Derrick Ward seems to have landed in his coaches' doghouse, perhaps taking the spot vacated by Antonio Bryant.

Sure, Derrick Ward was back at Monday’s OTA practice after some sort of extreme dental makeover that caused him to miss all of last week’s OTA festivities.

He’s all peachy now at the voluntary workouts, but it seems damage has been done. That’s the word from St. Pete Times Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud, aka The Mad Twitterer, who claims Greg Olson and others say Ward’s no-show act has consequences.

“If Derrick Ward has any more reasons not to come, legitimate or not, I just don’t know,” Stroud said to J.P. Peterson on WQYK-AM 1010 on Friday evening. “You know, in talking to Greg Olson and other people, they’re just like, ‘Well, you know we’re going to be loyal to who’s here.’ And you can’t really blame them for that.”

Sure sounds like Olson and the Bucs brass don’t consider dental work enough to keep a guy out of three practices — voluntary or not.

Joe’s not surprised by any of this. It would be hard for an offensive coordinator to avoid giving preferential treatment to the players who sweated it out every day with him installing the offense in June.

Joe’s only surprised (but not really) that Olson and company are spilling all this to the media, saying those in attendance at OTAs would earn loyalty from the coaches. The Bucs new media czar really needs to send Olson a stern message, or at least some fresh duct tape.

Joe loves his tens of thousands of loyal readers. Ok, well, a few of them Joe could do without.

But Joe is committed to interacting with as many as he can, even those who bomb Joe with heinous venom and personal attacks. 

So now Joe is going to take that previously off-line hate mail that landed in his inbox and bring it here in a weekly feature simply titled, Hate Mail.

If you have a problem with Joe, fire away to hatemail@joebucsfan.com.

Every Sunday Joe will answer some select questions right here, likely those void of profanity.

According to one local writer, Tanard Jackson is among many Bucs veterans fighting for a starting job.

The last time Joe listened to The Mad Twitterer, aka Rick Stroud of the St. Pete Times, go head-to-head with electronic media czar J.P. Peterson, Stroud was rambling on TV in May about how the Bucs are a “house of cards”  and Josh Freeman is “holding it all up.”

On Friday, Stroud chatted with Peterson again on WQYK-AM 1010  and admitted he was “ridiculed a little bit by the GM” for the house of cards line. But more important, Stroud bizarrely stated the Bucs have open competition for every starting job outside of quarterback.

“Every job essentially, it’s a free for all out there,” Stroud said. “There’s not a guy out there that can say, ‘I know I’m going to run out of the tunnel Week 1.’ …That’s what’s so exciting about the camp, and I think that kind of breeds the competition and the seriousness that you need. And there were times last year when they just didn’t work as hard as needed to. I think Raheem went back and saw that.”

Huh? The Mad Twitterer actually believes that guys outside of Freeman don’t have starting jobs locked up?

The fact is more than half the Bucs starting defense on opening day is all but etched in stone. Same goes for the offense.

After a comment like that, Joe is almost concerned about The Mad Twitterer’s health.

 Stay out of the sun, Rick.

Tampa Tribune Buccaneers beat scribes Woody Cummings and Anwar Richardson slug it out again on TBO.com’s new Bucs vlog.

This time they take a the topic always good to get a rise out of even the most numb Bucs fan: Raheem The Dream’s magic survival number of wins in 2010.

What do Cummings and Richardson have to say about Raheem the Dream? Joe’s not going to spoil it for you. So check out the video. It’s worth your three minutes.

Personally, Joe’s still sticking with Raheem The Dream needing six wins to sleep soundly after the final whistle in January (assuming the Bucs don’t make the Super Bowl). The Bucs finished 3-6 after defrocking Jim Bates. So Raheem The Dream must at least continue that losing winning pace to show “progress.”

On a side note, Richardson appears to have a veiled criticism of someone using the “Raheem The Dream” nickname, and Joe is not entirely sure who that may be. Hhhmmm? Wonder who Richardson is referring to? 

Good guy and former Buccaneer Will Allen is hosting a fabulous golf tournament and party this weekend. And it’s all to benefit his charity foundation, which helps local kids.

Allen talked to Joe all about it last week.

