 10” mantra in 2010 was designed to get players thinking about the big picture.

Outspoken national sports columnist and former Division-I football player Jason Whitlock believes the locker room at One Buc Palace is the source of the Josh Freeman leaks.

Joe isn’t much of a Jason Whitlock kind of a guy. mostly because Whitlock generally loves sports and non-sports things Joe has checked out on long ago, namely, the Non-Basketball Association.

But Joe does admire Whitlock, the Kansas City-based national columnist now working for BSPN, for his outspoken if not unpopular takes. After Father Dungy’s final game with the Bucs when they lost (again) to the Eagles, Whitlock nearly came to blows with Keyshawn Johnson because Whitlock accused Johnson of taking veiled shots at future Hall of Famer Warren Sapp (Johnson and Sapp have had a long history of acrimony).

Last night, Whitlock decided to weigh in on the Josh Freeman saga with the Bucs. Whitlock, who played college football at Ball State, believes he knows the source of the many leaks about Freeman. Some believe they are coming from One Buc Palace. Whitlock agrees, though he believes the leaks are coming straight from the Bucs locker room, not the front office or coaches’ room.

@WhitlockJason: Has ONE Tampa receiver complained about Freebow getting benched? ONE? Receivers ain’t afraid to bitch. #takehimoffthecross #fromKCilikeJosh … Vincent Jack$on ain’t scared of Schiano. Freebow is getting played by media. Coaches are taking notes. Not a good look. … I’ve seen no proof of or motivation for Schiano to smear Freebow. More likely unhappy teammate(s) smearing Freebow. #tradevalueschiano

Whoa! Those are some bold opinions.

Joe has zero idea if Whitlock’s claims are accurate but it is interesting that Bucs receivers did not pitch a fit when Freeman was benched but rather stuck up for Mike Glennon.

Though knowing how the Bucs locker room is, Joe is confident the team was given implicit orders to say nice things about Glennon. You know, put a happy face on things and look forward and not look back?

Yup, another day, another chapter in the circus that has become the Bucs.

Earlier today we learned that the Bucs, reportedly, videotape team members on the sidelines of games to ensure they behave properly.

Tonight, Jim Trotter of SI.com claims Freeman has been fined by the team for “conduct detrimental.”

Add another layer to the ongoing feud between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and quarterback Josh Freeman, as SI has learned that Freeman has been fined twice by the club in the last month, including once in the last week, for conduct detrimental to the team. The infractions include missing at least one team meeting and participating in an unauthorized media interview. According to a source, Freeman plans to appeal the fines.

That was followed up by Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times Twittering that Freeman was fined over $30,000 for the infractions.

@NFLSTROUD: #Bucs QB Josh Freeman was fined at least twice for a total of $31,500. He is appealing. $10,500 was for his unauthorized ESPN interview

Well now. “At least” two infractions? The soap opera wheels continue to turn at One Buc Palace.

It’s to the point Joe doesn’t want to sleep for fear of missing the next shoe dropping in this seemingly never-ending saga.