Former Bucs great, and in a few weeks a Pro Football Hall of Famer, Warren Sapp, generally despised anyone who wore a different colored jersey than the red and pewter (or, creamsicle). If you lined up against Sapp, you were a mortal enemy and it did not matter what team you played on.

But for a brief period of time, Sapp did have a most loathed team, a squad that fueled a special kind of hatred. And that was a certain green-clad team from the City of Brotherly Love.

“For three or four years, it was the Eagles,” Sapp told Joe and other media. “I mean, you are losing wild card, wild card. We were supposed to play them [the Sunday after] 9/11 and they moved that game. I wanted to crucify their [arse]. They moved that game to the end of the year and now it didn’t mean [anything] and they still beat us. Then we have to go up there to play them again in the playoffs and they beat us.

“For a while, it was the Eagles. But for the longest time, Tony [Dungy] put us on the path of chasing the Green Bay Packers because we had a three-time MVP [Brett Favre] in our own division. Everything kind of switched when they switched divisions. But you know, it really didn’t matter. Home, road, whatever. Let’s go.”

If anyone watches the Buccaneers episode of “America’s Game,” one can almost feel the rage in Sapp when he talked about constantly losing to the Eagles in the playoffs, until that magical Sunday where Ronde Barber is still running in Joe’s head, down the sideline all alone, sending the Bucs to their only Super Bowl appearance.

During the fancy video introduction of Greg Schiano’s appearance on NFL Network this week, a cut was played of Schiano “miked up” against the Chiefs, a scene in which he patrols the sideline and gives a firm order to Mike Sullivan.

“We got the wind at our backs for this play, Sully. Take a shot right now.” Schiano said into his headset.

Joe had seen the cut many months ago, but it really stood out this time. Essentially, Schiano was taking a very heavy hand with the offense, especially for a defensive head coach who takes pride in his delegation skills.

The next cut shown on NFL Network was of a Bucs touchdown and Schiano screaming into his headset and pumping his fist, “What I’m talking about Sully! Thattaway!”

Now it’s unclear whether that TD was the “shot” Schiano demanded or not. Joe’s not going to assume the magic of TV editing is accurate.

Regardless, it was an interesting glimpse into how the head coach rolls on gameday. As Joe’s written many times, Schiano’s coaching prowess is a huge X-factor for 2013, specifically his ability to outcoach division foes Mike Smith and Sean Payton.

Jamon Meredith got valuable snaps for a backup last season which offensive line coach Bob Bostad believes strengthens the line.

Yes, Joe knows the headline is a no-brainer. The Bucs never realized their true potential when David Joseph went down with an ugly knee injury early and Carl Nicks never made it to midseason with his nasty toe.

Bucs coach Bob Bostad really believes the offensive line will be stronger this year, not so much because both Joseph and Nicks will return, but the backups last year got so many snaps, so reports intrepid Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com.

“Last year, you have to give the players all the credit,” said Bostad. “I thought those guys did a tremendous job – Jamon Meredith and Demar [Dotson] and Ted Larsen moving around and playing multiple positions in a short amount of time, with short turnaround…being able to be the next guy up, so to speak.

“Hopefully with those reps we dumped into them, they’re going to be able to either be there for us right off the bat or step into that same situation that happened. It was a really good investment. Last year was a good investment that way.”

This is an interesting point. Though Larsen is a former starter, a guy like Meredith got a lot of experience that simply cannot be duplicated in practice.

Though Bostad was being modest, let’s not fool ourselves, part of the reason the Bucs weathered much of the storm with the injuries up front and the benching of Jeremy Trueblood is that the Bucs very well may have the best offensive line coach in football.

Last year’s bye week, which came after a 1-3 start by the Bucs, may have indirectly saved Greg Schiano’s tenure with the team.

Most NFL players and coaches would suggest they would prefer to have a late bye week. That way, the team is more fresh for the stretch run and even if a team is not in the playoff race, a late bye means players can see light in a dark tunnel.

Last year, the Bucs had an early bye week in Week 5. In a recent NFL.com podcast with Dave Dameshek, Greg Schiano implied that last year’s bye week, coming after the Bucs started out 1-3, may have saved the season from becoming a 2011 Raheem Morris-like circling of the drain.

