Jerramy Stevens wouldn't play for the Patriots

Joe’s been monitoring the English newspapers and can comfortably say there’s minimal hype for the Bucs-Patriots game in London.

Yes, the game is sold out and tickets were top-dollar, but this is World Cup (soccer) qualifying season. And nothing can compete with that in England.

The London Times has had two NFL stories this week (less than what they’ve had about the Los Angeles pro soccer team), including today’s feature of the Robert Kraft ownership style and, in part, how it compares to the Glazers’. Both bought their NFL teams within a year of each other.

Joe enjoyed the feature, especially when Kraft explained why Aqib Talib and Jerramy Stevens wouldn’t play for the Patriots.

“Throwing money at things doesn’t work,” Kraft said. “You have got to have an internal culture, build a trust. We do a lot of little things that make the difference. We took Richard Seymour and Ben Watson and then Tom Brady to Israel. We witnessed Richard and Ben being baptised in the River Jordan, we took Tom Brady to Bethlehem and it was great seeing them react to different cultures.

“There’s no one on our team that I wouldn’t have at my dinner table. I give autonomy but I told the coach, ‘The only rule is: no thugs and hoodlums. If we need that to win, then I’m getting out.’

“These people carry my name in the community. They pulled a fast one early on and drafted a player who beat up women and I cut him, to make the point.”

Joe wishes the Glazers operated more like Mr. Kraft.

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Shame on you.

Check out JoeBoltsFan.com every day for spectacular Lightning coverage.

It almost looks like the Bolts have a real home-ice advantage again. Joe’s got the full breakdown of last night’s 5-2 win against San Jose.

Only a few days after dirty backup Panthers cornerback Dante Wesley blamed Bucs return specialist Clifton Smith for Wesley’s assault on Smith, knocking him out and knocking him out of the game, Wesley apologized, so reports Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune.

“He explained it just like he had it in the paper,” Smith said. “He was just trying to make a play. It’s understandable. We left it at that.

“He apologized. I accepted his apology. I appreciated it and I’ll see him again.”

Still, Smith was unable to practice yesterday as a result of Wesley’s assault. Wesley was suspended for a game by the NFL for the dirty hit . But the way Joe looks at it, Wesley should not be allowed to return, nor should be paid, until Smith is healthy enough to return.

Just in case anyone missed Wesley’s assault:

Though there were a few, Joe has decided to offer a few Bucs highlights from last Sunday’s loss. Note how excited Gene Deckerhoffer was on Tanard Jackson’s pick-six. Deckerhoff could’t belt out “Touchdown Tampa Bay.”

Many Bucs fans wonder how, or if, soft-spoken Josh Freeman is developing at all on the sidelines, and after limited preseason reps.

Bucs center Jeff Faine, speaking on Total Access last night on 620 WDAE-AM, gave a progress report on Freeman when talking about watching the growing pains of the Bucs young players.

“They’re earning their stripes right now. And it’s tough to sit back and watch. But at the same time each week I see these players grow,” Faine said. “I see a Josh Johnson have a little more character in the huddle. I see, even Josh Freeman at practice, have a little more something that he didn’t have three or four weeks ago. It’s starting to grow. It’s starting to build.”

So there it is. Josh Freeman is developing, even catching the eye of the straight-talking, cerebral Jeff Faine.

Joe loved when he heard Will Allen talking about making a playoff run before the loss to Carolina this week.

Now Joe is fired up again.

This time it’s Cadillac Williams getting Joe primed to open a Caybrew before kickoff against New England on Sunday and maintain a glimmer of hope for a victory.

Cadillac chatted with the New England media Wednesday and let them know the Bucs are closing in on a victory and going on a run.

Q: How close do you feel the team is to breaking through?

Cadillac Williams: Oh, man. You know what? We’re sitting here 0-6 and man, we’re close, man. I tell guys the main thing man is, ‘Let’s just keep fighting. Let’s keep believing in this team. Let’s keep believing in what the coaches are preaching [to] us. Everybody, don’t start doing their own thing.’ Because man, if you go back and watch film, we really do put some good things out there on film, but for some reason you go one, two or three plays in key situations – whether it’s a jumping offsides or not taking care of the ball or a missed assignment – it has gotten us beat in games.