Click on the picture below for all the details.

After the BBC reported that Team Glazer– largely using information dug up by a noted rival of Team Glazer — is further underwater with their English kickball team than an uncontrolled British Petroluem oil gusher in the Gulf of Texaco,  Team Glazer put it’s new media relations director and former GOP operative to work typing a release denying the BBC report, per Vacation Man of the Bolshevik-like BSPN.

“Buccaneers fans should know that the Glazer family is as financially well-positioned as ever before. Companies they own generate revenues in excess of $800 million each year.

“Sophisticated real estate experts know that the family’s refinancing of their commercial real estate before the global meltdown has proven to be the wise move.

“While First Allied represents only a small portion of their asset portfolio, it continues to generate significant profits, enjoys over 90% occupancy, and has long term non-recourse financing.

“This franchise remains committed to bringing the resources to build its next championship team.”

Does Joe believe Team Glazer is in the red or the black? Joe believes this is all speculative and the only ones who really know are Team Glazer’s accountants and creditors.

Joe wonders what this Green character, the source of much of the information in the BBC report and a guy who wants to buy Team Glazer’s English kickball team, also dug up that he didn’t share with the BBC that would have damaged his chances of purchasing said kickball team?

Conflict of interest anyone?

For Joe, the reason the Tampa Bay area is facing the embarrassing prospect of Bucs home games being taken off local television this year is simple:

Ugly record + Ugly economy + Little star power = Ugly attendance.

Sadly, the Bucs aren’t much of an attraction beyond Joe and the rest of the hardcore fan base. That’s just reality of years of poor drafts, flimsy spending and now a head coach with low approval ratings and little experience. And ownership seems to be just fine with enduring the result of all this in 2010, in order to build a “lasting contender.”

Typically, the local voice of the Kremlin-based BSPN.com, Pat “Vacation Man” Yasinskas, misses most of these points. Vacation Man was asked recently by one of his readers why Tampa Bay is having so much trouble selling tickets when a smaller market like New Orleans packs in the fans.

Pat Yasinskas: Technically, Tampa Bay has sold out every game since Raymond James Stadium opened, but team officials are bracing for local television blackouts this season. That will be reminiscent of the bad old days of the 1980s and ‘90s. Tampa Bay is a unique market. I live here now and have spent about half my life here. Any Florida city is going to have lots of transplants from up North, who hold onto their allegiances. The weather also presents lots of opportunities to do other things on a Sunday. This isn’t New Orleans where children are born and raised to be Saints fans. The Bucs have a great crew of die-hard fans. But the nature of this market means there also are a lot of fringe fans and they show up only when the Bucs are playing well and going to games becomes trendy. Even then, this is a tough market. Just ask the Tampa Bay Rays. They’re having a great season, but Tropicana Field doesn’t draw huge crowds.

Joe’s not buying any Rays-Bucs analogy. It’s apples and oranges. Bucs tickets would be a scalper’s dream if the Bucs were loaded with talent — and successful — like the Rays.

Vacation Man is wrong. This isn’t a “tough market” for a good football team. And how Vacation Man could have omitted the economic downturn affecting the entire NFL is hard to understand.

“Our football people have never been told no because of money. Money will never be an issue when it comes to building this team the way we think it should be built.” — Buccaneers owner Joel Glazer, during a March interview with the Tampa Tribune about the state of team.

Just read the quote above a few times to soothe yourself after soaking in today’s Team Glazer news from the BBC.

The reputable British public broadcasting arm reports Team Glazer has borrowed $95 million against the Buccaneers (whatever that exactly means) and is over $1.5 billion in debt, far more than previously thought.

Mortgage documents seen by the BBC show that the Glazers have borrowed £388m ($570m) against shopping malls and £66m ($95m) against their American National Football League team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In addition to their mortgages in the US, a portion of the Glazer family’s £700m Manchester United debt will soon see them charged interest at a rate of 16.25%.

Fans fear that, despite the club’s record of success on the pitch, the Glazers’ leveraged buy-out of United has saddled the club with debt and that may mean that there is no spare money in the future to buy a new generation of star players.

The BBC report goes on to explain how it uncovered previously unscrutinized aspects of Team Glazer’s financials — with the help of an agenda-driven disgruntled Manchester United fan determined to force Team Glazer to sell the soccer team.