Dave Dameshek: Was there any doubt, starting the season 1-3 and some heat on you, college ways transferring to the pros, you ever thought, “I shoulda stayed up in Jersey?”

Greg Schiano: No, it was all good. We played some tough football teams and [the games were] close, but close isn’t good enough. We saw improvement. We thought things were going in the right direction. The thing that helped us was getting to that bye week and kind of regrouping as a team and as an organization and taking a deep breath and saying, “We’re close but how do we get over the hump?” Being able to play good football right after that was critical in the guys believing and moving things forward.

In retrospect, Joe can see how the Bucs might have imploded if not for that early bye week.

Imagine you had survived the purge, going from a lax coach to one who demands attention to detail. You put in all of that work and sweat and blood and toil and you look up and you are starting a season worse than the previous year, one that saw your coach run out of town just hours after the final game.

Joe could easily see how players would have checked out, thinking no matter what they did, the same terrible outcome was a near certainty.

This just goes to show that football is every bit mental as it is physical.

Joe is a summer kind of guy. It cannot get too hot for Joe. In fact, you will never hear Joe whine about the heat. Winter sucks. Summer is the opposite: Fun, water, beach, cold beer, scantily-clad, well-tanned frauleins and a harbinger of the coming football season.

What the heck is there not to like?

The Fourth of July is like Christmas, Thanksgiving and St. Patrick’s Day all rolled into one for Joe. Brats, chicken, copious amounts of alcohol, the beach and fireworks makes Joe feel like a little kid.

Joe hopes all of you enjoy Uncle Sam’s birthday today. Joe knows Curly’s ready to throw down some brews.

Joe has a whole lot of Warren Sapp quotes stashed away that he has yet to use, so the rest of this month, Joe will try to have a Sapp nugget or two as Sapp nears his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction.

Sapp cherishes the fact he won a ring with the Bucs. Though growing up a Cowboys fan outside of Orlando, he knew just how terrible the Bucs had been after watching the Bucs at their pinnacle, before he and Derrick Brooks and John Lynch turned the chumps into champs.

“It means more to me that we built this from the ground up,” Sapp said about the 2003 Super Bowl champions. “I was at home when the Bucs played that rainstorm game against the Rams. I remember waiting for my brother to get off the bus to tell him, ‘They lost!’ I couldn’t wait.

“You talk about a Florida boy growing up loving this game and understanding what it was for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. My first game [at the old Sombrero], the 24-17 [1979 playoff] game versus the Eagles was my first game ever. Ricky Bell was my guy. That’s why I wanted to put him in the Ring of Honor.”

As just about every Bucs fans knows, Sapp, the second Bucs player to make Canton, watched the first Bucs player to make Canton, Lee Roy Selmon, beat the Eagles that sunny day.

Joe thinks it is cool that Sapp was all too aware of how far the Bucs had fallen not long after that Eagles playoff win, and how far back he helped bring the Bucs.

Farther, in fact, than Selmon did.

When the Bucs played under Raheem Morris, things around One Buc Palace were somewhat easy-going, relaxed for the Bucs.

In some cases, that’s a good thing. For the Bucs, it proved disastrous as the heinous 2011 record demonstrated, including the final weeks of the season where the team clearly packed it in and couldn’t wait to jump on a plane after the belt-whipping administered by the Dixie Chicks to end the campaign.

In comes Greg Schiano, the polar opposite of Morris, to lay down the law, instill the New Schiano Order and hold players accountable for toeing the line.

In retrospect, Schiano said in a podcast on NFL.com, the transition from the party atmosphere under Morris wasn’t that difficult for most players (sans Sgt. Winslow).

“To tell you the truth, at that point, things had gone kind of rough and the season ended poorly for them,” Schiano said of taking over the Bucs. “Guys were looking for a change. Now, I don’t know if they were looking for that big of a change.

“As we got going guys really did a great job of buying in and working extremely hard. We had a tremendous strength coach in Jay Butler and that was the first thing they were exposed to and it was a lot different. I think one of the things that the guys saw over time was the benefits of hard work and structure and all of that stuff. That it does pay off. As they get more and more familiar, they don’t have to keep it so tight either. So it goes both ways.”

