When Bucs veteran defensive end Eric Curry, who Warren Sapp was not fond of, griped about doing pass rush drills on the third day of training camp in Father Dungy’s first year, Sapp knew the Bucs were headed in the right direction.

Throughout the weekend, Joe will bring snippets of the many, many, many stories Bucs great Warren Sapp shared Thursday with the Bucs pen and mic club about his career.

Soon-to-be Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp makes no bones about the fact he thought he was much better than most Buccaneers when he arrived in Tampa Bay in 1995, even though Sapp was a rookie. And he was right.

Sapp still talks with disdain about Sam Wyche’s “Three ring circus,” as Sapp calls it, and last week he remembered what he thought was the turning point where the Bucs left their losing ways behind.

This took place on the third day of training camp under Father Dungy while Sapp and other defensive linemen were working on pass rush drills, a tactic most of the veterans loathed. Sapp, proving to be astute even at a young age, thought the Bucs needed such work.

“Eric Curry playing outside… there was some bad football being played. I go back to those days with Rod [Marinelli] and doing pass rush drills. On the third day, Curry looked at us, ‘We’re going to do this everyday?’ I was like, ‘Yes! I won’t have to look at his [arse] any more. He’s out of here.’ If you don’t want to do this? I mean, this is regular work in the summer.

“‘We’re going to pass rush everyday?’ Really? Last time I remember I ran one game and got a sack and you played 15 before you got a sack. Really? What the hell makes you so good that you don’t want to do this every day? So I couldn’t understand it.

“So we slowly understood the process of Tony [Dungy] and his coaching staff building something special.”

Carr scored a rare undrafted free agent signing bonus from the Bucs.

The underwear Olympics NFL Combine is not an all-inclusive event. To participate in the combine, one must be invited by the NFL.

Playing cornerback at Arizona State, Deveron Carr thought being an All PAC-12 honorable mention cornerback (who logged a 4.0 in the fall of 2012 as a grad student), would get him invited to the NFL Combine to show off his wares for NFL scouts and coaches.

When that didn’t happen, Carr was one PO’ed person. Smart guy that he is, he turned all of that negative energy into his workouts rather than sulk.

He posted times of 4.36 and 4.38 in the 40-yard dash at the Sun Devils’ pro day and when he fell through the cracks of the draft, Bucs rock star general manger Mark Dominik offered him a signing bonus of $15,000 to sign with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent; an unheard of sum.

Carr spoke about the emotional rollercoaster he has ridden the past few months.

“I can run fast, a lot of guys out west can run fast, speedy guys,” Carr said.”

When he wasn’t selected to work out at the combine, “I was pissed off for greatness,” Carr said. “I did not take it negative at all. Every day in training I took it out, I put all that [anger] into training. If I let that take me down, I wouldn’t be able to perform.”

Carr could have signed with any team — teams, unlike the Bucs, who are desperate for corners. Instead, he selected the Bucs because of the top-heavy roster highlighted by one Darrelle Revis.

“With Darrelle Revis on the roster, he is the best at man-press and that’s what I am good at,” Carr said. “To come in and have a great opportunity to learn from a vet like him” is a tremendous advantage.

Carr noted that he struggled with a few techniques the Bucs had him use, struggled because he was foreign to these concepts.

“Yeah, I was struggling with technique a little bit but I thought positive about it,” Carr said. “Hey, I have to get this technique and I think I am getting closer to perfecting it each day. It’s a little different. I am just used to backpedaling.

“I’m not looking for any handouts. I am just looking to play hard.”

Carr, at one point during this weekend’s rookie minicamp, was singled out by coaches to join a handful of other cornerbacks, including second-round pick Johnthan Banks, for specific instructions. This is a good sign. Typically, only those expected to survive the weekend are pulled aside for individual coaching. This is how Leonard Johnson, also an undrafted free agent corner, made his bones last spring.

Today’s practice was somewhat nondescript for people just watching the drills. There was little if any scrimmaging, short of pass-rushing drills (where William Gholston announced his arrival in a physical way).

It is very difficult to judge players when most drills amount to footwork, and engaging tackling dummies and blocking pads.

Roughly about halfway through practice, Joe heard the famliar cry, “Toes on the line!” when the players were involved in running. Overall, Schiano has been eager but not hyper, not much hollering. That could be a good sign.

Yesterday, Schiano was briskly jogging from practice field to practice field and occasionally offered input. Today, Schiano seemed a bit more relaxed, walking between practice fields and doing more observing than barking any orders.

