Former Bucs defensive tackle Chris Hovan, the renowned face painter who blew out his back in a few short moments while on the St. Louis Rams last year, is looking for a new job — in the NFL.

Hovan joined The Fabulous Sports Babe Show today on 1040 AM to talk all things football, free agency and more.

Asked whether he wears face paint around the house, Hovan said, ‘No.’ But he did say he sometimes paints up during a good old fashioned animal hunt. In fact, Hovan said he was donning face paint recently when he shot a wildebeest. And Hovan went on to say he slightly likens hunting to the kill-or-be-killed mindset needed on the football field.

This took Joe back a bit. To the best of Joe’s knowledge, the wildebeest only patrols the African terrain. Joe’s just trying to get a visual of Hovan bringing face paint through customs, or shopping for it among the locals in, say, Tanzania.

Now that Joe’s got that off his chest, Hovan went on to say the Bucs’ young defensive line is just a bunch of “puppies.” He said Roy Miller, his former Bucs teammate, is a very hard worker, but Hovan doesn’t see anyone on the line being able to step up this year and solve the Bucs’ woes against the run.

Real football chatter and free agency rumors were the talk of the morning on “The Blitz,” co-hosted by Adam Schein and Rich Gannon, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio today.

Various free agents on the market were discussed and when it came to Bucs middle linebacker Barrett Ruud, the duo were quite clear: If the Bucs are to make the next step and get to the playoffs, signing Ruud is a simply must, even if Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik has to overspend to ensure Ruud does not bolt the Tampa Bay area.

Adam Schein: Barrett Ruud is one of the best free agents out there. I believe this Rich. Tampa has to spend some money. Why not spend it on Barrett Ruud?

Rich Gannon: I like Barrett Ruud a lot. He’s not a sexy linebacker. He’s not an explosive tackler. But you get leadership with Barrett Ruud and you get intelligence to make the right calls. There’s a comfort level between him and Raheem Morris and that defense. The Bucs are too good to let him go. They are on the verge of a playoff run. They have to sign Barrett Ruud.

But here’s the glaring element both Schein and Gannon missed: Let’s say Ruud walks, upset the way he is crucified locally, largely unjustly. Imagine the Bucs defense being called by a rookie linebacker playing out of position, who has never had a rookie minicamp or even an OTA under his belt, with so many inexperienced defensive linemen playing in front of him? That has disaster written all over it.

Or, say, for the sake of argument, Ruud bolts the Tampa Bay area and the Bucs are able to lure Paul Posluszny from Buffalo. Free agents are not allowed to work out with their new team until Aug. 4. Poz hasn’t played in a 43 defense of any sort since he was a junior at Penn State when he was the national defensive player of the year. So Poz is going to be able to learn the Bucs defense in five weeks? Of course he won’t.

Like it or not, popular decision or an outrage to fans, the absolute best thing for the Bucs in this zany, unprecedented offseason is to re-sign Ruud, even if it requires overpaying the man.

Either way, Dominik pays through the nose financially, or Raheem Morris and the Bucs pay with a porous defensive front that may remind Bucs fans of the horrific sieve that was the Jim Bates Experience.

As Joe first reported last week, it is now official. Bucs preseason broadcasts have moved to WTSP-TV Channel 10.

What Joe did not know last week, however, was who would be the duo in the booth for the Bucs.

Recently, the broadcast duo was Chris Myers and John Lynch. TBO.com confirmed the duo would return to the booth for Bucs preseason TV broadcasts.

The broadcast team will remain the same as it has been the past two years, Bucs co-chairman Bryan Glazer said in a news release, with Chris Myers handling the play-by-play and former Bucs standout John Lynch providing color analysis.

Joe is happy Lynch is back. The man is damned good behind the mic. Joe wonders if roller derby girl Nicole Darin or Tammie Fields may prance the sidelines as the on-field reporter?

Showing up to Lambeau Field this morning, soon-to-be free agent linebacker Nick Barnett learned from Packers general manager Ted Thompson that his days in Green Bay are done, short of him re-signing for the league minimum.

If the Packers cannot find a suitor in a trade for Barnett, he will be released, the ninth-year veteran said.