So when Schiano said earlier this spring that he was going to back off a bit on the Bucs, he really meant it. He already has his stamp on the Bucs. Players now know what to expect from him, and Schiano knows what to expect from his players.

During OTAs and minicamp, Joe noticed there was less hollering from Schiano and, as the Bucs coach even noted, there was more monitoring of assistants.

Only time will tell if Schiano needs to be more forceful or if pulling back is the right thing.

When Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune, vacationing at home, killing time golfing, gardening and watching his moribund Cubs, heard Bucs coach Greg Schiano give Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman a vote of confidence this week on NFL Network, it came as no surprise to him though it seemed to surprise others.

This was one Bucs topic discussed when Cummings appeared on “The Fabulous Sports Babe Show” Tuesday night on WHFS-FM 98.7.

Fabulous Sports Babe: What about Schiano saying “We have only one quarterback?”

Woody Cummings: They have, like, five on the roster or four on the roster. You know what, I am not surprised by that I think he really – I have to be honest. I think he really misjudged the way that whole situation was going to be taken when he first said, “I just don’t know about Josh, I don’t know if he is our guy,” at the end of the season last year. I think he mischaracterized or misjudged just how that was going to be taken by the media and the fans and ever since, he has been trying to come off that statement. I thought he did it at the combine, he said basically the same thing. “Look, we went back and looked at the tape and think Josh Freeman is our guy.” I know they drafted Mike Glennon because they have to have somebody back there to develop just in case he isn’t the guy and proven to be not.

I am not surprised. It is a variation of a theme. It is the same thing he said at the combine. “We think Josh Freeman is our quarterback and we think he can take us where we want to go” which I assume it is a Super Bowl. He has been saying that, and variations of it, ever since. He said it after the draft. He said it at minicamp. He said it at OTAs. Now he said it again to the NFL Network. So every time he is asked the same question he gives the same answer which, you know what, I applaud him for consistency.

I just hope he is right. I just hope Josh Freeman proves he is the quarterback. I hope Josh Freeman, for his sake and the Bucs sake, goes out and proves to everybody, “Yeah, I was the quarterback all along here.”

It is almost like Schiano has been backtracking ever since he demanded competition at quarterback in his 2012 season-ending press conference. Like he let the back door open and a pesky gecko got through and Schiano’s been chasing the evasive reptile ever since.

Joe has written this time and again: the best chance for the Bucs to make the postseason is if Freeman has a good year, not if Mike Glennon is learning on the job.

Yes, Joe knows the Bucs’ marketing department is hardly engaged in communication with team trainers, doctors and Greg Schiano. But still, Joe can’t help but read between the graphics of the Bucs’ online ad campaign for the home-opener against the Saints.

Rehabilitating Darrelle Revis is the featured player in the latest ads pitching ticket sales for the game. So it seems the entire organization is confident Revis’ blown and repaired knee will be ready for action — even though he hasn’t strapped on pads in nine months.

“That’s what we’re banking on,” Schiano said of Revis’ opening-day return on NFL Network Monday. “If I’m a bettin’ man, he’s going to be ready.”

Joe’s banking on Revis, as well. Though Joe will feel better about Revis’ prospects after he’s seen a little live action.

Letdown cornerback Eric Wright has been keeping an eye on the $1-million-per-game savior of the Bucs defense, Darrelle Revis, and Wright loves the work ethic he’s seeing from No. 24.

Wright shared his thoughts on Revis’ dedication in one of his blog postings.

Of course, the other acquisition for the secondary this offseason was Darrelle Revis, and though he didn’t participate in OTAs on the field with us, he was down there at the facilities with us, putting in the time rehabbing and even extra time, trying to do everything he can to be ready to go when it’s time to go. He’s a true professional, and I don’t think any of us are worried about his recovery process. He has his timeline, and he’s going to be ready when he’s ready.

You can see the focus and the determination in the way he’s attacking his rehab and the way he approaches the game. I think he’s done a heck of a job of staying in the books and trying to make sure that he picks up the defense as much as he can even though he’s not on the field. That’s a hard thing to do, but he’s one of those guys that can do it.

Wright went on to talk about how Revis already is vocal and leading in the film room.

