When someone is hiding, that generally means someone is hiding something.

Call Joe a cynic, but that’s pretty much been his experience as an award-winning journalist. People without something to hide generally don’t hide because they have no reason to hide.

The way Da’Quan Bowers has been kept under wraps by his agent Joe Flanagan, it raises all sorts of red flags with Joe.

Most of the new Bucs are out there to talk with the local pen and mic club. How does Joe know this? Because he’s dealt with many of them through Twitter if not spoken to them personally; cool guys all.

But Bowers is one of the few who — though he has several Twitter posts throughout the day — never responds. Maybe once a week he’ll do something as vapid as retweet a request from a Bucs fan.

(For Twitter newbies, a retweet is basically an acknowledgement that you read one’s Twitter post without responding.)

After numerous attempts, Bowers has not responded to any of Joe’s requests for an interview, not even a “yeah, sure.” Hey, that’s OK with Joe. If the guy doesn’t want to talk, he doesn’t want to talk. This, despite the fact Bowers sure is chatty on Twitter, informing people of his daily routine.

Joe’s not the only one who is getting the cold shoulder from Bowers. Joe knows a prominent local sports radio personality that has tried time and again not only to get Bowers to talk, but just to get Flanagan to talk on the air.

This gentleman in question has had as much luck as Joe.

So yesterday Joe read good guy Stephen Holder’s article about Bowers and his recovery from whatever ails his knee in the St. Petersburg Times. Curiously, Holder, a solid reporter, was unable to get Bowers to talk.

Naturally, Bowers’ agent said everything you’d expect an agent to say before reading one word of Holder’s article: that Bowers is ready to roll for training camp and all the kvetching over his knee is simply hogwash and paranoia.

Again, this is coming from Bowers’ agent. What do you expect an agent to say, that Bowers is a near-cripple and drags his leg like Ygor in Young Frankenstein?

Initially, Joe was ready to use Holder’s feature as an example of how dead it is during this asinine lockout, fronted by NFL hatchetman Roger Goodell and his devious, anti-football, fan-unfriendly tactics.

No, there is something much more afoot than reporters desperate for any morsel of real-football information. Bower’s agent is hiding him, it’s pretty clear. But why?

For example, there’s a reason troubled Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib isn’t talking, except to his lawyer and Texas police authorities for these many months. He could be on the verge of being jettisoned by the Bucs if not sentenced to prison.

Talib has a reason to hide. So just what is the reason Flanagan is hiding Bowers?

Surely it couldn’t be Bowers’ knee. Could it?

Sigh. Since Joe brought up Young Frankenstein, in an effort to start the morning in a little lighter mood, enjoy one of the great comedic scenes in film history from Young Frankenstein.

The same old stuff from Barrett Ruud in 2011 would be a good thing, so says former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht.

Speaking on WHBO-AM 1040 Monday, Becht essentially explained that Ruud’s upside outweighs his downside and that the defensive line limits Ruud’s effectiveness.

“Keeping Barrett Ruud would be a positive thing for them, but he’s not going to be coming downhill with the young defensive line being pushed back. … And people aren’t going to like that, ” Becht said.

So is that what would turn Ruud into a Pro Bowler? A better defensive line?

Of course, the Ruud saga will continue to rage on at least until he signs with a team, and likely a lot longer if that team is the Bucs.

Joe surely has written enough about Ruud’s perceived value, but Joe still hasn’t found anyone who thinks Ruud is as good as he was through much of the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Football dominates Joe’s life. If he isn’t working on this site he’s watching the real man channel, the NFL Network, or listening to SiriusXM NFL Radio, or he is surfing for football news in the wee hours of the morning in between private moments of pining for that knock on the door from a cold, shivering, drenched Rachel Watson.

It was one of these moments — no, not a Rachel Watson moment — where Joe came up with some cool news.

Twittering at 1 a.m. Joe came across a post from Bucs first round draft pick Adrian Clayborn. He seemed bored from Arizona and was asking if there were any Bucs fans awake on the east coast. So Joe asked him who he was working out with.

