Former Bucs great Derrick Brooks sits down with Jim Rome on his BSPN show Jim Rome Is Burning to discuss what if any future he has in the NFL. Rome tried to pin him down but Brooks wouldn’t take the bait.

Brooks did profess sadness as to how his exit with the Bucs transpired.

Good guy Richard Deitsch of SI.com (who reads Joe) snagged an interview with former Bucs coach and current BSPN talking head Chucky recently. Deitsch, being the journalist he is, wasted little time in trying to pin Chucky down on when or if he will coach again.

Chucky deftly dodged the question.

SI.com: Your boss, ESPN executive vice president John Skipper, predicted to SI that you would be in the booth for at least two years. Will he be right?

Gruden: I hate to predict my future. I never really thought I would be a head coach at 34 years old. I never thought I would be traded to Tampa. I never even really thought I would be fired, even though I probably deserved it. I try not to predict things. I signed up to a job and I’m going to finish it and give it everything I have. I feel like I have made some improvements, but I have a long way to go to be good at it.

Chucky also seemed to take a veiled shot at the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig. When asked if he can be critical of players or teams since he may be affiliated with them some day, Chucky said, “Yeah, I can be critical. Now I’m not going to be one of these sports-talk show hosts that does negative criticizing for a living.”

Chucky also confessed that his arrogance may have contributed to his dismissal saying, “I never thought I’d be fired.”

Seeing a mess of Bucs doomsayers all on one computer screen had Joe doing a double-take.

BSPN.com is offering season previews and prognostications from 14 of their “experts,” and every last one of them is predicting a last-place finish in the NFC South for Tampa Bay.

John Clayton perhaps had the most reasoned comments.

DIVISION FINISH: 4  The Bucs are rebuilding their defense, which had been the backbone of the franchise for countless years. The quarterback position is also in transition. Put those things together with a young, first-year coach and a tough schedule, and it might be hard for the Bucs to win more than six games.

Joe can’t believe not one of these 14 clowns thinks the Bucs have a prayer. Surely it’s reasonable that at least one of them would like what they see out of One Buc Place. Maybe not.

If the Bucs are going to be remotely successful this season they will need to come up big on special teams. If Tim MacMahon of the Dallas Morning News is correct, Clifton Smith could come up huge Sunday.

MacMahon notes how the Cowboys are not exactly efficient in their kick coverages and he fears Smith may blow the game open.

There’s a pretty good chance that Smith will break another big return Sunday for a couple of reasons:

1) Smith made the Pro Bowl last season despite not making his NFL debut until that Oct. 26 game. He averaged 27.6 yards per kickoff return and 14.1 per punt return, taking one of each back to the house.

2) Well, you saw the Cowboys’ special teams coverage during the preseason. Joe DeCamillis has his hands full turning those units around.

Joe hopes this is the case. Dallass’ defense isn’t exactly swiss cheese. Short fields for the offense to work with will sure help.

Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips is a pretty boring, low-key speaker. He’s no Raheem The Dream.

But one thing did make him laugh at his Monday news conference, archived on the Cowboys’ Web site. Phillips smiled when talking about how little he’s seen of the Bucs’ first-unit offense on film.

“Basically the tight end and the two wide receivers (chuckle) haven’t played very much. All those guys are top players,” Phillips said.  …They could come out wingin it and they’ve got good people to throw it, too.

“Overall they’re a West Coast offense. …Some of the things are similar to what they did last year.”

Phillips goes on talk about how the Bucs still have “a lot of short, quick routes” in their offense and he praised Byron Leftwich for his defensive reads pre-snap (exactly what Bucs announcer Dave Moore said Josh Freeman is struggling with).

Joe’s glad the Bucs have shown little of the A-Team passing game on film.

That can’t hurt, especially when Joe expects Antonio Bryant comes out playing angry with a massive chip on his shoulder and ready to put the Bucs on his back in a contract year. (Joe can dream, can’t he?)

No NFL player should need added inspiration on opening day. After all, every team has the same record, the crowds are going wild and hope is in the air.

Vacation Man, of BSPN.com, suggests one reason Cadillac Williams officially tops the Bucs running backs depth chart for Sunday’s game is because Caddy will spark the Bucs’ effort and is a popular guy with a helluva story.