… But Mr Green discovered that the Glazers’ shopping mall mortgages had been bundled with other loans as Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities. Those bundles are publicly traded and therefore require the Glazers to provide detailed information on all the mortgages, which are then publicly available in the US.

Mr Green found mortgages – confirmed by the BBC – on 63 of 64 First Allied shopping centres, totalling £388m ($570m).

Now Joe has no idea of the rules governing how an NFL owner can use his franchise as an asset. So Joe’s not sure whether borrowing against a team is a common or acceptable practice. And again, Joe doesn’t know what “borrow against the Buccaneers” really means when the books are opened.

But Joe is quite certain that if the BBC is pulling a Dan Sileo here, Team Glazer and its new pit bull will be all over it shortly.

Right now, Joe’s glad to see Team Glazer is eager to borrow funds and rack up credit. Perhaps that’ll make them more likely be the player in 2011 free agency that Mark Dominik claims they’ll be.

Joe is so happy that Derrick Ward apparently has overcome his debilitating mouth issues that kept him out of three days of OTA practices last week.

Man, that must have been some painful stuff, especially since it sidelined a rugged veteran who wants to be a team leader.

Per TBO.com and the Twitter feed of Tampa Tribune beat writer Woody Cummings, Ward is back on the field right now at One Buc Palace for today’s OTA.

Joe hopes Ward talks to the media today about his mouth troubles. Perhaps he can inspire young athletes to keep working hard.

Joe has written several times how it’s dangerous to count on — prospectively — four rookies to be solid contributors, hence this is among the reasons why Joe believes the Bucs may struggle this year.

Bucs general manager Mark Dominik loaded up on significant areas of need with his first four picks trying to shore up massive holes at defensive tackle and wide receiver, drafting Gerald McCoy, Brian Price, Arrelious Benn and Mike Williams.

Since, Dominik has all but said he expects the quartet to start.

Rarely do rookie defensive tackles shine, and banking on rookie wide receivers is dicey at best. But this move by Dominik has won over former Bucs secondary coach and current BSPN contributor Herm Edwards.

Edwards, since joining the world of Twitter in recent weeks, has been a Twittering fiend, answering scores of NFL questions from fans each and every day, often at the break of dawn. Today, he wrote about the Bucs dependence this season on the rookie fab four.

@Professor_Joe:  How do the Bucs fair starting a pair of rookie WO & DTs?

@HermEdwardsESPN:  Their [sic] will be some growing pains. It’s the right thing to do.

Wow, even Herm agrees the Bucs were devoid of talent at wide receiver and defensive tackle, that the Bucs needed to go young. That tells Joe all he needs about how vapid those positions were for the pewter pirates last year.

Still, for the Bucs to have a successful season this year, it doesn’t mean Dominik hit a  home run in this spring’s draft, he would have have hit a grand slam.  For the Bucs to sniff a playoff berth, all four rookies have to contribute in Joe’s eyes.

And no, Joe has no clue who “Professor_Joe” is on Twitter.

Joe found it rather interesting that the Mad Twitterer caught Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson is a somewhat testy mood recently, or so it seemed.

The Bucs beat writer from the St. Petersburg Times had an interesting quote from Olson in a story about Olson dealing with young quarterbacks. If the depth chart for quarterbacks remains the same as it does now, third-year “career backup” Josh Johnson is the veteran backup to Josh Freeman, he of the career 10 games. Third string is the vaunted Rudy Carpenter, yet to field his first regular season NFL snap.

Now Joe doesn’t expect Olson, even if he wanted to, to unload on the Bucs front office — in June no less — for his quarterback depth (or lack thereof), but Joe did find Olson’s quote interesting.

“We’re going to coach and play with the players we have here,” offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “That’s an organizational decision, and we’re all in this thing together. That’s the direction the organization decided to go, so I’m comfortable with it. I have a lot of confidence in Josh Johnson.”

Hhhhmmm? What is Olson exactly getting at here? It didn’t seem as if Olson was giving an absolute endorsement of his players.

Joe’s going to have more about this quote later, perhaps today. Stay tuned. Until then, begin chewing the fat on that quote.