Mere moments later, Clayborn responded.

a bunch of vets….james harrison, couple packs, rams guys, alot of guys to name.

So Clayborn is working out with Harrison and a couple of Packers? As Charlie Sheen would say, “Winning!” The fact that Clayborn is working out with Harrison gets Joe totally fired up.

There may not be a better guy for Clayborn to bond with. Harrison was an undrafted free agent with the Steelers and three times he was cut from the Steelers practice squad. But through hard work, sweat and toil, he is now the game’s best outside linebacker, a guy who should be lauded and held up as a standard for all NFL players by the suits in Manhattan.

But no! NFL hatchetman Roger Goodell is doing his very best to tear apart the very fabric of the NFL, a game we have all grown to love, treasure and covet.

Harrison is public enemy No. 1 in Goodell’s eyes. Harrison plays relentless football, physical football, football where men wince when crossing the line of scrimmage, football that quarterbacks have acid reflux over, football that is played through the whistle the way we were all taught to play football. The right way to play football, the correct way to play football.

Football that is America!

But this is just the opposite of what Goodell strives for. It’s almost as if secretly he wants there not to be a 2011 season, that’s the only logical reason for this utter nonsense that he fronts for his employers and this asinine lockout.

Not just that, if Goodell has his sinister way, the NFL will turn into a “game” that only drag queens from New Orleans and Fidel Castro worshippers in Greenwich Village with their dumbarse argyle sweaters, who hang in some low-rent coffeehouse listening to some two-bit, unemployed poet whine about the potato famine, will take a liking to.

If Joe wanted to watch flag football, he’d watch flag football!

Back to Clayborn, just thinking of him working with Harrison, there can be nothing bad coming out of that. Throw in working with some Packers who can bestow upon Clayborn the art of winning playoff games, this is just great stuff.

No, no eastern European hotties for Clayborn. He’s doing man’s work with real men, much to the chagrin of Goodell, who Joe is starting to believe is a wine-sipper.

THE PESSIMIST is a diehard Bucs fan whose negative writings appear occasionally on JoeBucsFan.com. His views surely do not necessarily reflect those of Joe. However, Joe sure gets a kick out of them.

Timeout.

Our beloved Buccaneers ripped a home game from local fans and the stadium they paid to build in the name of marketing the team in England and getting more exposure for the young club. That was the company line.

Yet now, a handful of weeks later, the Bucs have turned down the offer to be on HBO’s Hard Knocks series and captivate the entire United States and legions of casual Bucs fans around Tampa. Those same fans that haven’t watched a Bucs home game on TV since Tampa Bay was clobbered routinely in 2009.

Something stinks worse than the Angelo Crowell signing. (Oh, wait, the Bucs braintrust knows knee injuries).

THE PESSIMIST can’t be the only one sniffing this Hard Knocks pile of garbage. The Bucs went from scratching and clawing for the spotlight, even swimming across the Atlantic, and now they’re running away from it faster than Aqib Talib speed dials his lawyer.

The Bucs may call themselves fan-friendly, but taking away a home game and denying fans access on Hard Knocks aren’t pro-fan moves.

What’s next? Fewer training camp dates open to the public?

THE PESSMIST wants to know exactly what the Bucs were afraid of when it came to Hard Knocks. What does the team so eager for recognition and attention think third-year coach Raheem Morris couldn’t handle?

Of course, THE PESSMIST won’t get an answer, just the comfort of watching a nation of soccer fans tailgate while he can’t.

In between “grunting” with fellow iPhone types and working out at Saddlebrook Resort in Pasco County, Bucs (?) middle linebacker Barrettt Ruud is lost.

He’s supposed to be a free agent. But NFL hatchetman Roger Goodell and his horribly short-sighted employers are hellbent on destroying the NFL as we know it with this lockout nonsense. Have you ever heard of a company that rakes in cash hand over fist actually going to court in order to shut itself down? Can you imagine?

Shoot, Ruud doesn’t even know if the Bucs want him back or not. So like an expatriate is a man without a country, Ruud is a linebacker without a team.