On NFL Network Monday, Greg Schiano repeated his admiration for Revis’ work ethic, saying again that he’s never seen anyone work on rehab like E.J. Biggers’ replacement.

Today, Joe will fantasize about Revis indeed being 100 percent physically for opening day at the Meadowlands. Mentally, it seems, he’s already there.

All the blitzes the Bucs used last year sure didn’t help out Mark Barron and the Bucs’ secondary.

Does Joe really need to remind you how Godawful the Bucs secondary was last year?

You know, the kind that got lit up worse than a Fourth of July roman candle against the Giants? The same lot that came but a mere 14 yard short of setting the NFL record for most yards puked up in an NFL season?

It was enough for Joe to throw an $8 cold beer on the field, and Joe wasn’t even drinking during Bucs games. Joe can only imagine how many glasses saloon owners had to replace last year.

Well, one could argue a reason for the garish amount of yards given up through the air was the amount of blitzes called, largely to no avail. BSPN believes the Bucs were one of the worst blitzing teams in the NFL last season.

Last season, no team blitzed its defensive backs more than the Dolphins, who did it 124 times for 8 sacks. The Bucs and Packers are the only other teams who sent their DBs at least 120 times last season but Green Bay experienced the most success out of the 3 with 14 sacks, tying the Broncos for the league-lead when utilizing the tactic.

Well, one could argue the Bucs got fried badly by all the blitzes. Part of the reason the Bucs blitzed so much could be twofold: Bucs coach Greg Schiano knew his secondary was a sieve and hoped to cover the stench by blitzing, and that the Bucs, once again, were woeful at putting heat on the quarterback and needed to bring in extra bodies to try to disrupt opposing quarterbacks.

If, as Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik believes, the Bucs can get pressure from Da’Quan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn from the edges, and with a revamped secondary led by Robin and Batman, perhaps the Bucs will dial down all the blitzes this season.

Greg Schiano told a nationwide audience of the lofty goals he has for Adrian Clayborn

Greg Schiano has something in common with former Bucs captain Jeff Faine. And no, it’s not that Schiano likes Saltines and anchovies. 

Both are smitten with Adrian Clayborn. Schiano said on NFL Network yesterday he believes  Clayborn can bounce back from injury with a Pro Bowl season.

“When we got there and evaluated, ‘this guy’s going to be a great player for us,'” Schiano said of studying Clayborn before the 2012 season.

“And we still feel that way. He’s rehabbed, and he’s back, and he’ll be ready. If he can kind of do what Gerald McCoy did, you know Gerald came back and played a full season healthy and was a Pro Bowler. We feel A.C. can do that.”

Also yesterday, Faine, who was pounded mightily on these here pages for his lousy loyalty during the 2011 lockout, told JP Peterson on WDAE-AM 620 that Clayborn is a “man-child” standout who should be improved, even coming off a major injury. 

“Clayborn, even though I was only there for his rookie season, I am extremely, extremely impressed with him. And I believe that he’s just going to become better and better and better,” Faine said. “He’s one of those guys that’s just a man-child playing out there on the edge. He’s a little different. He’s not going to out-athlete from the standpoint of running around you, but he’s going run right over you. And he’s got the speed to get the corner if you bear down on him too hard.”

While Faine’s endorsement doesn’t mean much, it’s crystal clear the Bucs’ braintrust believes Clayborn is a stud-in-waiting. It’s all part of the Bowers-Clayborn, no-Bennett dice roll of 2013. (You can catch the entire Faine interview below.)

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In his countdown to training camp listing of the top 25 players in the NFC South, ESPN blogger Pat Yasinskas continues with the latest Bucs player to make the list, and that would be Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy at No. 15.

What he did in 2012: McCoy had 30 tackles, five sacks and one forced fumble as he made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career. He also was a major reason why Tampa Bay had the league’s top-rated run defense.

Why he’s No. 15 in 2013: McCoy showed last season that he can be a dominant defensive tackle when he’s able to stay healthy, something that was a problem in his first two seasons. But, now that McCoy has had a taste of success, I expect his career to keep progressing. With McCoy, Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers, the Bucs have a lot of early draft picks invested in their defensive line. There’s a feeling within the organization that the defensive line is ready to blossom into something special. If that happens, it will be largely because McCoy has taken his game to another level.