Joe hopes Cadillac is right and the Bucs are indeed closing in on their first victory. Beating Bill Belicheat going into the bye week would be special and do wonders for the franchise, and Josh Johnson’s career.

Yes, Joe knows the Bucs are a 15 1/2-point underdog.

"Yo, Rah and Dominik, I'll help you keep the ship afloat. And I know how to tackle."

C’mon, Mark Dominik. Suck up your mistake. Call Derrick Brooks and give your team the leadership it’s craving.

The bye week is coming. It’s the perfect time.

Speaking Tuesday on 1010 AM, Earnest Graham talked about the Bucs’challenges after purging veteran leaders and about waiting for equivalent leadership to emerge. He even talked longingly about how Tim Crowder, who was with Denver to start the season, spoke of Brian Dawkins walking into the Broncos’ locker room this year and completely changing the culture.

On Wednesday evening, it was Jeff Faine’s turn to voice his frustration about the experience void the Bucs are suffering from. Faine spoke on 620 WDAE-AM during Total Access.

“It’s frustrating. As a veteran, it’s frustrating,” Faine said. “From going from what we had last year with a veteran, really heavily veteran-laden team, to going to what we have this year, where it’s a bunch of young guys, a bunch of atheltic capable skilled guys. But we just haven’t been playing together for a long time. There’s not the experience there that you kind of depend on in the NFL. You’re dealing with a whole new coaching staff. It’s a whole new regime. …As a vet it’s frustrating at times because you’d like be able to get out there and win, and you’d like to be able to do the things you’ve done before in a season. But it’s kind of a growing pains. And you have to go through them when you’re kind of starting over a whole new franchise in a way.”

So here are two veteran Buccaneers, including a team captain in Faine, talking about how the team is lacking in experience and leadership.

And since it’s obvious that leaders can’t be anointed, how are the Bucs going to address that in the offseason?

Joe thinks Derrick Brooks could be a beneficial presence on the Bucs right now, even if he’s playing limited snaps and even this late in the season.

For Dominik and Raheem The Dream, having Brooks in the locker room could greatly increase the odds of keeping the Bucs from becoming a fractured group as the team marches toward a one- or two-win season. Brooks could help save their jobs.

Joe’s good friend, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620 yesterday banged the drum the Bucs were making a terrible mistake flying to London Friday for their game against the Patriots.

Former Bucs general manager Bruce Almighty had a unique insider view on why the Bucs were leaving Friday.

Vacation Man of BSPN.com, who knows something about London, says it doesn’t matter when the Bucs leave.

The skepticism and criticism is based on the lingering theory the Glazer family that owns the team is trying to cut corners. Obviously, this route saves one night of hotel bills. I’m not totally discounting that theory because there might be something to it.

But my question is this: Does it really matter when the Bucs go to London?

I mean, they could have gone over there in July, had training camp there, gotten used to the food and climate and even started to develop British accents and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.

They’re 0-6 and they’re playing the Patriots.

The only suspense in this game for Joe will be how many touchdowns Tom Brady throws.

Jenny Dell. Bucs. Ready… set… go!

And just when Bucs nation thought Sammie Stroughter was a stud kick returner in the making.

Now Panthers coach John Fox is whining about the Strougther touchdown on Sunday, saying the Bucs used the newly outlawed three-man wedge on the return and claiming his team was without it’s top coverage guys and missed three tackles on the play, reports the Gaston Gazette.

Replays confirmed that the Bucs did indeed have three men forming a wedge at the beginning of the kickoff return. The Panthers had other problems on that return, as well.

They found themselves without two regulars on their coverage team as Dante Wesley had been ejected earlier in the game and Landon Johnson was nursing a back injury.

“We had some new guys out there. They ran a new return, and we missed three tackles,” Fox said.

Joe has two unprintable words for Fox.

But it will be interesting to get the NFL response. Apparently, the Panthers intend to hound the NFL about the wedge and get some officials in trouble.