The one highlight that jumped out at Joe was defensive end Steven Means. Means ran at a blocker who held a dummy. Means absolutely blew past the blocker, using a quick and smooth swim move so well-executed that Joe isn’t sure the blocker touched Means with the dummy. (This was a different drill from the one that saw William Gholston sack a coach.)

One order from assistants Joe often heard was the phrase, “follow through,” meaning keep playing. In offensive drills, this means if a running back got past the defense, he was to keep sprinting to score, say, an 80-yard touchdown.

On a couple of plays, Joe noticed wide receivers/running backs pulling up before they got to the goal line and jogging back to join their teammates.

Joe is sure this will be pointed out by Schiano after he looks at tape of the practice. Such moves are not what makes a Buccaneer Man.

William Gholston sacked a coach in quarterback pressure drills this afternoon at the Bucs’ second day of rookie minicamp.

Just talking to new Bucs defensive end William Gholston, the Michigan State product was just chomping at the proverbial bit in order to prove himself worthy of a fourth-round pick and a spot on the Bucs’ 53-man roster come September.

During a quarterback rushing drill today, a staffer on the Bucs’ football operations staff, Dan Shamash, played quarterback. Once a defensive lineman got past the offensive linemen (no pads, just helmets) a whistle was blown and the play stopped.

That wasn’t enough for Gholston. In a scene that could have been pulled from “The Replacements,” Gholston beat his man, and played through the whistle, sacking Shamash.

Joe can honestly say he had never seen a player bury a coach on a practice field.

Asked about Gholston getting physical with a member of his staff after practice, Bucs coach Greg Schiano smiled and said he liked the effort but, “I’m not sure the quarterback liked it.”

After his sack, on a subsequent play, Gholston again beat his man again and instead of dropping Shamash to the dirt, he just grabbed his shoulders.

It seems there never was a doubt in rockstar general manager Mark Dominik’s mind during the final days leading up to the NFL Draft that the Bucs were going to draft a cornerback ASAP.

In chatting with Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski on 98.7 FM yesterday, Dominik made it clear that the Bucs strongly considered trading up for CB Johnthan Banks, nabbed in the second round, and after acknowledging that Danny Gorrer and Leonard Johnson showed well toward the end of 2012, Dominik said of cornerbacks, “You gotta have at least three guys you have confidence in.”

It was a nice way of saying the Bucs were desperate for a talent to blend with Eric Wright and Darrelle Revis.

And that brings Joe to Wright. Are Bucs fans, let alone Dominik and Greg Schiano, really ready to push their chips all-in on Wright staying out of trouble, staying off the training table, and performing well consistently?

Joe’s sure not prepared to gamble big-time on that. Joe sees flimsy evidence to believe in Wright.

Let’s pretend for a moment: If Wright had a head-to-head competition at cornerback with Ronde Barber through this offseason, Joe’s not sure Wright would win. This is why Joe continues to hope for Barber’s return, as well as the Bucs staying vigilant on monitoring other rosters for potential cornerback help.

During a recent interview, Father Dungy summed up the modern-day need for quality cornerbacks quite simply. You need to beat three great passing attacks to win a Super Bowl, Dungy said.

Could the Bucs be looking to add depth to the offensive line, in addition to Jamon Meredith?

Joe knows there are some Bucs fans concerned about the offensive line. Not Joe. If healthy, there are few better offensive lines in the NFL.

That’s not to say the Bucs offensive line is the same as the Packers’ of the 1960s, the Raiders’ of the 1970s or the Hogs of the 1990s. Demar Dotson is a borderline NFL starter — a pretty good pass blocker but not the best run blocker, for example.

This led a Bucs fan to inquire of Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune what the Bucs plan to do about the offensive line in a recent TBO Bucs Q&A.

Q. One thing that concerns me is the offensive line, particularly depth. Who are the best options on the market in that area, and do you see Tampa signing one of those guys?

– Mike, Fitchburg

A. There are several good options. G Brandon Moore is still available. So are OTs Eric Winston and Jammal Brown. The Bucs will probably wait to see how the undrafted free agents they signed look, but there’s a chance they’ll dip back in to the market for someone.

– Woody Cummings

Joe has a hunch the reason why Winston and Brown are still out there is their asking price. The closer it gets to training camp, their prices may lower.

But Joe doesn’t believe Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik is going to throw much money at a right tackle. A backup maybe? Perhaps.

Who knows, maybe the Bucs found a hidden gem this weekend.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik has made it clear a few times that rookie quarterback Mike Glennon was drafted by the Bucs because he was their highest-rated player available when Tampa Bay’s number was called in the third round.