After working out with the Eastern European tennis hotties of the WTA at Saddlebrook — smart move Mr. Ruud, very smart — Ruud took time out to discuss his status with eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.

“I keep hoping something will get done with this lockout,” Ruud said. “There’s been about five times when I thought something was going to get done, but here we are. It’s pretty frustrating. Even if there’s an agreement, nobody knows what’s going to happen with free agency … we could be playing under 2010 rules.”

The way Joe sees it, Ruud will be employed somewhere. He may very well be back with the Bucs in 2011 — provided there is a 2011 season — for a rate less than he expected or he may just go elsewhere such as the New York Giants.

Look, there are plenty of people who need to worry about their futures. There are cancer-ridden souls and those out of a job with no idea how they are going to pay rent much less food for their children. There are people who cannot afford proper healthcare.

Working out with the scantily-attired, spandex-laced Eastern European tennis babes in a plush, gated resort isn’t exactly what Joe would call worrisome.

Joe’s big on technology. Loves it in fact. But Joe has yet to hop on the iPhone tsunami.

One reason Joe has never done the iPhone is that it was until recently an exclusive AT&T product. Joe has Verizon, has had Verizon for many years and is so pleased with Verizon was never moved to switch.

The second reason Joe has not done an iPhone is that Joe loathes touchscreens. Joe needs a keyboard. Until or unless Steve Jobs capitulates and builds a keyboard for his iPhone, Joe will stick with his trusty Blackberry.

(Post intermission: Memo to Blackberry: What the f’ gives? You forced an upgrade to Joe’s Blackberry software and now you take away columns from the internet browser? Ridiculous! Now Joe has to screw around with the zoom feature whenever he has to launch his browser, which is terribly cumbersome. NEVER fix something that’s not broken you flippin’ Canucks.)

So since Joe is so anti-iPhone (for now), it appears Joe won’t get to communicate with Bucs middle linebacker Barrett Ruud.

Per eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune, former Bucs Ryan Nece and Jeb Terry have developed an iPhone app which will allow fans to chat — in “real-time” — to various players who have signed up for this app, which includes Ruud.

“I’m not a Facebook guy or a Twitter guy, but I thought this was a cool idea,” Ruud said. “It’s kind of like leaving voicemails for anyone who wants to listen. During the football season, when fans are really focused, they can get direct feedback from players. It could be a mid-week quote on the upcoming game or a grunt Sunday night about the game that was just played.”

Fans can download the app to their iOS device of choice, pick the players they want to follow and subscribe to the program.

“You’ve got to have a catchy name,” Ruud said of Gridiron Grunts. “At the same time, you don’t want people to think you’re a Neanderthal. I’m OK with ‘grunt,’ because we’re talking about short, quick messages.”

Joe can only imagine the possibilities that fans would have to chat with Ruud, or as Nece’s company calls it, “grunt.”

Shoot, there may not be a more polarizing figure on the Bucs other than perhaps troubled Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib than Ruud. If anything, this device should sure be lively.

Moments ago, the Bucs announced on their official Facebook page that the team has declined the NFL’s overtures to have training camp featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks.

Some of you may have heard that we were approached by the league about the possibility of being this year’s team on “Hard Knocks.” After discussing the idea and carefully considering the opportunity, we have respectfully declined. It was certainly an honor to be considered, and we think it is a good indication of the excitement and national interest that is forming around our team. This year, however, we believe it is in the best interests of the team to keep the focus on the field and what we hope to accomplish in 2011. As we told the league, we would be honored to be considered again in the future; it is always an entertaining and informative show and we look forward to watching whomever takes our spot this year.

Joe agrees with this line of thinking. The Bucs are still a very young team and really don’t need the distractions of having camera crews in their faces every waking moment.

When the team begins to establish itself, and more Bucs personalities begin to emerge, it will make for a better series.

Joe also has a hunch the lockout has in some way played a part in this decision.

Hattip reader Jason Klafter.

Joe swears he hasn’t had a beer or a cocktail in 24 hours, nor has Joe been cruising around with Alex Magee or Jerramy Stevens, so Joe is certain he wasn’t seeing things this morning reading Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback column on SI.com.