The Unknown Author of the Bradenton Herald is upset how Bucs fans got hosed out of a home game to play in London.

Someone at the Bradenton Herald — which no longer has a fulltime Bucs beat writer (and people wonder why newspapers are dying?) — posts a story on the Bucs, though someone over there forgot to add a byline (thus, Joe sadly cannot give credit to the author, the Unknown Author).

The Unknown Author rips the NFL for screwing Bucs fans out of a home game, which Joe wrote about many times when the schedule first debuted last spring.

The last time the Patriots came to Tampa for a meaningful game was Nov. 16, 1997. Remember? The Bucs, in their new pewter-and-red uniforms, allowed a meaningless fourth-quarter touchdown that afternoon and won 27-7. It was their eighth win of the season. They would win 10 and return to the playoffs for the first time since Lee Roy Selmon was the man about town.

The Pats quarterback that day? Drew Bledsoe. Brady had yet to arrive on the scene, and given how often the NFL sends the Patriots to Tampa during the regular season — three times since 1976 — it’s likely Brady will be gone before the Patriots’ next trip here.

So, that means football fans in this area are being robbed of their one time to see Tom Brady in his prime.

Somehow, that doesn’t seem fair.

Hey, Unknown Author, the NFL isn’t about being fair. It’s about selling gear and TV commercials. Joe sympathizes both with the Unknown Author and Bucs fans in general.

But hey, those cool looking No. 90 orange jerseys should fly off the shelves in jolly old England.

Aqib Talib is the lone Bucs defender earning his paycheck.

There’s not a whole lot to defend with the Bucs.

Sure, Donald Penn is one of the best offensive tackles in the game. Aqib Talib is having a great year — on the field.

Outside of that, the Bucs are putrid. Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune absolutely crucifies the Bucs defense, specifically the rush defense, as the main reason the Bucs are still searching for their first win, and will likely have to wait a while for it.

All too frequently the defensive secondary allows long passes for easy touchdowns.

The rest of the time, the defensive line gets pushed all the way down the field, like they did Sunday, resulting in a 28-21 loss to Carolina in a home game.

Early indications are the defensive line did not get any better by trading Gaines Adams, and replacing him with Stylez White.

Because it still is manned by three castoffs from other NFL teams and a former Arena League player, opposing running backs have averaged nearly five yards per carry this season.

All rookie head coach Raheem Morris can do is what he did Monday, talk around the issue, without admitting how much of a liability it is for the defense to be ranked last against the run in the NFC and 31st — next to last — in the NFL, giving up 171.7 yards rushing per game.

The Bucs are ranked 28th in the league in yards allowed per carry, with a 4.9 yard average.

Rotten defense, just rotten. So piss poor is this defense it makes Mickey Andrews defense up in Tallahassee look like the 2002 Bucs. The fact the Bucs couldn’t stop an 80–yard, shove-the-ball down your throat drive for a chance to win the game last week simply gutless.

Joe enjoys baseball but the thing Joe hates about baseball is the sport has been hijacked by the spreadsheet warriors.

Joe doesn’t know what the hell a player’s OPS or an OBGYN is, nor does he care.

Joe’s into sports, not acronyms and surely not algebra. Whitey Herzog never needed a calculator.

So Joe grimaces when he hears or reads the calculator crowd try to descecrate football like they have baseball. But sometimes, albeit not very often, it can be enlightening.

Take the guys at FootballOutsiders.com. They did some number crunching to try to estimate what kind of a player Gaines Adams will develop into.

FootballOutsiders.com comes up with a list of nine players who they think Adams is most like. In short, the Bucs just traded Chike Okeafor.

One note is that two of those players (Steve Foley and Peter Boulware) were outside linebackers, and Okeafor would switch to outside linebacker later in his career. Adams is actually five pounds lighter than Okeafor, and he may be better suited to playing outside linebacker in a 3-4. Failing that, it may be in the Bears’ best interest to split him out wide and tell him only to rush the passer, as the Colts do with Dwight Freeney. If we look at the top 40 or so comparisons to Adams, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila’s name starts popping up several times, and there’s also an appearance by a young John Abraham. Those are two players even smaller than Adams who were pass-rushing terrors out of 4-3 sets.