But there’s also the possibility that designation is a reward for Williams and motivation for the rest of the team.
He’s also a veteran and a very popular figure in the locker room. Coach Raheem Morris very well may start Williams on Sunday against Dallas and the running back could play a significant role. 

Joe can’t disagree.

When Joe chatted with Davin Joseph recently, Joe did not share on JoeBucsFan.com their talk about Cadillac Williams.

Joseph glowingly told Joe what in inspirational figure Cadillac is.

“He’s had that [career’s-over] tag on him twice and look where he is today,” Joseph said. “If you can’t get inspired by him in the backfield, (laughs), I don’t know. You look at him and on the field and you’re just fired up.”

Joe, like Vacation Man, doesn’t believe the plan for Cadillac is to get the majority of work, but why not throw him out there for the first two series.

The Bucs desperately need to beat Dallas on Sunday. Any extra motivation is welcome.

Oh, the drama.

Joe is going to call the 2009 Bucs season right here on Wednesday.

Yes, Joe will join the ranks of the uninformed, over-informed and blowhard media clowns and deliver his own prediction for this season.

No sneak preview today. All Joe’s going to say is he sure hopes he’s way off base and the Bucs go 12-4 to win the NFC South. 

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow and have your say.

While fans in many NFL cities wonder whether they’ll be able to watch their favorite teams from their living rooms, there’s still no offical announcement about Sunday’s opening day against the Cowboys being televised locally.

However, Joe suspects the game is already a lock to be on the tube. But the Bucs want everyone to assume a blackout is imminent, so they’ll keep inquiring about tickets.

Joe has been monitoring Ticketmaster.com and now there are very few pairs of tickets available. The pickins are slim, about what the Bucs had available online a few days before many games last year.

Remember, per NFL rules those expensive club seats at the CITS don’t need to be sold for the Bucs to avoid a blacked out game.

The Panthers are a younger team than the Bucs, even with soon-to-be fossil Jake Delhomme at quarterback.

Joe’s not a big fan of meaningless lists and predictions. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t read them and comtemplate their meaning.

A stat geek at BSPN calculated the new NFL rosters and the Bucs check in as the 28th youngest team in the league.

No surprise there, but Joe initially was surprised to see the Panthers at No. 29. If the Bucs finish behind the Panthers, they won’t be able to use the “young team” excuse. And that’s good. No excuses are a good thing.

The veteran Saints are No. 2, and the Falcons’ rank No. 11.

Amanda Harris

The Bucs open the season Sunday and then Tampa Bay Lightning training camp gets in high gear for the 2009-2010 season.

For fans of both teams, the glorious time of year is coming. Now if these teams can only win games.

To stay caught up on the Lightning, visit JoeBoltsFan.com. Beat writer Amanda Harris is the finest in the area, and she’s got The Rundown today. It’s your breakdown of everything Lightning from the previous week.

Joe’s got you covered.

In the purported running backs rotation that Joe believes is largely a smokescreen, the Bucs are listing Cadillac Williams as their starter.

Allegedly, he’ll play two series. Then Derrick Ward will get two. Then Earnest Graham one. And then the Bucs will do it all over again.

Hooray for Cadillac. But last Joe checked Cadillac is not much of a receiver out of the backfield and Ward and Graham are. Cadillac also seems to be less of the downhill, one-cut runner that allegedly succeeds in the zone blocking system.

Let’s hope the Bucs’ offensive minds have really seen enough of Cadillac in practice and in just seven preseason carries to make this call.

This BSPN video is a bit dated, but it’s still interesting. BSPN’s Chris Mortensen stopped by One Buc Palace during training camp and Raheem the Dream talked about what he learned from a number of influences he’s had in his days in the NFL.

Joe likes that Mark Dominik and Raheem the Dream thought so much of second-year backup quarterback Josh Johnson they decided to keep him around for (at least) another year with the Bucs.

But the question is obvious: With Josh Freeman the quarterback of the future and likely to start this year if the season goes into the tank, what kind of a future does Johnson really have with the Bucs?

Peter King of SI.com may have the answer: None. King is of the belief that Johnson is trade bait.