In conjunction with the man channel NFL Network series, Top 100 Players of 2011, King is counting down his personal Top-100 and has them matched up alongside a graph of the NFL-player picks in his column. This morning, King published his Nos. 61 through 70, even though NFL Network hasn’t aired those selections yet.

Joe read Kings’s list and saw Davin Joseph at No. 64. (Really. Joe swears). However, the editorial gremlins at Sports Illustrated have since taken down all of King’s selections in the 60s.

Now Joe nearly spilled his coffee seeing Joseph ranked that high.  …Perhaps it was King hanging out with Magee and Stevens.

Joseph is an excellent, injury-prone player, but the Bucs didn’t miss a beat without him in the last five games of 2010 against the Falcons, Lions, Redskins, Seahawks and Saints. And there’s no way he’s in the class of the best 100 players in the league, let alone 26 spots ahead of Josh Freeman, as King ranked him.

Joe wonders what will be there when King unveils his list — again — next Monday.

Joe was in stunned disbelief listening to former Bucs Ryan Nece (2002-2007) and Anthony Becht (’05-’07) interviewing Bucs third-round pick Mason Foster on WHBO-AM 1040 this morning.

Asked what Bucs players he’s been in touch with since being drafted and what plans, if any, he had to come work out with them in Tampa, Foster replied, “I haven’t talked to any players yet.” And Foster very politely went on to say he looked forward to hearing from somebody at some point.

Nobody reached out to the Foster? C’mon. In Joe’s eyes, this is disgraceful.

Nece and Becht were equally horrified and expressed their disbelief after they hung up the phone with Foster.

“Who on the Bucs defense is going to make that phone call?” Nece asked rhetorically. “That’s a problem. … I’ve got his number. They can call me to get it.”

“Somebody has to be a leader on that defense,” Becht said. “Somebody has to reach out.”

An oversight by captains Ronde Barber, Josh Freeman and activist Jeff Faine? Or simply evidence that all team leaders aren’t too on the ball? Regardless,  it stinks.

In case any of the Bucs care, Foster said he’s been training regularly on the University of Washington campus with fellow Huskies Jake Locker and Nate Williams.

Unfortunately, the long arms of Major League Baseball and the Tampa Bay Rays have reached out to crack down on the great Rays fans at Paradise Worldwide Transportation.

You see, Paradise Worldwide Transportation launched a little promotion on Facebook to give away a roundtrip limo ride to the May 28 Rays game, plus four free Rays tickets and four Rays hats. All you had to do was “Like” their page, and they were going to randomly pick a winner from their Facebook “Likes.”

Pretty simple. And very harmless. Paradise bought the Rays tickets.

But Major League Baseball slapped Paradise with fancy legal paperwork demanding the promotion cease immediately. Apparently, only approved partners of MLB and the team can give away or sell tickets.

Remember, Paradise is the same company that – for no profit – runs the No Excuses Tour that has delivered nearly 200 fans to Tropicana Field from Tampa for only $9.95 on a chauffeured luxury bus.

Also, Paradise was a Rays luxury suite holder in 2008, 2009 and 2010. How dare they threaten the success of MLB and the Rays by giving away four tickets!!

Paradise is complying and no longer giving away the free Rays tickets. However, the limo ride giveaway remains in effect. The winner will be announced in a matter of hours. So you can still Like their page now.

What a shame.

To help ease the emotional wounds endured by watching Andy Sonnanstine pitch for the Rays on Sunday, Joe started watching game film of the 2010 Bucs.

Viewing Ronde Barber’s interception on opening day against Cleveland (via BucStop.com), clearly the turning point of the game, Joe was intrigued to see Stylez White working his ass off on the play to get past perennial Pro Bowler Joe Thomas and cut out Jake Delhomme’s legs as he throws.

Not too shabby. See the link above.

As Joe has written before, Stylez made his share of plays last year and, in past seasons, had proven to be a durable and top-flight backup. He just didn’t get it done at an acceptable level as a starter last year.

While many fans want to see Stylez on the first Greyhound bus out of town, Joe would have no problem seeing No. 91 in the DE rotation this season.