Joe just wanted to share some good news and notes with his legions of friends, haters and followers in Bucs cyberspace on this dreary football-free Sunday.

(First, Joe’s never really football free, since Joe is a manly NFL Network watcher. The Don Shula feature Joe just watched had Joe wondering if Raheem The Dream could be a candidate to knock off Shula’s ridiculous record of 347 wins. After all, Shula was a defensive backs coach turned defensive coordinator, too, who got his head coaching gig at 33. Right now, the comparisons end there.)

To the good news at hand, Joe will introduce two big, new sponsors of JoeBucsFan.com this week. One is a major player in its local industry and a very savvy advertiser, so Joe is extra pleased they pored over Joe’s traffic data and saw fit to cut Joe a check. Not as exciting as a Rachel Watson encounter, but it’ll work.

And the other company is a real quality, hard-working, up-and-comer in its field. Both companies work brutally hard for their clients, so Joe will be very proud to endorse them after spending many hours with the owners.

Joe’s advertisers are the lifeblood of JoeBucsFan.com. They let Joe keep raising the quality and profile of this website consistently. And Joe promises you will reap the benefits as a reader in 2010.  

On that note, clicking on the pretty company images you see around you, and truly checking out what is offered, is the equivalent of tipping your bartenders and waitresses at your favorite watering hole. It’s just the right thing to do.

Also this week, Joe will roll out his new “Hate Mail” feature, as well as “Ask Joe.” It’s going to be a much more fun way to handle the venom, love and queries that fill Joe’s inbox every day.

And for those who savor endless football reading on the toilet, in a format bigger than a cell phone, Joe really recommends buying a copy of the inaugural ProFootballTalk.com season preview magazine. Per ProFootballTalk.com curator, creator and guru Mike Florio, the magazine is 128 pages of in-depth work from people who really know each team, plus some great features.

No, Joe has no financial stake in the magazine sales, but Joe did pen a Bucs preview for the new rag.

Long before the end of last season, it was apparent who fans wanted jettisoned from the team more than they wanted cheaper beer at the CITS: blocking icon Michael Clayton.

For whatever reason, the Bucs embattled wide receiver became a symbol of the bungling Bucs as the team sank from playoff contender to doormat of the NFL in a nightmarish season.

If the loud, vocal critics didn’t get Clayton’s attention, a somewhat minor transaction by Bucs general manager probably did: acquiring Eagles veteran receiver and former University of Georgia stud Reggie Brown for a draft pick.

(Drafting two receivers in the first four picks also certainly must have gotten Clayton’s attention).

Brown fell out of favor with the Eagles, not unlike Clayton with the Bucs. But Brown believes his career is rejuvenated with the Bucs, so he told Joe’s friend the Backwards Hat, aka dapper Rick Brown of the Lakeland Ledger.

“I had a little hamstring injury in the preseason of my fourth year,” Brown said following an offseason practice at One Buc Place on Wednesday. “I wasn’t practicing, and the coaches never felt confident in me after that. I was hurt at the wrong time.

“It was frustrating,” he said. “But I knew I could still play this game. All I needed was a chance.”

The Bucs now have a crowded corps of wide receivers. In addition to rookies Arrelious Benn and Mike Williams, there’s second-year stud Sammie Stroughter, special teams guru Mo Stovall and the oft-forgotten Mark Bradley to factor in along with Brown and Clayton.

Joe is of the belief that Clayton will be back for his final year with the Bucs, as he will play out his contract, though this is hardly locked in stone. For Clayton to retire with the Bucs, he’ll have to repeat the success he had his rookie season where he appeared to be an All Pro in the making.

Ex-Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages and writes a quarterbacks blog via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

OTA news is usually reserved for disgruntled veteran “no-shows” looking for a new contract, as Barrett Ruud was last year and Donald Penn is currently. Not many revelations come out of these offseason practices, but they are very important for getting the team prepared overall and certainly more than glorified flag football, as I read some believe.

The biggest news of the offseason was revealed by Raheem this week when referring to quarterbacks Josh Freeman and Josh Johnson, “Don’t be surprised if you see them out there playing together.” 