The Packers starting inside linebacker appeared on “The Blitz” with Adam Schein and Rich Gannon, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, and said there are four teams he wants to play for:

San Diego.

Tampa Bay.

Philadelphia.

New York Giants.

Barnett said he wanted to play for one of those four teams, if released, because “those teams are one step away from a Super Bowl and I want to play in a Super Bowl.’

Gannon asked Barnett whether with a new defense and unable to practice with his new team until Aug. 4, if that was enough time to learn a new defense. Barnett didn’t think that was much of a factor.

“If I was in my second year, yeah, but this is my ninth year,” Barnett said. “Picking up terminology, having gone through four different coordinators and playing a 4-3 and a 2-3, I can get the terminology down.”

Asked if he was healthy by Gannon, Barnett emphatically barked, “110 percent healthy!”

Though few knew whether Barnett would be cut or not, Barnett to the Bucs is not really a novel concept. If Barrett Ruud truly is fed up with the haters in the area and wants a new home, and Paul Posluszny is locked up by the Bills, Barnett wouldn’t be a bad addition by the Bucs.

Barnett to the Bucs is hardly a novel concept. The way Joe looks at it, sans Ruud, the Bucs could do much worse than Barnett.

Perhaps the famous Gene Deckerhoff scream, “Run, Micheal, Run,” will take on a new meaning this week for Bucs wide receiver/return man Micheal Spurlock.

As in Run, Micheal, Run — out of town.

Per Pat Yasinskas, NFC South blogger for ESPN.com, the Bucs only slapped a right-of-first-refusal tender on Spurlock, as opposed to other restricted free agents that got much higher tenders, meaning the Bucs were far more interested in protecting — and paying — other guys.

Tampa Bay has six restricted free agents. Kicker Connor Barth and tackle James Lee would bring second-round draft picks if they leave. Defensive tackle Frank Okam would bring a fifth-round pick and safety Corey Lynch would bring a sixth-round pick. Cornerback Elbert Mack and receiver Micheal Spurlock come only with the right of first refusal.

Joe’s a bit squeamish about Spurlock not getting the love. The guy made a pile of big catches (17 total for 250 yards), knows all the receiver positions, and is an above average kick and punt returner.

Sure, the Bucs have another quality return option in Sammie Stroughter, and Preston Parker might get there with more work (assuming he makes the roster).

Spurlock could still come back, but Joe is preparing to say goodbye to an historic Bucs figure, the man who finally took a kick return to the house. Joe suspects Rich Bisaccia is working the phones.

There seems to be confirmation of the Bucs’ first big raise of the offseason. That salary floor is getting within range of binoculars!

The cash goes to solid kicker Connor Barth, who the Bucs made a wealthy young man with a restricted free agent tender, so reports Stephen Holder of the St. Pete Times.

Barth, who said he is anxious to rejoin the team and excited to stay in Tampa, said his understanding is his tender comes with a salary of roughly $1.9 million, a considerable salary for a young kicker in the NFL.

The last kicker the Bucs paid that kind of dough was Mike Nugent, and that didn’t turn out well back in 2009. But the silver lining was Barth arriving off the scrap heap, and he belted three 50-yarders in one game that year, which certainly sold Joe.

Kickers are typically a wacky, inconsistent breed, but hopefully the Bucs have struck gold with this kid.

Of course, the most polarizing Bucs news in the next week will be the signing — or non-signing — of Mr. Barrett Ruud.

Joe’s heard Home Depot is already running low on tiki torches and other angry-march-friendly flammable items.

One man sure to lose it if Ruud re-signs is former Bucs guard Ian Beckles, the WDAE-AM 620 radio personality who thinks Ruud is softer than silk. Beckles continually finds new ways to explain his disdain for Ruud’s play, as he did on the air Monday.

“In all the years I’ve been around football, I’ve never heard of a finesse middle linebacker. [The Bucs] broke that mold,” Beckles said.

Joe’s never heard of a finesse middle linebacker, either. And maybe there is no such thing.

Regardless, Joe expects the Bucs to offer Ruud exactly what they think he’s worth.

