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Training camp is filled with all sorts of elements. It is both boring and exciting, predictable and unpredictable.
Training camp is both a chore and a joy. A chore in that players are grinding in the brutal heat each day every day to secure a job — a joy as in the unknown.
What players, to date, are really making a push for a roster spot come September and which are setting themselves up for the unknown based on their practice performance? [read more]
Bucs starting quarterback Josh McCown already has mentioned how he’s been surprised by the level of passion exhibited by Tampa Bay fans he’s encountered. (What? You mean, Luke McCown didn’t share that with his brother?).
And now it appears McCown got another surprise: Bucs fans aren’t the typical A-holes McCown likely ran into in Chicago and at his other NFL stops. [read more]
“Chucky, you see that cheap shot Brooks got in there. That’s old Florida, baby.”
In case you haven’t realized, the No. 28 in the JoeBucsFan.com logo is a tribute to Warrick Dunn, a longtime favorite of Joe, and Dunn was a running back for the Bucs (again) when Joe launched this corner of the Internet six years ago.
Dunn will go down as one of the great people in NFL history. Period. Dunn was on NFL Network yesterday talking about Tampa Bay and Mr. Derrick Brooks, his college teammate and friend. [read more]
The Bucs play a total of six games a year against the hated Dixie Chicks, the Stinkin’ Panthers, and the bounty-loving Saints. For those who want to snoop on the Bucs’ hated rivals, Joe’s going to provide a regular glimpse at what’s happening around the NFC South. [read more]
Has Tampa Bay gone from making everyone laugh to commanding respect at the quarterback position?
Can one training camp practice reveal such a transition? [read more]
No. 55 was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame last night.
If you missed it, Joe’s got the full audio. Brooks started by vowing to work his butt off to make the Hall family a better team now that he’s in it. He then thanked his son who presented him, Tampa Bay fans, his hometown Pensacola faithful, and his wife and three other children. Brooks also said it’s hard for him to stay humble on such a day, before going on to give moving thanks to his late grandmother, stepfather (I thank you for whipping me in front of my fifth-grade class to get my life together.) and his mother. [read more]
Breakfast with Lovie Smith has Peter King singing an interesting tune
Hmm, a top NFL insider has breakfast with Lovie Smith on Thursday and walks away telling the world to prepare for Charles Sims to get plenty of work.
Esteemed fight-instigating, barista-training, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball box score-reading Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, was at Buccaneers practice this week and has pumped out his thoughts. [read more]
Tonight, Derrick Brooks becomes the third Tampa Bay Buccaneer to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining Lee Roy Selmon and Warren Sapp, Brooks’ close friend since high school.
And possibly no one outside of Brooks’ family, his teammates and coaches know Derrick like a guy who grew up in Jacksonville, who never stepped on a football field with Brooks or against him. That man would be Gene Deckerhoff. [read more]
It is part of football lore, how in the first round of the 1995 draft, the Bucs selected Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks and the duo helped reverse the fortunes of the sad sack Bucs into a Super Bowl champion.
Two Florida guys, born and bred, would make football history. Sapp was disgusted the Bucs selected him. Brooks was happy. As different as two personalities can be — the two were friends since high school — Brooks and Sapp not only made history on the field, both are Hall of Famers; Brooks is inducted this evening. [read more]
Derrick Brooks’ impact on Tampa Bay, given time, may be greatest off the field.
Later today, Bucs icon Mr. Derrick Brooks, “Double-Nickel” as Gene Deckerhoff likes to call him, will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Brooks will be the third Tampa Bay player enshrined, following the late great Lee Roy Selmon and, of course, Brooks’ teammate and long-time friend Warren Sapp.
A lot has been made of how Brooks and Sapp changed the losing culture of the Bucs. [read more]
What the Bucs’ tunnel looks like after the team has taken the field and the smoke and flamethrowers have been cleared out.
Bucs fans always have a blast at the annual night practice during training camp, held at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway. This event, which replaced the old Fan Fest, is much more popular.
First of all, it is held at night, fans get to see football like 11-on-11 scrimmages, skills competitions and 1-on-1 passing drills. During Fan Fest, there was none of this stuff.
Also, Fan Fest was held in the middle of a scorching hot July Saturday afternoon, where fans roasted in long autograph lines. [read more]
Mike Glennon has a starter’s mentality
Bucs fans loved Mike Glennon’s absolute bomb to Chris Owusu last night for a touchdown. They also cringed when Glennon coughed up the football needlessly.
But that’s how practice goes sometimes, and Glennon’s not pressing. He’s got a starter’s mentality. [read more]
Lovie Smith changed his tone last night
Greg Schiano was all about cracking the whip all the time. Schiano’s attitude was that every minute of every day — literally — was critical to winning games.
Lovie Smith is all about timing and patience and teaching and picking his spots. [read more]
The man who cut Derrick Brooks, re-signed Jerramy Stevens, kept Bucs payroll painfully low at the start of his tenure, and dumped fan favorite Cadillac Williams against the desire of his head coach, says the opinions of Bucs fans and media played a role in shaping team decisions.
Joe had to listen to former rockstar general manager Mark Dominik’s take twice to be sure.
Lovie Smith talks about Bucs fans.
Lovie Smith feels your pain, Bucs fans. Missing the playoffs going on seven years and not winning a playoff game since winning the Super Bowl in January 2003, the Tampa Bay head coach understands your frustration.
Lovie talked Friday night about trying to bring a winner back for the long-suffering fans. Also, Lovie discussed how his team practiced last night and gives an update on injured center Evan Dietrich-Smith in this SportsTalkFlorida.com video. [read more]
It was an autograph hound’s paradise Friday night as the Bucs held their annual night practice at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway. Autographs could have easily been obtained both before and after practice.
Oh, yeah, there was practice, too. And fireworks! Below are some video glimpses of the night practice courtesy of the Bucs’ official Vine account. [read more]