After I suggested this very scenario in early November of last season, detailing how best to use the two QBs at the same time, the conversation on this website got mired in trying to figure out the definition of the “Wildcat” and not debating the merits of Johnson’s athletic ability and affect on the defense, if used as an updated and more effective “slash” player than Kordell Stewart was a decade ago.

The reason this Josh-a-licious concept is so intriguing, and a better option for these Buccaneers, is because the “smash-mouth” style of offense that they had intended to transition into was never a very good idea from the get-go. A more wide-open or spread-out offense can better compete with lesser players than trying to out-physical the other team at the NFL level. 

That can still be done in college and high school with bigger, stronger players than the opponents, but the NFL is a different animal. Over recent years we have even seen in college where more, and more lower-level teams (Boise State, Utah, TCU, USF, Appalachian State), can compete with the “big boys” when they spread out the defense properly.

Having Freeman at QB full-time — both under center and in shotgun — and bringing Johnson behind the formation quickly, will make the defense react just enough to create the blocking angles and holes for the running game. Plus it equally will give Freeman bigger holes to throw into in the regular passing game, and it should also slow the pass rush enough to make the offensive line look like Pro Bowlers.

Since we are a bit over six months since I suggested getting this to happen, if anyone (at One Buc Place) wants to know how to make this work really well, I am easy to find (AmericasBestQB.com) and have just enough time to input my ideas before mid-season.

I have put some real time into this concept, as I am hard at work designing a unique offense with many of these characteristics right now for my son’s youth league team. I know the Bucs are a young team and not a youth team, but that is exactly why they need to make this an integral part of the 2010 offense.

Good-guy St. Pete Times columnist Gary Shelton has been studying and hounding Raheem The Dream at One Buc Palace of late, and Shelton shared his observations in a column today.

He found the head coach confident, non-committal and using the lastest talking point to describe the Bucs’ 2010 plan — to build a “lasting contender.”

… The Bucs played better, and there were hints that he had finally left his imprint on his team. Still, a bit of improvement doesn’t offset a bad season. Morris knows that.

“We have one ultimate goal, and that’s to win a championship,” Morris said. “I’m not going to tell you that if we went 13-3 and lost in the first round that I’d be happy. I would be a liar if I said that.”

Yeah, but wouldn’t you be happier?

“You guys would be. The town would be. But I don’t think my team would be. If you don’t win some form of championship, I don’t know that you can be truly happy.”

At 3-13, however, who is searching for true happiness? At 3-13, a winning season would look pretty good.

“What we’re trying to do is build a lasting contender,” Morris said. “To do that, you have to have young players play together.”

Raheem The Dream had much more to say, and Joe is all good with his infectious optimism. But, frankly, Joe misses all the offseason talk last year about being “violent,” running downhill and play-action passing.

These young Bucs, Joe believes, need to get back a real nasty edge on their defense and establish a smashmouth culture on the offense, not just from the blocking icon.

That, and Josh Freeman progressing, will go a long way toward pulling the team out of the NFL crapper.

There were lots of critics — Joe included — who were not doing cartwheels when Mark Dominik traded up last spring to draft quarterback Josh Freeman.

Pete Prisco, of CBSSports, had a national audience for his disgust.

If intangibles were able to win games alone, Freeman would be a Hall of Famer. Joe loves his attitude and his work ethic and his personality. This also seemed to have won over Prisco, who now believes Dominik got a steal in Freeman.

After watching Freeman start nine games last season, I really believe the Bucs have the right guy to turn their team around. Even though he didn’t exactly light it up, he showed me enough to think he can be special.

After talking to him this week, I’m convinced of it.

There are certain players you talk to that just seem to get it. They are fans of the game. They know the league. They know what they need to do to be a success, unlike a player like JaMarcus Russell, who only seemed to know what he had to do to increase his pants size.

There are a lot of positions on the Bucs that are a concern: running backs, wide receivers, defensive tackles and linebackers.

The starting quarterback doesn’t seem to be one of them.

There are few bigger fans of Ronde Barber than Joe. What’s not to like about the guy?

Last year, in the final stage of his professional career, many didn’t believe Barber could play in the horrid abortion known as the Jim Bates Experiment, thinking Barber is nothing more than a system cornerback.