But yesterday Dominik also talked about the potential cash value of Glennon during an interview with Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski, of 98.7 FM.

Signing and developing a talent like Glennon, Dominik says, is a reason why the Bucs will have money to pay studs like Darrelle Revis, the other seven Pro Bowl talents on the roster, retain key players.

“If you’ve watched the league, and you see the backup quarterback market and where it’s going, it used to be $1 million to $2 million, now it’s $4 million to $5 million for a really good backup,” Dominik said. “When you draft a player like Mike Glennon in the third round, and you feel like he not only has a chance to develop, but be good value for you because now he’s costing you $600,000 to $700,000 per year. That’s how you can improve the front line of your team. That’s how Darrelle Revis is on this football team. That’s how we get Dashon Goldson. That’s how we’re going to continue to keep a lot of our players going forward. It was a pick that made sense for us as far as fitting our system. It was a pick that made sense for us in terms of depth and potential. And it was a pick for us that was the highest-rated player on our board, and we stuck to our board.”

Also, in a comment that won’t make Dan Orlovsky’s agent happy, Dominik said, “We didn’t want to be in a situation where, if something happened to Freeman, that our season’s over. … If that happened, we wanted to have a young guy that’s ready to roll.”

Joe knows the pressure on Dominik and the New Schiano Order. They’re loaded with supreme talent, and it’s the second year of the regime. That means leaving the Bucs without a talented backup would be irresponsible.

The Bucs were courting Matt Cassel, per various reports, and possibly sniffing Carson Palmer, guys who could win a football game. Neither panned out, so they went the Glennon route after holding their nose and re-signing Dan Orlovsky.

It makes good football sense, though the value of Glennon is only perceived until he shows he can play. Frankly, if Glennon proves as capable as a young Chris Simms, then the Bucs did well with the draft pick. Despite all the optimism surrounding Glennon, there’s a reason he fell to the third round in a quarterback-driven league.

Gates open at 10 a.m. at Derby Lane today, where you can wager on the entire Kentucky Derby day card from Churchill Downs!

Of course, admission is free, and there’s all kinds of great live greyhound action — all afternoon and into the night — and Derby Club dining and Tampa Bay’s best poker room are there for your enjoyment. Click through above and below to get all the details!

OK, Joe knows the biggest question among fans since the Bucs acquired star cornerback Darrelle Revis was, “what number is he going to wear?”

Well, it seems Revis and Mark Barron, the owner of No. 24 — Revis’ number with the Jets — hatched a deal and the Bucs made it official Saturday (despite Bucs general manager Mark Dominik leaking the news Thursday).

Revis will wear No. 24.

Barron will wear No. 23.

Even Barron took to Twitter Friday night to make the annoucement.

@M_B_24: Number change was not forced organization left tht up to me and @Revis24. So I chose to let him get the number

Now this is huge for Barron. NFL protocol is that if a player wants a number already possessed by a teammate, he must cut a check to the guy who already is wearing said number.

And it seems that Barron, rather than holding Revis hostage, just gave it away. Joe is impressed. Talk about a true teammate.

Which brings Joe to No. 23. That was the number of fan favorite Myron Lewis. No word on whether Barron had to cough up cash to get that number from Lewis or not.

Lewis, by the way, is now wearing No. 31, which previously belonged to E.J. Biggers.

Got all of that?

Bucs rookie defensive tackle Akeem Spence had an idea of what to expect for his first NFL practice. It’s not much different than what a college graduate should expect on his/her first day on a job.

Be professional.

“The pace is a lot quicker,” Spence said of the difference between the NFL and Illinois practices. “You get out here and get on the field. Coaches expect you to know. In college, coaches give you a little one-on-one attention. But here, you are expected to know. You are supposed to be a professional.

“This is your job.”

The thing that struck Joe about Spence, who will be given a strong opportunity to lock up the starting role next to Gerald McCoy, is that the guy was smiling like Rachel Watson invited him to dinner.

In other words, the dude loves football.

“I learned a lot today,” Spence said. “I learned how to get lined up, how to play the tilted nose, how to get the play call. [Defensive line] “coach [Randy Melvin] walked us through real fast, bullets flying at you, making sure you are ready and getting some one-on-one work.

“It’s been a good day.”

While rookie minicamp practice is far from exciting, for Joe there’s nothing quite like breathing in the sweet smells of football on fresh cut at grass One Buc Palace — in May.

The New Schiano Order returned to the practice fields today with the Bucs’ latest draft picks, undrafted free agents and loads of tryout players.

Joe took some notes.