Joe has decided to help out his loyal readers who, for reasons Joe cannot understand, refuse to be men and instead, wallow with a far inferior product, Out House Networks and its celebration of yentas.

Recently, the NFL Network aired the lower tier of its Top 100 Players of 2011 and Josh Freeman was on the list. Here is the highlight video featuring him. It’s narrated by John Abraham.

In the second video, co-hosts Lindsay Soto, Brian Baldinger and Charles Davis discuss Freeman and other quarterbacks on the list.

When Texas authorities accused Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib or pistol whipping and shooting at a fleeing victim recently, it was just another in an escalating series of violent acts by the Bucs former first round draft pick.

Many local media members demanded Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik jettison Talib the instant a CBA is in place, or the American judicial system orders NFL owners back to work as normal.

Many Bucs fans howled upon hearing this, claiming the Bucs would crumble before their very eyes and become the Yucs without Talib on the roster.

Khaled Elsayed of ProFootballFocus.com isn’t a Talib apologist. Though he writes that Talib is a good cornerback, Elsayed doesn’t see Talib among the NFL’s best.

Because you just can’t trust Aqib Talib. Regardless of whether this latest incident sees him facing any follow up action, do you really think Talib is going to turn into the model player? Even from an on the field point of view, it’s not as if Talib is one of the leagues’ elite corners that you can look past indiscretion after indiscretion. That’s not to say Talib isn’t a good player. He’s always had a positive grade in our coverage rankings, but never challenged the top guys with his tendency to give up too many touchdowns.

This reminds Joe of what his good friend Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch told Joe  this past season: That Talib is a gambler. And what happens when you gamble? You get burned.

As Joe has written before, elite cornerbacks don’t volleyball touchdowns to the opponent like Talib did against Pittsburgh. Elite cornerbacks haul those passes in, not assist in two offensive touchdowns.

There are all kinds of stories of former NFL players mismanaging their money, and stories of ex-players effectively being 20 or 30 years older than they really are because of the football pounding they took.

Sadly, former Bucs first-round pick Keith McCants, 43, falls into both categories. Tampa Tribune scribe Joey Johnston caught up with McCants in Pinellas County Jail recently and painted a long, ugly picture of his life. McCants has dementia and doesn’t remember much of his standout college career, among other problems.

“They call me a bust,” he said. “I played six seasons on one leg. I think that’s remarkable. I was always hurt. I was so shot up all the time. Without the dope, I couldn’t play. My body was wrecked, so I didn’t want that needle anymore. I was ready to leave the game.”

With no post-NFL career options, his financial troubles mounted. Court records show he bounced 34 checks over a few days in 1999. The following year, the home he built for his mother was seized by the state of Alabama because of unpaid taxes. In 2004, he went to a Mobile car dealership, took a Lincoln Navigator for a test drive and never returned it. He was indicted by a grand jury and later pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

There was a time when he roamed the streets, not knowing his name, sleeping in cars, eating out of garbage cans, showering in gas stations, wondering where he belonged.

McCants never saw another large contract. The Bucs cut him in 1993. McCants lasted six seasons in the NFL. He draws a monthly $1,100 disability check from the NFL, his only regular income. Since 2004, he has unsuccessfully petitioned the league for an increase based on his physical condition. His pension kicks in at age 55.

Joe can’t feel sorry for McCants blowing his millions. However, the NFL really needs to do more for these guys who have been disabled by the game. Joe suggests you read the whole story on McCants above.

A handful of years ago, Joe worked with another young ex-NFL player, who had spent most, if not all, of his millions. The guy was working a respectable 9-5 job making about $37,000. He was 40 years old, looked good, but walked like a very old man.

There’s got to be better answer to how the NFL handles medical coverage for former players.

Hey Rays fans in Tampa! Wake the heck up! Gas is nearly $4.00 a gallon. Parking is expensive. But help is here.

It’s the No Excuses Tour to Tropicana Field, which takes Rays fans via luxury bus from Lee Roy Selmon’s restaurants in New Tampa and South Tampa to ALL weekend Rays games. And you can bring your own food and beer and travel in style courtesy of Paradise Worldwide Transportation.