Instead, Barber was pretty much a stud player, one of the few Bucs to have played well within the nasty Jim Bates Experiment.

Despite this, Vacation Man, of Stalinist BSPN, better known in most circles as Pat Yasinskas, answeres a question dealing with Barber and the Hall of Fame without showing Barber much love.. In short, if Yasinskas ever has a vote in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he likely won’t cast a ballot for Barber.

Nate in Palmer, Alaska, writes:  I do believe Ronde Barber one day he will be in the HOF. The only thing Ronde is lacking compared to a guy like Deion Sanders who is almost guaranteed the HOF is some height (4 inches)and a big mouth. Barber unfortunately had the luck of playing for a semi-sour Bucs squad for a lot of his years, a lack of playoffs and, National media coverage. I don’t believe he is 1st ballot HOF but I believe in looking at him as a player and person in the NFL, he has the HOF stats, he’s played hard, he’s a classy guy, and he is a positive representation of the NFL. Maybe that isn’t what gets a person to the HOF though.

PY:  All valid points. Ronde got some national exposure back when his twin brother, Tiki, still was playing. He also got plenty of attention when the Bucs were good. But the Bucs weren’t all that good when Barber first joined them and it took him a few seasons to make a real impact. He then went into a very productive stretch that forms the basis of his argument to be a Hall of Fame candidate. The problem I see there was the Bucs won only one championship and a lot of people view Barber as a system player, who benefited from playing Tampa Two in Monte Kiffin’s scheme with Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch there to help him look good. I respect Barber’s durability, but 3-13 seasons with no interceptions aren’t the best way to put the final touches on your résumé.

In Joe’s eyes there are two locks from the Bucs who will make the Hall of Fame and one guy who likely will as well: Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp and John Lynch, respectively.

Joe believes Barber may get in, but it will be a while. While Barber has the stigma of being a system cornerback, can’t that also be said for a lot of players in the Hall of Fame? Wasn’t Joe Montana a system quarterback?  Wasn’t Lawrence Taylor a system linebacker?

Besides, Joe believes Barber proved last year in the heinous Jim Bates Experiment, in the twilight of his career no less, that he could have played in just about any defensive scheme.

By STEVE WHITE
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Buccaneers defensive end Steve White (1996-2001) is a devoted student of the game. He’s even authored a coaching guide and coached defensive linemen at the University of South Florida. And after all those years breaking down film with former defensive line coach Rod Marinelli and the other architects and legends of the Bucs’ defense, White shares his knowledge with JoeBucsFan.com readers every week in his must-read Bull Rush column. 

Today, as the Bucs are in the midst of their offseason grind, White shares some wisdom about what it takes for the guys at the bottom of the roster to stick around come September.

Every year, every team puts out wall-to-wall information on their top draft picks during the offseason. You hear about how great they are doing in OTAs. You see videos of them working in the community. Talk radio gives you the pros and the cons of each guy every day. And nowadays the blogs will blow up with every little incident, positive or negative, that even tangentially is associated with them.

By the same token, you have no shortage of people offering up their advice on what these guys need to do to succeed in the NFL.

You turn on ESPN or the NFL Network and a bunch of different pundits will weigh in between now and September about what Gerald McCoy, Brian Price, Arrelious Benn, and Mike Williams need to do in order to make plays this year. On the radio you will hear all kinds of fans from the casual to the over-the-top couch potato analyst giving their two cents, as well.

And the truth of the matter is out of all of the noise there will be some good, and even sometimes great advice, floating around that these guys should pay attention to.

But what about the guys who aren’t at the top of the roster?

What about the undrafted free agents or late draft picks? What about the second-year guys who were on the practice squad last year? Who throws out advice to them about something as simple as how to make the roster, let alone make plays this upcoming season?

Well….I do.

And I can do this because I have truly been there. I was a 6th-round pick cut by the team that drafted him. I was a practice squad player who, after being brought up to the 53-man roster during my rookie season, was cut for a game to make room for a guy we needed because of injury. And I was also a guy who except for about two seasons out of the seven seasons I lasted in the NFL, was always on the quote unquote “bubble.”