Dealing Luke McCown of the Flying McCown Brothers means that now the Bucs can take their time developing both Josh Freeman and last year’s QB hope, Josh Johnson. Freeman’s the nominal quarterback of the future, of course, but they can either make a good backup of Johnson or, like the Jets, try to get something for him next April.

Joe would love to see the Bucs talk Johnson into being a multiple-threat: quarterback, running back, wide receiver. The kid certainly has wheels. But hey, if the Bucs can somehow steal a mid-round pick for a No. 3 quarterback, Joe thinks Dominik should pull the trigger.

The exciting action is at Derby Lane in St. Petersburg today. Live afternoon greyhound racing with cash giveaways and BBQ specials. Plus the Bay Area’s best poker room

Food. Money. Fun. That’s Joe’s kind of day.

Get to Derby Lane early make a whole day of it. No reason to fight the beach traffic and grill at home. 

Not many people believe Raheem the Dream can point the Bucs to the playoffs this season.

Not too many people outside of One Buc Palace (and Joe presumes privately, not too many people inside One Buc Palace) are expecting the Bucs to sniff the playoffs.

Count Clark Judge of CBSSports.com among the disbelievers. Judge, in his NFC South preview, believes the division to be quite strong with the exception of one club. Yup. The team that plays at the CITS.

(Joe just knows someone will ask, “What’s the CITS?” The search function in the left margin is a wonderful feature.)

This is a start up, with new players, a new coach and a new identity. The Tampa Bay Bucs used to be Derrick Brooks’ team — now they’re Morris’ club, and I don’t know what that means until they suit up and play. What I do know is they can’t survive in this division with the guys they have starting — not now they can’t. But this is a process, and the process is just beginning.

Joe is of the belief the Bucs could surprise some teams if there’s a semblence of a passing attack. If not, it will be a long season.

Running back Kareem "The Dream" Huggins has signed a contract with the Bucs

Two good guys were rewarded with spots on the Bucs’ practice squad: St. Petersburg native and Lakewood High School graduate wide receiver Patrick Carter, and Raheem the Dream’s hometown guy running back Kareem Huggins.

Additionally, the Bucs also claimed cornerback William Middleton from the Dixie Chicks. He was Atlanta’s fifth round pick this year.

Joe is happy to see this. Huggins seemed on his way to making the team until he suffered a hyperextended knee against Jacksonville. Carter bounced around last year and it warms Joe’s heart to see a local guy like that finally have his hard work and dedication pay off.

Ryan Purvis is officially a Bucs tight end. He was among seven named this weekend to the practice squad. The Bucs have one more spot to fill.

The Bucs were busy today filling out their practice squad. That’s the group of eight young, inexperienced guys who get paid about $90,000 for the season to impress coaches, hit the weight room and simulate the Bucs’ opponent and land top shelf women.

Not bad work if you can get it.

In addition to Maurice Evans, whose genius Joe described earlier, now Buccaneers are CB Kyle Arrington, DT Rashaad Duncan, RB Kareem Huggins, OL James Lee, WR Patrick Carter, WR Mario Urrutia and TE Ryan Purvis. One spot remains open.

Joe was intrigued by undrafted rookie tight end Purvis, a Jeff Jagodzinski guy out of Boston College who was one of Matt Ryan’s favorite targets at BC and considered a strong pro prospect in 2007.

Purvis’ performance fell considerably in his senior year in 2008, and he landed in Bucs camp.

Joe caught up with the 6-4, 255-pound tight end after he made the Bucs’ practice squad on Sunday.

Joe: You had a couple of good catches in the final preseason game against Houston. But you’re pretty much a mystery to Bucs fans. What should fans know about you?

Ryan Purvis: I catch the ball. I kind of pride myself on that. …I”ve got three great tight ends ahead of me right now. It’s a great opportunity to develop my complete game. It’s a great experience and opportunity to get into the tight ends room with this group. I’ll work hard.

Joe: You’ve already spent time in preseason with the Bucs three veteran tight ends. Talk about that.

Purvis: It’s been really nice because they’re all good at different things. Kellen [Winslow] and Jeremy Stevens are great receivers and [John] Gilmore’s a great blocker. Kellen’s been exceptional on teaching me to read defenses. …And Gilmore on learning to get into people and block at this level.