In just his third season in the NFL, GMC is the unquestioned leader among the defensive linemen and perhaps the defense as a whole.

Joe will never forget GMC telling him this spring about how he is always available to help a rookie. Joe is paraphrasing here, McCoy said if a rookie is on the Bucs that means the coaches believe he can help the team win so therefor GMC will do whatever it takes to help that player become the best he could be.

That is a leader in Joe’s eyes.

The only thing that will hold GMC back from being dominant is his health. Last year may be just a taste of what is to come.

Joe knows one reason many Bucs fans are less than giddy over Josh Freeman is thus far he is what his college stats purported him to be: inconsistent.

Well, the numbers crunchers at Football Outsiders decided to do something called “DVOA,” which to Joe is akin to some worthless, empty made-up baseball stat like OBG-YN.

(The stat geek have all but hijacked baseball and done their best to chase Joe away from the game  but thankfully, Joe has found a way to ignore them so Joe can enjoy the sport. Joe learned way back in high school one can concoct any statistic to prove whatever point you want to make.)

These Football Outsiders nerds were trying to figure out which quarterback is the best/worst at throwing the long pass, they accidentally found out that Freeman is, well, inconsistent.

Outside of Jackson coming in last year, there hasn’t much turnover in Freeman’s offense. Mike Williams, Arrelious Benn, and Kellen Winslow were constants in 2010 and 2011. Winslow declined heavily and Dallas Clark wasn’t the answer — is Freeman’s large drop in Short DVOA since 2010 all because he has no tight end? Williams said that part of the problem in 2012 was that receivers didn’t know when to break their routes off. Is that something that gets fixed?

That’s the kind of straw-grasping that Freeman’s advanced stats leave you to make. When he’s been below average in DVOA, he’s been below average on all downs. When he’s above average in DVOA, he’s above average on all downs. His red-zone DVOA follows a rollercoaster pattern (which is true for most quarterbacks, to be honest). I know we have a few hardcore Bucs fans here. What theories do you have about what has happened to Freeman since 2010?

Based on what I’ve seen and researched of him, I can see why head coach and haircut watch-setter Greg Schiano is peeing down both legs when it comes to Freeman. It’s been four years, and Freeman’s main trait as a quarterback is that nobody knows what to expect him to be in four years.

Joe would suggest there hasn’t been much consistent with Freeman prior to last year, other than disc-spinning Sgt. Winslow, which may explain why Freeman was always forcing balls to Sgt. Winslow.

In his first four years in the NFL, Freeman had three different coordinators and three different quarterback coaches. That’s not exactly consistent in Joe’s eyes.

But Rivers McCown, the author of the piece, does make a point that in the past four years, it’s hard to judge what Freeman will be in the next four years. It is this reason why popular sports radio and television personality Adam Schein proclaimed last mid-season that he trusted Christian Ponder over Freeman. And, voila, with two solid games to close the 2012 season (against two playoff teams), Ponder got the Vikings into the playoffs where Freeman, with the Bucs in position to make a playoff run, disappeared.

Joe really believes Freeman will improve this year. He’s got another year with offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan, another year with Vincent Jackson and another year with Doug Martin — consistency with both personnel and coaches for a change. That can only be a good thing.

Will Freeman be a Pro Bowl player? Joe’s not going there yet. But he should be better. Which, in turn, should make the Bucs better.

Union-first Jeff Faine, the former Bucs captain and center who tried to sell fans that NFL players would be driven to eating Saltines and anchovies as a result of the 2011 lockout, still keeps close tabs on the Bucs.

Yesterday, Faine told JP Peterson of WDAE-AM 620 that he was in touch with Josh Freeman this week and remains connected to his buddies on the team.

Peterson hit Faine with all kinds of questions on the New Schiano Order Bucs, and Faine was upbeat about most things Bucs, including Freeman.

But Faine was down on the loss of Michael Bennett.

“I think it was a big mistake letting Michael Bennett get out of there,” Faine said. He’s a guy that I believe that’s very, very, as highly rated as he is within Tampa, leaguewide I think he’s a very, very underrated player.”