It’s only $9.95 per person, and the chauffeured bus is sticking around for select postgame concerts.

Visit NoExcusesTour.com to get ALL the details and buy tickets. And while you’re there, don’t forget to watch the video.

Yeah, this is a Bucs site in particular and an NFL site in general.

So when the lords of the NFL decide they are going to lock out players, which limits any worthwhile news from seeping out of NFL team headquarters, Joe has to do some stretching.

This is one such example.

In recent weeks, PAC-12 commissioner Larry Scott has made no secret of wanting to move some PAC-12 games to Sunday in the event NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell either cancels games or delays the start of the NFL season, thereby taking advantage of a potential Sunday football void left by the NFL.

If Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher has any say, he’d likely pass on Sunday games if ACC leaders have similar plans as Scott.

Fisher, who made an appearance in Palm Harbor today, referred to playing Sunday games as “scary” when Joe asked him. Fisher’s main concern is the academic aspect of Sunday games.

“Not sure if you have seen what these guys go through after a game, but they need a day off,” Fisher said. Sundays are normally reserved for players to deal with the bumps and bruises of a game whether that is time with trainers or medical personnel.

If there was a Sunday game, players would have to limp off to class on Monday.

Fisher noted that the NCAA is ever increasing academic standards and requirements, such as number of hours spent in a classroom each week. A player missing classes on a Monday because of punishment absorbed from a football game the previous day isn’t worth playing on a Sunday, despite the increased exposure, Fisher said.

Joe can only imagine how many eyeballs this year’s Oklahoma-Florida State game, which BSPN is already suggesting would pit — in theory — the No. 1 Sooners against the No. 3 Seminoles, played in Week 2 of the NFL season calendar would pull in if played on a Sunday night with no other football programming on TV.

Joe knows some players care about their community, but Bucs first-round pick Adrian Clayborn seems to have gone the extra mile before getting his NFL Draft ticket out of the Hawkeye state.

Joe found a blog entry about it from Des Moines Register columnist Sean Keeler.

Why the goodwill tour?

“I mean, it’s pretty much my last couple weeks in Iowa for a while,” Adrian Clayborn told me this morning. “I figured I wanted to give back to the community — not only the fans, but go and visit kids in the hospitals. I’m going to a retirement home today. Just to give back to the fans who watched the games and supported the Hawkeyes.”

The former Iowa defensive end and all-Big Ten pass-rusher is in the middle of a four-day farewell tour of the Hawkeye state, a run that began with his pro day in Iowa City Monday; continues in Des Moines on Wednesday; and concludes on Thursday in Coralville with a hospital tour, a book reading, and an NCAA basketball tournament watch party.

“People spend a lot of money, especially with the economy now, (on the Hawkeyes),” the St. Louis native continued. “Season tickets are outrageous — I wouldn’t pay that. It’s definitely the least that I could do. It doesn’t take much energy out of my day; anything I can do to give back is a plus.”

Joe also found additional evidence of Clayborn working the community circuit in Iowa in the weeks leading up to the draft.

Does this mean he’ll get to the quarterback? Of course not. But consider Joe impressed. The guy knew he was leaving town yet he was still out there serving the community.

Joe has to laugh about Clayborn thinking Hawkeyes season ticket prices are outrageous and saying, “I wouldn’t pay that.” A little research revealed to Joe that an Iowa season ticket for the general public in 2011 costs $374 for seven home games — about $53 per game.

It seems the Bucs drafted a guy that understands blackouts.

Most football observers rose in unison and applauded Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik for yet another savvy draft.

But not everyone leapt from their seats.

Seems as though Adam Caplan of FoxSports.com was very much underwhelmed with the Bucs draft, specifically Dominik’s first two selections, Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers. Many Bucs fans believe these two will be bookends for a number of years.

Not Caplan, who explains why he’s not buying Dominik’s draft in a FoxSports.com mailbag.