Now because there are so many guys around the league and on the Buccaneers roster who fit this description I can’t possibly give every guy personalized advice. But what I can do is give a few pieces of wisdom that experience has shown me will go a long way towards ensuring they have a job after training camp, or at the very least help them make sure that they did as much as they could do towards that goal with no regrets.

The first thing “bubble” guys have to do is know their role. And what I mean is they have to understand that in a lot of ways they are expendable.

They have to treat every day on their roster as if it might be their last because it truly could be. In the offseason, teams are allowed to carry more than 80 players and you see guys get shuffled in and out at the bottom of the roster all the time. All it takes is one bad day or one bad week and “BAM, you might be looking for a new place of employment.

That realization should fuel everything about the way a “bubble” guy carries himself. And that brings me to another piece of advice based on the same principle. “Bubble” guys have to know that not everyone is equal in the NFL. Whether that’s fair or not, it is what it is and you just have to accept it and respond accordingly.

There will be guys who can go and hangout all night in the streets and show up late in the morning who will be given a pass or even a few passes. If a “bubble” guy tries that, he’s likely to experience a zero tolerance policy. For that reason, it’s critical to pick and choose who you hang with and try to find guys who have just as much to lose. You have to be willing to sacrifice being out in the streets in order to focus on keeping your job, at least until your standing is higher in the organization. It won’t guarantee that you don’t find off-the-field trouble, but it at least won’t hurt to try.

By the same token a “bubble” guy has to understand that double standards exist in the meeting rooms and on the field, as well.

There will be vets and high draft picks who will have varying levels of interest in the meeting rooms. Some will take copious notes and hang on a coach’s every word. Others may never open a notepad and may in fact nod off when his coach is talking.

If you are on the “bubble” you can’t be concerned with what other guys are doing. You have to look out for numero uno, and that means you need to be a better student in the meeting rooms than you ever pretended to be in college. 

You have to understand that coaches get fired behind mistakes their players make. A coach may be willing to overlook a few mistakes by a vet who makes plays for him, or he may put up with mistakes from a high draft pick because he knows he is stuck with them regardless. But a “bubble” guy? Let’s just say that a “bubble” guy is a perfect foil for coaches to use to “make a point.” Don’t be that guy.

And while on the subject, don’t be late. Not to anything. Not to weights. Not to practice. Not to meetings. Not to lunch.

Rightly or wrongly, a bubble guy’s punctuality is seen as a referendum on their commitment to the game and their job. Again, that may not be fair, but neither is life. Deal with it. I don’t care if you have to buy 17 alarm clocks, have your ass where you’re supposed to be there BEFORE you’re supposed to be there, every single day.

Knowledge Will Earn Respect, Support

Another point will sound like a cliche and to some people it is but for “bubble” guys it can’t be: Get in your playbook.

Sounds simple right? But trust me, it isn’t. On the one hand, I can promise you that the quickest way for a “bubble” guy to get noticed by the coaching staff is for them to always be where they are supposed to be on the field. If every time a coach asks you a question you have the answer, immediately it inspires confidence in you and it makes a positive impression.

On the other hand, one of the quickest way to ensure that your reps get cut down to the bare minimum is to keep screwing up the calls. As a “bubble” guy you are already going to be the low man on the totem pole, fighting for reps just to show what you can do. But when you don’t know your playbook, and it’s apparent you don’t know your playbook, you won’t ever get a chance to show what you got. Instead, after awhile they will just come and tell you to take “mental” reps, as sure a kiss of death as there is in the NFL.

And let me tell you something, knowing your playbook can and will also endear you to your teammates.

There was a situation where we had an undrafted undersized rookie defensive back in training camp and the numbers were going to make it hard for him to make the team. But every day the guy not only made plays, he ALSO was always perfect on his alignments and assignments. I mean if he was supposed to be at 5 1/2 half yards off the wide receiver before the snap, you could bet your house he would be there and never go homeless.

And guess what? As camp was ending and the final cuts were coming I personally witnessed some high profile veteran players lobbying for the guy to get one of those final spots. Now I don’t know if the coaches were planning on keeping him or not before that, but I do know that the guy ended up not only making the team but going on to have a very productive career in the NFL both here and for several other teams.