Yes, Bennett was damaged goods with a bad shoulder. But recent word out of Seattle (Bennett’s new team) says Bennett played all of last season with the injury and should be as good or better this season.

Regardless, the Bucs made a judgment call letting Bennett’s nine sacks and run-stuffing prowess walk, banking on DaQuan Bowers and rather flimsy DE depth. It’s a call that will be scrutinized all season long.

Josh Freeman is the guy. He’s the man. In fact, Greg Schiano says he only has one quarterback.

Schiano not only made that crystal clear on NFL Network last night. He also said with certainty that Freeman’s going to do “big things” and have a “big year.”

“Who’s your quarterback?” Schiano was asked by Total Access host Andrew Siciliano.

“I only got one, it’s Josh Freeman,” Schiano said.

Of course, Schiano could change his mind and decide he has two quarterbacks if Freeman is inconsistent and the Bucs don’t win more than they lose.  

Schiano went on to say rookie QB Mike Glennon will be a “a tremendous quarterback in his time.” But that time isn’t now.

“[Freeman] had a really good spring. I mean a really good spring,” Schiano said. “I think it’s really coming together. You know being in this system for the second year now and hearing the things over again after being able to study it. I’m really encouraged. … We’re looking forward to big things. Josh’s going to have a big year.”

Hopefully, if given the chance to start at strongside linebacker this season, Dekoda Watson can make many a quarterback eat grass.

Yes, much was made last year of the near-historic NFL worst pass defense of the Bucs, where wide receivers ran free as if they were running cone drills. It was no less than an insult to Bucs fans.

Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik loaded up on secondary help in the offseason, essentially obtaining three new starters. But now the front seven, which played so well against the run last year, may have the most question marks on the team.

The Walter Football people seem very down on the Bucs’ front seven in their 2013 season preview.

It’s clear that the Buccaneers’ secondary will be much better than it was last year. However, it may not make that much of a difference if the defensive line can’t pressure the quarterback. The aforementioned Bennett had nine sacks in 2012, which was a third of the team’s overall total. The defensive end who had the most sacks after that was Daniel Te’o-Nesheim with four, but he’s just a situational rusher. The starters at the position will be Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers, chosen in the first and second round of the 2011 NFL Draft, respectively. Both have injury concerns, unfortunately. Clayborn is coming off a torn ACL, while Bowers always seems to be dealing with some sort of malady. He’s two years removed from a knee injury and he tore his Achilles last season.

Gerald McCoy had the most sacks last year of any returning player (5). A major disruptive force in the interior of the defensive line, McCoy is one of the reasons Tampa Bay was so stout versus the rush in 2012. Having said that, the other reasons were Bennett and Miller, who both moved on, as mentioned earlier. Gary Gibson will be asked to start in Miller’s place, which has disaster written all over it. Perhaps fourth-round rookie Akeem Spence can claim the job.

The defensive line will get overwhelmed at times, which will put even more stress on a pretty pedestrian linebacking corps. The only player in that group who performed well last season was second-round Lavonte David, who was an all-around stud. However, Mason Foster continued to struggle in the middle, where he’s completely out of place. The strongside linebacker last year was Quincy Black, but he was released. Adam Heyward, who was barely on the field in 2012, will take his spot if he can beat out Jonathan Casillas.

Joe somewhat agrees. Few, if any, raged over Dominik letting Bennett and Miller go as Joe did, especially for the price, until Joe learned the duo were damaged goods. In retrospect, it made all the sense in the world.

But strongside linebacker is a huge concern here. The reason Black was released is because he has nerve damage to his shoulder and his football career is likely history. With solid coaching last year, Black actually played pretty well.

When it’s July and the Bucs still are not sure who will start at strongside backer, that’s not a good thing. Then you look at the three candidates, including Dekoda Watson (who Joe likes but is really untested), released Saints veteran Jonathan Casillas and hanger-on Adam Hayward, who couldn’t crack the starting lineup even when the Bucs had the worst linebacker unit in the league. This doesn’t help Joe sleep well at night.

If Bucs defensive assistant Bryan Cox (Joe believes Cox and Bob Bostad are the best Bucs assistants) is again able to get the front seven to play strong football like he did last year, this guy just may be a defensive coordinator assistant somewhere next year.