*Quarterback Mike Glennon, and current QB sidekick hopeful Robert Marve, got lots of Greg Schiano’s attention. The head coach did plenty of studying standing alone, as Glennon and Marve went through all kinds of drills. Glennon’s got a big league arm and surely seemed pretty darn accurate this afternoon. What that all means in shorts and a helmet tossing to receivers with little or no coverage isn’t much.

*New wide receivers coach John Garrett seems to be a pretty lively, in-your-face kind of coach. He’s not exactly wild man P.J. Fleck who Garrett replaced, but Garrett is vocal, barking today at a stable of unimpressive receivers. “Trust your feet.” … “Don’t look at the ground.” … “Eyes up.” … “Run out of it. Don’t sprint out of it.” At one point, tryout wide receiver Terriun Crump, out of Western Illinois, slipped in a route, and Garrett barked at him, “You’re getting tired.” Garrett seems to be a real big footwork guy, more so than Joe remembers out of Fleck. Of course, Joe only got a one-afternoon sample today.

*Joe felt bad for tryout wide receiver Kyle Fisher out of Bloomsburg. The kid dropped two passes and juggled another one badly.

*Secondary drills were interesting. During an interception return drill, Johnthan Banks didn’t look to have a lot of speed. Again, it’s just one catch and run, but his wheels didn’t stand out. Schiano spent a lot of time watching defensive backs, and during that same drill fourth-round pick William Gholston playfully — and intentionally — ran into Schiano in the end zone finishing the play. That drew a big smile from Schiano.

*One standout during extended defensive backs drills was Mason Robinson, a tryout player from Rutgers, who was a punt returner/cornerback in college. Clearly, Robinson knows how to practice at Schiano’s pace, but it’s also clear Robinson had a gear and a burst the other defensive backs didn’t. Whether he can flash as a punt returner is unclear. Another one to watch was big safety Nate Ness. He’s a veteran who played for the Dolphins, Seahawks, (Dolphins again) and Rams before sitting out last season. Also of note was Jerrell Gavins, a rookie cornerback out of Boise State. He’s very fluid and got a lot of praise today for his technique. There’s plenty of opportunity for an undrafted defensive back to make the Bucs squad, so Joe’s keeping an extra eye on these guys. Schiano was doing the same, taking diligent notes.

The arrival of spring in Johnthan Banks’ world means spring practice and a spring game.

Those days are over for the Bucs’ second round pick. Well, at least a spring game.

This evening, Banks came off the Bucs practice fields (he’s wearing No. 27) after breaking a sweat for the first time as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It was a different experience for the former Jim Thorpe Award winner.

“This is the first time I haven’t played spring football since I was in the seventh grade,” Banks said. “It’s good knocking the rust off and having fun.”

Even though it had been a long day of meetings and then hitting the field for the first time as a professional, Banks was smiling like a kid who found a sparkling new bike under the Christmas tree.

“It was good. It was everything I expected,” Banks said of his initial Bucs practice. “It felt like college again coming out hear and learning new stuff. It was fun. Good to be back on the football field again.”

Despite a new coaching staff and new teammates and high expectations, Banks was not overwhelmed.

“Most corner play is the same technique,” Banks said. “Just getting back out here to compete, just to get back out on the football field for the first time in three or four months is great.”

So too would be a chance to play with the great Ronde Barber. As Bucs fans await his decision to return for one (or two?) more years in the pewter and red, Banks hopes Barber gives it one final go with the Bucs.

“It would feel great if I get to play with Ronde and Darrelle [Revis],” Banks said. “It would “be a great learning experience for me from a guy that played 17 years in the NFL.”

Earlier today, Don Banks of SI.com reported that the Bucs and Patriots coaches were going to get together for a coaches convention of sorts only for the two staffs; the Bucs and Patriots.

Well, you can count Greg Schiano out. The Bucs’ head coach, in his post-practice presser Friday evening, stated he wasn’t going.

Schiano spoke very little of the event, sort of waving it off as little more than coaches getting together to set parameters of a controlled scrimmages this summer.

Last year the Bucs hosted the Patriots at One Buc Palace in a series of controlled scrimmages and practices prior to the two teams’ meeting in a preseason game.

In August, the two teams will meet again at New England. Again, Schiano spoke very little about this other than to downplay it as nothing more than a planning meeting.

A meeting he will not attend.

Throughout the weekend, Joe will bring snippets of the many, many, many stories Bucs great Warren Sapp shared Thursday with the Bucs pen and mic club about his career.