Joe: Jeff Jagodzinski was your head coach at Boston College. What was your relationship with him and did you feel your chances to make the Bucs took a blow when he was fired?

Purvis: I had a great relationship with him for two years at Boston College. I know he had a hand in bringing me in here. I wasn’t concerned when he left. I really didn’t think that it would affect me or that I would be evaluated differently.

Joe: So after being undrafted you’ve now got a spot in the NFL. How do you feel? What did you do when you got the news?

Purvis: It’s been a long road since my bowl game [against Vanderbilt] to Pro Days through the draft to right now. It’s a great feeling. … I called my parents right away and they were having a Labor Day party back home and some family was over. I told them all I’d be sticking around and they’d have a place to visit when it gets cold back home this winter.

Joe loves his readers. When Joe has to leave his home for whatever reason, it seems his readers look out for him.

A poster tipped Joe off to the fact the Bucs may have signed rookie free agent Maurice Evans off waivers. 

The former stud defensive end at Penn State was signed by the Giants as a free agent and lasted until this weekend. That’s not a big knock on Evans as the Giants are loaded with defensive linemen.

The Bucs have nothing about this signing on their website but Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger (which Joe thought was out of business) has this information on his Twitter account .

Evans was a monster two years ago for JoePa but after getting busted for the hippie lettuce was suspended by JoePa for the first three games of 2008, lost his starting gig to Aaron Maybin, and never really matched the success he had in 2007.

The story behind the bust is rather humorous if not profoundly moronic. Seems Evans and other Penn State players held a party at their apartment. So far, so good. Some dork decides to call the cops because the party is too loud (must have been a math major).

The cops show up and want to look inside the apartment. The players, stupidly, say “No, go get a warrant.” Real dumb. Not only do you piss off the cops, who may have given you a break because you played for JoePa, they go wake up a judge (who is equally pissed now) and get a warrant signed.

In the meantime, what made this move moronic was that the players had plenty of time to get rid of their stash since the cops were outside and not leaving. Instead, they leave their stash on the coffee table.

So when the cops get the warrant, enter the apartment… well, what have we here?

Joe hopes that Evans has decided to stop smoking left-handed cigarettes, learned a basic grasp of civics, and somehow regains his form from college two years ago when he tormented the likes of Tyler Donovan.

In honor of the signing of Evans, who can also play the 3-4 defense — ruh, roh — Joe is going to watch the Penn State game over Akron from yesterday with a cold Caybrew in hand.

Between bottles of Caybrew last night while  watching BYU-Oklahoma and Alabama-Virginia Tech on Joe’s two TVs, Joe learned Garcia was cut by the Raiders.

The former Bucs quarterback and his dad have always been good to Joe, so Joe was rather chagrin to learn of this transaction.

It was a surprise move, writes David White of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Garcia, 39, was hired in April to push Russell, if not for the starting job, then to teach the former No. 1 overall draft pick how to be a dedicated NFL quarterback in his third season.

“I think first and foremost we are committed to JaMarcus Russell as our starter,” Raiders coach Tom Cable said. “He’s our guy.”

The question, then, is what happens if something happens to their guy?

Garcia provided them a better backup plan than most teams enjoy. He was certainly an upgrade over former backup Andrew Walter and ranked ahead of Bruce Gradkowski and Charlie Frye on the depth chart from Day 1.

Joe has always wondered about that Larry “The Cable Guy” who coaches for senile Al Davis. If The Jawbreaker (allegedly) actually thinks an old Jeff Garcia is better than Charlie Frye, maybe Joe’s in the wrong business.

And yes, this news about Garcia gives Joe a perfect excuse to post a photo of his wife, Carmella, a longtime favorite of Joe’s and his readers.

Joe suspects few will mind.

Former Bucs defensive lineman Kevin Carter is still unemployed, one of many smaller moves Bucs general manager Mark Dominik got right.

Bucs general manager Mark Domink was roasted over the coals far and wide for letting go Derrick Brooks. Other moves raised an eyebrow higher than Brooks usually did.

But for the most part, Dominik’s transactions have been smart, so writes Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.  

As Joe pointed out yesterday, the Bucs swindled Bill Belicheat, who dresses for games as if he just walked out of a homeless shelter.