Joe’s not sold that Adams will ever develop into one of those guys. But Joe is more than content that the Bucs got a second round pick for Adams.

"Olson, I love you, man. But if you go 0-16 with my playbook I'll disown you, brother."

It’s official. Bucs fans can still blame offensive mastermind Jon Gruden for the team’s inability to throw the ball downfield and muster a consistent attack.

Apparently, every copy of Chucky’s overflowing playbook wasn’t burned in the dumpsters behind One Buc Place.

New offensive coordinator Greg Olson has brought back a significant amount of Chucky’s plays, said center Jeff Faine, speaking Wednesday night on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

During the Total Access broadcast, Faine was asked whether it was easier to play with a veteran like Byron Leftwich or rookie Josh Johnson. Faine picked Johnson because the Bucs are running Gruden’s plays.

“We’re kind of using a little bit of Gruden’s offense with Coach Olson, and it’s a little easier actually working with Josh Johnson because he’s very, very familiar with it,” Faine said. “He’s been in it for a year and a half, which is obviously longer than Byron Leftwich has. So I think, in a little way, it’s a little easier working with him, because he knows it.”

Now didn’t the Bucs fire Gruden, hire Jeff Jagodzinski to overhaul the offense, and then laud the former Boston College coach for simplifying the playbook, which under Chucky was known for being overcomplicated?

Then the Bucs fired Jagodzinski and promoted Olson who re-installed Chucky’s plays?

On top of all this madness, Joe is stunned Michael Clayton has yet to blame his woes on Gruden’s plays returning. Surely, this explains all of Clayton’s dropped passes. 

Speaking on his weekly appearance on “Movin’ the Chains” on Sirius NFL Radio with Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan Wednesday afternoon, former Bucs general manager Bruce Almighty had an interesting take on why and when the Bucs and Patriots will leave for London.

The Patriots will leave Thursday while the Bucs will leave Friday. Bruce Almighty suggested the two teams are virtual guinea pigs as the NFL wants to find out which team better adapts to the time change,  whether it’s better to leave two full days or three full days before playing in London.

The reason for this, Bruce Almighty said, is that NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell would like to have an NFL  team based in London [Joe’s speculation: Jacksonville perhaps?]. How teams adapt to the time change on three and/or two days will help give the NFL an idea of how to schedule games for a London-based franchise.

A couple of other interesting nuggets Bruce Almighty dropped:

* Bruce Almighty said there was a week last year — he did not specify — that the Bucs were so beat up that the team did nothing but walk-throughs the entire week. Bruce Almighty claimed the game the Bucs played that week was “successful” but did not reveal if the Bucs won or lost.

* Claimed that Gaines Adams is strictly a pass rusher who “worked hard.” Oh, please. Joe’s heard that song and dance.

   On a side note, Kirwan claimed he had researched when a team has traded a fourth overall pick in the draft after less than three years in the league (i.e. the Bucs and Adams) and he could not find an example. Kirwan asked Bruce Almighty if he knew of any player and Bruce Almighty replied, “Eli Manning.”

It must kill Bill Belicheat to cough up a few minutes of his time each week to talk to the opposing team’s beat writers via conference call.

So maybe he has to dream up hysterical things to say in an effort to humor himself?

That sure seems to be the case when he spoke to the Tampa Bay pen and mic club. Belicheat almost sounded as if his Patriots were facing the 1978 Steelers reports eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.

“We’ve got to defend a great set of backs. This is as talented a backfield as we’ll see this year. The Bucs can hurt you in a lot of ways. They’re explosive and they’re dangerous. They’re great in the kicking game. We haven’t faced a quarterback like (Josh) Johnson this year that has that kind of mobility and speed. A middle linebacker like Barrett Ruud that makes every tackle. I hope we’ll be able to be competitive against them.”

Joe doesn’t know where to begin with those comments, but Joe is sure some of his readers will offer a few. 