Soon-to-be Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is obviously proud of his accomplishments but perhaps there is nothing he is more boastful about is that he — and Sapp is quick to point out Derrick Brooks and John Lynch as well — transformed the “Yucs” into a Super Bowl champion.

And while a good argument can be made that if Father Dungy’s offense wasn’t so archaic that it made Sid Luckman cry, the Bucs, with the Sapp-led defense, cheated themselves out of maybe another ring or two.

Sapp doesn’t look at it like that. No regrets with just one ring.

“No! Because I know people who’ve got none,” Sapp said “It is very nasty when you are having that conversation and they have none. Trust me. I have just as many championships as Brett Favre and he has three MVPs. I have just as many [rings] as Peyton Manning and he will be considered as one of the greatest quarterbacks that has ever played the game.

“But I won in Tampa. That holds a lot of significance when you are sitting in a room with a bunch of people. I get it with Michael Irvin all the time. He breaks out all three of his rings on Super Bowl Sunday. He brings them out like they are flower pedals, sets them on the desk [smooching noises] and kissing them and everything. Nobody talks more trash than a Cowboy because [derisive voice] they are America’s Team. So [Irvin] says, ‘Yeah, I won three but he [Sapp] won one in Tampa!

So [Irvin] goes into a spiel, 0-23 and all of those years, man. I wore that orange, too! It means a lot more that we built the team from the ground up, no doubt about it.

Joe still thinks the Bucs got jobbed out of at least another ring the way Father Dungy ignored the offense. Sapp and Lynch have all but admitted it year ago.

But it is cool Sapp is happy as heck with his solo, and the way it came about.

Yesterday, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik appeared with Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan, co-hosts of “Movin’ the Chains,” heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

(Joe was busy at One Buc Palace yesterday and was tipped off to the interview, so he stayed up past 2 a.m. to record the rebroadcast.)

Now Joe knows some Bucs fans screamed for Dominik to draft Tyler Eifert, tight end from Notre Dame, almost as bad as they were pining for slot receiver Tavon Austin, until Dominik used the No. 13 overall pick to land star corner Darrelle Revis.

Still, Bucs fans are rumbling about the tight end position and this also gathered interest from Ryan, who peppered Dominik with a question about the Bucs’ tight ends.

Tim Ryan: Take a peek at the guys you’ve got [at tight end]. Luke Stocker is coming back. I think a fourth-rounder a couple of years ago. I like the [Tom] Crabtree signing. He’s got some nastiness to him as far as certainly having the desire and is a pretty good at blocking. Who is the flex guy? Is there still an opportunity for the door to be open for Dallas Clark and his return? Who is your flex tight end if you had to name one right now?

Mark Dominik: We have a couple of guys we are looking at. Dallas is a free agent. You know, I haven’t talked to his agent – we talked after the season and it sounds like that is going in a different direction. So for us, that’s why we went out and – when Tom Crabtree did not get tendered, we were aggressive with his agent in trying to get him on the team. We see what you see: an aggressive blocker who is untapped down the field. I think he is going to be able to do both. We are excited about the uses of a dual guy who can detach a little bit and go “H” and even some stuff in the backfield.

We have a couple of guys that we like and want to see develop. We picked up the other Zach Miller. We have some young guys, [Danny] Noble and Evan Landi, excited to see how they go through.

It seemed obvious that if Clark wasn’t around by now, he likely wouldn’t come back. And it sure seems Dominik has turned the page on Clark.

The key element here is Crabtree. Yes, he’s a solid blocker, as many Packers beat writers documented since his release. But Crabtree was in a log jam — ard to get playing time when you are behind Jermichael Finley.

The Bucs really believe Crabtree has the skills to split defenses over the middle. We shall see.

The rest of Dominik’s interview with Kirwan and Ryan Joe will have next week. Way too much Bucs news now.

Warren Sapp checked in for laughs and memories with his ol’ pal and former teammate Ian Beckles on the Ron and Ian Show this morning on WDAE-AM 620.

Sapp was colorful as always, bouncing from taking shots at Josh Freeman’s leadership, as well as jabs at Booger McFarland, and diving into Beckles’ blocking skills. Plus Sapp gets into much more, including how if Manti Te’o walked into his locker room, Sapp would demand he learn how to use Skype. “There’s supposed to be a live moving body on the other end,” Sapp said. “I’d knock him around. I’d have to find the truth to this.”

Sapp’s criticism of Freeman revolved around Sapp’s take that Freeman isn’t doing enough to lead the team outside of the demands placed on him at One Buc Palace. Now Joe doesn’t think that’s accurate or fair, but perhaps Sapp has some deeper insight.

The full audio is below.