Cummings scoured the waiver wire yesterday for ex-Bucs who Dominik let go and found many.

Though a lot of Bucs fans were angered over the release last spring of franchise stalwarts Derrick Brooks and Warrick Dunn, no rival NFL team has suggested it wasn’t the right call.

With the start of the 2009 regular season now just a week away, neither Brooks nor Dunn has found a new team to play for, and the same holds true for Kevin Carter, Ike Hilliard and Brian Griese.

And while a few of the players let go by the Bucs in recent months did find work with new teams, none seem to have found the kind of work they once had with the Bucs.

Joe could quibble over some of the other moves. Joe still believes Ike Hilliard could have been a valuable asset off the bench as he was last year. The Bucs depth at wide receiver is paper-thin.

Joe also believes Dunn could have helped but the Bucs don’t exactly need running backs. And as Cummings points out, Joey Galloway is so far playing well for Belicheat and the Patriots.

But Dominik wanted to go younger and when a team is rebuilding — yeah, Ra’, you are rebuilding — it’s always best to go young.

Mark Dominik and Raheem The Dream waived goodbye tonight to Luke McCown. He was dealt to the Jacksonville Jaguars for an undisclosed 2010 draft pick.

Joe’s hoping the Bucs got a fifth-rounder. Wishful thinking, but possible.

And Joe wishes good-guy McCown well.

So much for keeping four quarterbacks. Joe suspected McCown would be dealt the moment the Bucs named Byron Leftwich the starter.

JoeBucsFan.com polled you, the thousands of daily readers, to ask whether you thought McCown would be traded before opening day. And 43 percent of you were on the mark. Not bad.

Now the question is whether Josh Johnson will get a legitimate chance to win the No. 2 quarterback job. Joe wouldn’t vote yes on that one.

Joe caught up with safety Steve Cargile after he was cut by the Bucs today. Cargile is a veteran out of Columbia University who has bounced around a handful of clubs since earning his Ivy League economics degree in 2004. He’s also worked for his share of stud NFL coaches, including Bill Parcells, Mike Shanahan and Tom Coughlin.

On what was a downer of a day for him, Cargile told Joe about his experience and Raheem The Dream’s locker room.

Joe: Your former teammate in Denver, John Lynch, was touting you on multiple Bucs preseason broadcasts. And you played well in your time here. Was today’s news a surprise?

Steve Cargile: I wouldn’t say it was a surprise. You learn quickly that anything is possible in the NFL. It’s a disappointment because I believe I showed in Tampa that I can play in this league. …I didn’t know the exact situation coming in and my chances. But I definitely thought I played well enough to make the team.

Joe: You were in Bucs training camp in 2006. Did you have any history with Raheem Morris?

Cargile: It was Raheem and Mike Tomlin who made the case to bring me into Tampa that year. But Raheem was gone to Kansas and Tomlin in Minnesota when I got here.

Joe: Did you get any positive feedback today? Or did the Bucs just say, ‘See you later.’

Cargile: I don’t think they said see you later. I sat down with my position coach today and he was very positive about my performance. If the situation comes up again here, I don’t think they’d be hesitant to bring me back. They felt comfortable with me in the defense. And I felt comfortable with the defense.

Joe: You’ve been in camps and on the rosters of several franchises, the Cowboys, Giants, Broncos, Monte Kiffin’s Buccaneers, among others. How does the atmosphere of the 2009 Bucs compare?

Cargile: I think there’s a good attitude. I liked Raheem for the head coach for the short time I was here. It’s an excellent coaching staff. Compared to other organizations I’ve been around it’s looser in Tampa. Not looser in an bad sense. It just not a military format where everybody has to be some specific way. The expectations are there, it’s just a loose environment. It’s different.

Joe: Coming into the NFL from an Ivy League school, what kind of challenge is that too overcome?

Cargile: It’s tougher for anyone from a small school, especially when you’re a free agent. It’s been a tough road. …I got a break [in Denver] but not as many opporutnities as I believe I deserved. You need to make the most of all opportunities, but you need some luck and some breaks. I’ve always been one of those guys on the bubble. I just need one of those times again to get one of those breaks.