Where have Bucs fans heard this before: A coveted receiver couldn’t hang on to the ball?

That’s a reason Christopher L. Gasper of the Boston Globe claims the Patriots, Tom Brady in particular, soured on former Bucs stud wide receiver Joey Galloway.

Gaspar claims Patriots coach Bill Belicheat made a mistake in signing Galloway and, given Galloway’s limited chances and dropped passes, Brady didn’t care for Galloway. 

“Any time you sign a player, you expect that he’ll come in and be a productive player for you,’’ said Belichick. “[Galloway was] inactive the last three games, and it just really didn’t work out for us, unfortunately. Sometimes that happens.’’

There is a natural push and pull between the roles of coach and personnel czar. There are conflicts and conflicts of interest.

That’s why Galloway, who will cost the Patriots nearly $1.8 million, lasted this long even though it was clear he had lost the trust of both his quarterback and the coaching staff following the Falcons game Sept. 27. In that game, he cost them a touchdown by carelessly stepping on the end line and dropped a Tom Brady pass in the red zone, after which the agitated quarterback rolled his eyes.

Before any suggests otherwise, Joe always liked Galloway the graybeard and is sincerely chagrin that things didn’t work out for him in New England.  Here’s hoping Galloway lands with another team soon.

Joe wouldn’t be opposed to Galloway coming back to the Bucs.

International relations can be a dicey thing. What is good for superior minds like Americans (football) doesn’t translate to lesser cultures (kickball hooligans of Europe).

So Clark Judge (not to be confused with Mike Judge or Matt Drudge) of CBSSports.com is of the mind that having the Bucs play in London may create havoc for State Department types in Washington, that this is not a way to thank a foreign county for giving America some of its greatest pop culture icons.

England gives us the Beatles, The Who and Jacqueline Bisset, and we respond by exporting next weekend’s New England-Tampa Bay game? No wonder we’re running a $1.4 trillion deficit.

Ah, Jacqueline Bisset. If there is anything to get Joe’s mind off of Rachel Watson, it is this iconic scene by Bisset.

(Sigh). Joe’s day is now ruined.

B.J. Askew's season is over. And perhaps his Bucs career.

In just two years, Earnest Graham has gone from buried on Chucky’s bench to the Bucs’ No. 1 running back, then to fill-in fullback and then to a reserve running back role.

And now he’s got a new job: full-time fullback.

B. J. Askew is done for the season after a minor car accident left him with neck and back injuries.

Graham learned of the news yesterday during an interview on 1010 AM.

“I guess I’m the new fullback,” he said. “I can tell you B.J.’s in a lot of pain.”

This is a very interesting development for the Bucs. Raheem The Dream had high praise for Graham’s play at fullback recently. And obviously Graham’s a dangerous weapon to have on the field. There’s no reason to think he won’t be successful and be the No. 1 fullback entering 2010.

That leaves the Bucs at a crossroads at running back.

Derrick Ward turns 30 next summer, and Cadillac Williams is a free agent after the season with an ugly medical history. Joe can’t think of a scenario that would see Caddy back in a Bucs uniform next year. 

If Cadillac’s healthy through 2009 and gains 1,000 yards, are the Glazers really going to pony up the cash to keep him considering his medical history? And if Cadillac’s performance tails off through this season, there’d be no reason to stick with a 28-year-old back on the downside of his career.

Perhaps it’s time to take Kareem Huggins off the practice squad and see what he can do. And it’s reasonable to add running back to the Bucs’ growing wish list for the 2010 draft.

Joe loves good interviews — players who aren’t afraid to call it as they see it most of the time and usually bring a very fresh perspective.

On the Bucs, per Joe’s scorecard, the best interview spots go to Antonio Bryant and Jeff Faine. Bryant is unpredictable and passionate, while Faine is candid and extremely well spoken.

Tonight on 620 WDAE-AM, Faine will grab the Total Access microphone at 6 p.m. alongside good guy host Scott Ledger to talk all things Bucs. Faine also will take phone calls.

Should be a treat for Bucs fans.