Into the wee hours of the morning Bucs rock star general manager and his minions continued to gather up undrafted free agents and another player that caught Joe’s eye was a running back from Oklahoma, Mossis Madu, per the Twitter feed of NFLDraftInsider, who was keeping a running log of undrafted free agents.

Looking at his numbers, Madu seemed to peak as an underclassman but that was partially because he switched positions in the backfield and sort of struggled. Why would he switch positions if he was any good? Well, the Sooners had some tailback named DeMarco Murray on the roster.

The NFL is littered with quality players who were buried on a college depth chart because the guy ahead of them was an All-American. In fact, Joe remembers a quarterback who won a Super Bowl for the Bucs who once was buried on the bench at Florida State.

As far as the undrafted free agents who have agreed to terms with the Bucs, Madu piques Joe’s interest the most.

Joe wants to take a moment to welcome readers new and old to his not-so-humble home on the Internet.

Joe sees his traffic meter reaching new heights today, plus bile, fury and excitement brewing in the comments. The end of the asinine lockout has brought back some familiar names and Joe has approved many new posters.

As the post-lockout insanity takes its full form Tuesday, with teams signing undrafted free agents, Joe just wants to let it be known that Joe reports a hell of a lot here, but ultimately Joe only fires off what he finds interesting. And that’s not every last snoozer of a transaction.

But Joe will be break his ass to bring you all things Bucs, including intriguing information on undrafted free agents — Joe’s already started — and especially when it comes to restricted and unrestricted free agency (starting Friday) and training camp (also starting Friday), and all the usual pile of diverse stuff delivered here.

Joe doesn’t sleep.

The next week will be unprecedented in NFL history, and Joe expects it will result in its share of theatrics right on JoeBucsFan.com.

Welcome, 2011.

Word is beginning to trickle out about at least one guy Bucs rock star general manager Mark Domink has agreed to terms with as an undrafted free agent — undrafted free agents cannot be signed until tomorrow.

Thanks to Twitter, Joe learned that Tennessee middle linebacker Nick Reveiz has agreed to terms with the Bucs.

Interesting that Reveiz played middle linebacker in a Tampa-2 coached by none other than former Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.

Though you don’t expect much from an undrafted free agent, with no OTAs or rookie minicamps this year, Reveiz, given his background, should have a shorter learning curve than most.

Arguably Reveiz’s best game last season came in a lopsided loss to Alabama in which he had four solo tackles and seven assists. In his final college game against North Carolina, Reveiz blew up with 11 solo tackles.

"It's time to ... put your face on people."

Saliva soaking your keyboard as you yearn to watch Bucs football?

Joe feels your pain.

So Joe is ecstatic to report the Bucs will be practicing Friday at 5:15 p.m at One Buc Palace and the session will be open to the public.

Yes, you can watch the Bucs!!! (And hopefully Team Glazer will request the cheerleaders entertain, as well.)

Friday will be the first of nine public sessions, including a night session on Saturday, Aug. 6, at the C.I.T.S., which will conclude with a fireworks show. Way cool.

Major kudos to the Bucs for going so fan-friendly and accessible in what will be a rather bizarre training camp, courtesy of the formerly asinine lockout.

Per Buccaneers.com, practice details could change, but fans will not need tickets, as in past years.

The team’s official site will also feature Training Camp guidelines, including parking information and a map of One Buccaneer Place that allows visitors to familiarize themselves with the layout before arriving.

Joe will keep you updated, as always, but here’s the current open-practice schedule: 
 
Friday, July 29                         5:15 – 7:15 p.m.
Saturday, July 30                     2:30 – 4:35 p.m.
Sunday, July 31                       5:15 – 7:15 p.m.
Monday, August 1                   5:15 – 7:15 p.m.
Wednesday, August 3              2:30 – 4:35 p.m.
Friday, August 5                       2:30 – 4:35 p.m.
Saturday, August 6                  7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 9                  2:30 – 4:35 p.m.
Sunday, August 14                 2:30 – 4:35 p.m.

What a beautiful thing.

Joe’s a Jeremy Zuttah fan. Joe doesn’t hide it, and didn’t last year when Joe was standing on the roof pounding the drum in the preseason for Zuttah to play over Keydrick Vincent.

Remember him?