You Won’t Make The Club In The Tub

Another bit of advice is this, and it’s going to sound crazy. As a “bubble” guy you can’t afford to be hurt. I have heard before that the most important trait for a player is availability, and that goes double for guys on the “bubble.”

Now I know there are some injuries that you just can’t overcome in terms of still going out to practice. But when it comes to muscle sprains or tweaked ankles, those are just things you have to find a way to deal with. Our defensive line coach used to say that the last day your body will feel good is the day before offseason workouts start. And he was right. You have to have the kind of mindset where you ask yourself if a little bit of pain is worth all of the perks that come with playing in the NFL. If you are on the “bubble,” you aren’t going to make the club in the tub. You have to be out there every single day busting your ass and showing up on film. There is no film in the training room.

I tried to give this advice to a fellow “bubble” guy one year but he wasn’t trying to hear it.

It was disappointing because here was a guy who hadn’t made the team his rookie year but worked his tail off and was on and off the practice squad during the season. He kept improving in the offseason and looked to have a really good chance of not only making the team his second time around, but also contributing.

But in the last week of the preseason he sprained his ankle and then he threw everything away. The funny thing is, normally I wasn’t a guy who went around trying to “mentor” other guys or handing out words of wisdom because I was too busy trying to make the team myself, but this one time I tried to explain to him how important it was for him to get back on the field and how seriously our defensive line coach took it when guys weren’t out there working. I believe his exact quote to me was “Nah playboy, I got this. My agent already said I made the team.”

Needless to say his agent got it wrong.

But the damage was done. He never got another shot and was never heard from again.

The last nugget of advice I want to give for every guy on the bubble is to be willing to do anything and everything they will allow you to do. If a bubble guy is not in every special teams meeting they don’t deserve to make the roster. I don’t care if you are the third team left tackle or the fourth team defensive end, if you are on the bubble you had better be trying to get on the field any way you can.

Who cares if you aren’t fast enough to run down on kick off team? At least show that you are WILLING to do it. That shows the coaches that you are both hungry and humble, and they appreciate that.

Bigger than that, if you actually make the team, it can make the difference between whether you are active or deactivated for each game. You might be a great pass rusher, but if you aren’t a starter and you can’t block on kickoff return, you will probably be in street clothes on Sundays. You might be the second coming of Barry Sanders, but if you aren’t in the running back rotation, you had better be able to cover a punt in order to even have a chance to sniff the field.

There is one thing I remember Coach Dungy always saying when he was here. He said every year that we might not keep the best 53 players but that we would keep the best 53 guys for our team. Getting in and staying in the NFL is about a lot more than just athletic ability and talent. When you aren’t that big name guy or hot shot high rookie draft pick, you have to work like hell to get your foot in the door and then to stay in the room.

Doing all these little things will at least get you headed in the right direction.

While football fans continue to suffer in search of a real game, it is a huge day today for racing fans, especially at Derby Lane on Gandy Boulevard in St. Petersburg.

The action starts this morning when gates open for wagering on the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, and the entire Belmont Park card. Live greyhound racing also runs all day and night, highlighted by the T.L. Weaver Memorial Stakes this evening featuring some of the top sprinters in the country.

Not enough fun for you? Derby Lane also has the Bay area’s biggest and best poker room and spectacular dining in the Derby Club.

Head out to Derby Lane today.

Appearing at a high school in Baton Rouge, La., that was dedicating a field in his name, former Bucs director of pro personnel Doug Williams confessed to why he is no longer working for the Bucs.

The reason? Bruce Almighty and Chucky are gone, so he told the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

“The guys that are in control at this particular time weren¹t the guys who hired me,” Williams said. “The guys who hired me are no longer there. I think anybody who’s in that position has the right to make a decision about who they want to work for them, and it¹s good that we both were big enough to sit down discuss it and go our separate ways.”

Williams said that because he left Tampa Bay on good terms, he has received lots of calls and interest for his services.

“I got about two or three solids leads,” Williams said. “It’s just a matter of working out some details and seeing which way we are going to go.”

Joe wouldn’t be surprised if the Redskins, and Bruce Almighty, actually hired Williams. Joe does know this about Williams: there were few bigger backers of Kareem Huggins than Williams.