Question: If you consider Tampa’s draft only a C, you need to step back and re-examine. Picking up the top two ends (Da’Quan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn) with only minor concerns was brilliant. Then picking up the top tackler in the draft (Mason Foster) with their next pick only added to the genius. — Mike A.

Answer: Mike, I hear you, but you need to look at why Bowers slipped way down and why Clayborn wasn’t selected any higher.

In Bowers’ case, it’s hard to argue with the belief that he should have been a top-10 pick based on talent alone. But his knee surgery, which some teams believed was microfracture or close to it, caused his drop. And many of those teams questioned whether he’ll be able to have a long enough career to warrant selecting him in the first round. Medical issues come down to risk. Thirty-one teams believed the risk was too high in the first round. The Buccaneers waited until they thought the risk was worth it in the second round. Time will tell if he turns out to be a steal or not.

As for Clayborn, I had him pegged there, I believe, in all four of my mock draft updates. And the reason is I had a strong feeling that based on his medical issue (Erb’s palsy), he wouldn’t be selected within the first half of the first round. The interesting thing is that on tape, you really can’t tell there was an issue. But that condition affects one side of his body, and sources said you could see that with his shirt off, the affected side wasn’t as developed as the other side. Many teams were concerned that he could play on only one side of the defensive line. It will be interesting to see how he does in the NFL.

As for Foster, he’s an intriguing player. He could play middle or strong-side linebacker in Tampa’s 4-3 defense. He’ll bring a physical presence. And there could be jobs open at both positions depending on the rules of free agency.

Joe’s not so sure Dominik is dodging Bowers’ issues, but Dominik has gone on record he’s comfortable in picking Bowers.

Clearly, only time will tell and picking Bowers very much was a roll of the dice. But it’s not a huge roll where he was selected. Three years from now when people start getting a full read on whether a draft class was good or not, how Bowers is playing will go a long way to determine Dominik’s final grade of this year’s draft.

One of the best stories and saddest stories of the Bucs improbable 10-win season was the story of Cody Grimm.

When Tanard Jackson got popped (again) for a banned substance and was suspended for a year, Grimm, a rookie seventh-round draft pick, was thrust into Jackson’s starting position (thankfully, it wasn’t Sabby the Goat) and outside of getting twisted around by the Steelers, looked and played like anything but a rookie seventh-round draft pick.

But then against Baltimore, the saddest part of the Grimm story happened when he broke his left fibula.

(Shortly thereafter, Sabby the Goat was inserted into the lineup and was burnt to a crisp by Todd Heap and before you know it, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik put Sabby the Goat out to pasture and out of the misery of Bucs fans both sober and smashed. Sabby the Goat did more for alcohol sales in the Tampa Bay area than the good people of Anheuser-Busch and Dewars could ever have imagined.)

Video star Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune caught up with Grimm to talk about his rehab and Grimm believes he’s about 85 percent healed. He went into cringe-inducing detail about what doctors did to his leg.

“They pretty much put a plate and some screws in there and reattached the fibula,” Grimm said. “I had to stay off of it for nine weeks. Then they went in and took out one of the screws that holds my fibula and tibia close together so the cartilage can grow back together and get strong in between there.

“Once that happens, the fibula is good to go. Then it’s all about getting the strength back and the motion back. That’s the key. The bone is not the issue. Once the plate is in there, it’s stronger than before.”

This is just great news. Joe doesn’t believe Grimm will be one of the question marks for the Bucs this season.

Provide NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell allows a season to happen.

Joe always feels a little sad this time of year, when competition to become a Bucs cheerleader is in full swing.

Joe can’t bear to think of all those beautiful women who will be rejected. Joe wishes he could console each and every one of them.

The good folks at Buccaneers.com, presumably with very little to do during the lockout, have put together a stunning video update of the 2011 cheerleading tryouts. Joe was riveted. You should watch it.

Speaking of cheerleaders, Joe remains puzzled by the Bucs imposing term limits on their cheerleaders, forcing some of the classy young veterans into early retirement. There’s something extraordinarily wrong about telling a cheerleader she’s not allowed to compete.

That kind of injustice could be enough motivation for Joe to establish his own cheerleading squad.