For the life of Joe, he can’t understand why some fans aren’t high on 25-year-old Zuttah, who has performed well at three positions on the offensive line in his first three seasons — and can also play a fourth position, tackle, where he played at Rutgers.

Last year, it just so happened that the Bucs offense didn’t miss a beat — and improved — when Zuttah took over for injured center Jeff Faine after eight games.

But don’t expect Faine to lose his starting center job to Zuttah, said former Bucs guard Ian Beckles during the Ron and Ian Show today on WDAE-AM 620.

“When are they going to battle, really? You can’t wear Jeff Faine out in training camp for the sake [of competition,]” Beckles said. “Sometimes you’re so valuable as a backup you won’t start. … It’s not fair, but that’s the way it is. I’ve seen that before.”

Beckles went on to make the point that Zuttah is so versatile that he allows the Bucs to dress eight offensive linemen instead of nine, which is a huge benefit and allows for another active special teams specialist.

Joe would prefer to see Faine and Zuttah slug it out and let the best man win, but if Zuttah’s not in the Bucs long term plan at center, then maybe they’re best off with him backing up Faine until they can perhaps grab the center of the future in the 2012 draft.

Being the dogged reporter he is, Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune is snooping around One Buc Palace, trying to pick up any morsel of information that, per reports, this asinine lockout seems to be in its final hours.

And there is evidence of such, per Cummings on his Twitter feed.

Meanwhile, over at One Buc Place, it’s beginning to look a lot like training camp. Fields are lined, fan seating is up.

Good to read that. Joe will have more later this afternoon when he has time to cobble together coherent thoughts.

Right now the best Joe can describe his thoughts about this asinine lockout ending is the experience of reaching the cashier after a horrible wait in line for a beer at the The CITS.

For the legions of Bucs fans near orgasm at the thought of Nnamdi Asomugha possibly wearing a Bucs uniform this week, Joe presents John Clayton’s latest from BSPN.

“The Professor” took a look at premier free agents and assessed their situations for BSPN.com. He claims the Bucs will be wooing Asomugha.

1. Nnamdi Asomugha, CB, Oakland Raiders: Julius Peppers topped last year’s market because of his ability to sack the quarterback. Asomugha, 30, the headliner of this free-agent class, closes off his side of the field to quarterbacks. Over the past three seasons, only 52 passes were completed against him. Like Charles Woodson, who left the Raiders to join the Packers, Asomugha has the type of body that could allow him to play until his mid-30s.

Leading suitors: Houston, Tampa Bay. Dark horses: Baltimore, San Francisco

Repeatedly, Joe’s been clear that the Bucs have far greater needs than cornerback, let alone one in the $18 million salary range.

But an X-factor here could be Raheem Morris’ desires and role as defensive coordinator/head coach/secondary guru. Maybe Raheem thinks he can win a Super Bowl with the greatest collection of defensive backs talent in modern times, which he very well might have if Asomugha comes to Tampa and Aqib Talib avoids the hatchet of Roger Goodell.

Joe is aching for football season. The mere thought that Joe could be sitting at a Bucs training camp practice with his binoculars this weekend (not to gawk cheerleaders) is enough to get Joe through a Monday morning.

For kicks yesterday, Joe dove into all things Lions, the Bucs’ opening day opponent. And it stood out for Joe that the Lions’ training camp is in Michigan, hardly a tropical climate, even in the summer. And they play home games in a dome, and their final preseason game in September is in Buffalo, where it can be downright cool that time of year.

How could the Lions possibly be ready for the stifling heat that should hit them at 1 o’clock in Tampa on opening day? They won’t be.

Of course, they could get a rain-cooled day at The C.I.T.S., but the odds are against it. Bring on the 105-degree heat index. The Bucs absolutely should have way more in the tank in the fourth quarter of that critical game.

There’s no way these Bucs can lose two straight at home to the typically dreadful Lions. Can they? And please don’t try to sell Joe on Lions being more than a mediocre young team.

Injuries punched the Bucs in the gut last season, but overcoming that was a big plus in their near-miracle season — so many rookies and newcomers stepped up into key roles.

Most Bucs fan take it for granted that guys like Arrelious Benn, Cody Grimm, Gerald McCoy, Aqib Talib. Jeff Faine, Davin Joseph, Earnest Graham and others will be back ready and raring to go when training camp hopefully opens next week.

But Mark Dominik surely can’t take that for granted. The Bucs’ medical staff hasn’t poked and prodded these guys since March. Are they really ready?

Talking about post-lockout priorities last night on the real man channel, NFL Network, former NFL executive turned talking head Mike Lombardi emphatically made the point that teams will need to bring in extra doctors to immediately evaluate all players. Given that free agency no doubt will begin only a few heartbeats following the end of the lockout, teams, especially ones like the Bucs with numerous players returning from injury, must know who’s healthy and who’s not within a matter of hours so they can make intelligent decisions in free agency.

It’s a smart point by Lombardi and possibly a huge X factor for the Bucs.

What if the Bucs doctors take one look at Benn’s surgically repaired knee and decide they want him to spend another eight weeks on the shelf? Surely that could have Dominik bidding for a top free agent receiver. What if Graham’s neck isn’t where they want it to be? That might alter the Bucs’ approach to Cadillac Williams, as well as the fullback position.

It’s going to be wild few days when the asinine lockout waves good-bye.

For reasons unknown to Joe, many Bucs fans are beyond giddy that — if details learned about the new CBA are true — that Team Glazer and Mark Dominik are going to have to spend several millions more per year on salaries.

As Joe has detailed time and again, dollars do not equate wins. Otherwise, Danny Snyder’s garage would be full of Vince Lombardi Trophies.

As a result, Joe isn’t excited or moved to do shots over this news; he just shrugs his shoulders.

It seems eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune is ready to throw cold water on Bucs fans as well. He is of the belief that the new CBA guidelines — whatever they may be; no one really knows for sure — isn’t going to provoke Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to spend money like a crazy man in Vegas after too many drinks of Patron.

Yet amid all the anticipation, recent history and core philosophy suggest the Bucs won’t be overly active in pursuing free agents.

“We’re going to stick to the plan,” Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer said four months ago. “The road that leads to sustained success is drafting well, keeping those players and growing the team that way.”

With the league expected to institute a brief exclusivity period for clubs to re-sign their own pending free agents, ownership’s commitment to that stated approach will be tested.

Joe can easily see Davin Joseph getting re-signed and perhaps Barrett Ruud, if he’s not too tired of the constant din of debate whether he is worthy of the Bucs or not.

The bulk of the cash Joe strongly believes Dominik will spend will be on taking care of his own and maybe a few second-tier free agents.

Don’t expect splash names this week… provided there is a new CBA.

Bucs fans grind their teeth at night more over the constant din coming from the four-letter about the great Matty Ice than they do about the Bucs playing a home game in London.

Matty Ice is a darling of the Bristol crowd, and Bucs fans just want to thrown their pints of beer at the TV whenever they hear praise for Matty Ice.

Well, it seems Bucs fans anger has been felt all the way up in Canada. Recently, Pat Yasinskas of ESPN fielded a question from someone in Hamilton who seemed outraged that Matty Ice is slurped so much by the four-letter and Josh Freeman isn’t.

Robert (Hamilton)

Why is Josh Freeman not considered better than Matt Ryan? His stats were just as good, he’s three years younger, and his reeivers are not as experienced.

Pat Yasinskas

Who’s saying he’s not better? I think you can make a case that Freeman has upside to be better than Ryan. But I also think it’s a little too early to categorically say he’s better than Ryan. They’re both pretty darn good.

Both are good quarterbacks, let’s make that quite clear. However, Matty Ice didn’t exactly light up the Bucs last year and Matty Ice’s touchdown-to-interception ratio wasn’t close to Freeman’s.

Is Matty Ice good? Yup. But so too is Freeman.

Joe caught up briefly with Maurice Stovall at a breast cancer charity softball game Friday night. Stovall joined Derrick Brooks and various B- and C-list celebrities who played in the game.

For Stovall’s comments about the asinine lockout — he’s a Bucs player representative — Joe whipped out his Blackberry recorder. Among other comments, Stovall advised Joe not to believe what he hears on TV.

To listen, click below or download here. (Prepare for background noise)

[audio: joeandmostovall.mp3]