Joe envisions Greg Schiano pacing his backyard salivating at the thought of running the football behind Donald Penn, Carl Nicks, Jeremy Zuttah, Davin Joseph and whatever upgrades the Bucs make at right tackle, and at blocking tight end.

Bucs fans shouldn’t soon forget that Schiano couldn’t stop repeating last offseason about how much he wanted to “run the football,” a phrase he would tell anyone who would listen.

But that plan got derailed early by the losses of bookend guard manbeasts Joseph and Nicks, yet the Bucs still were able to unleash Doug Martin and his stunning, 1,454-yard rookie season on the NFL. Can Martin pump out 2,000 yards in 2013?

Speaking to “Booger and Rich” on 98.7 FM yesterday, Joseph delivered great news for Bucs fans. Joseph said he’s “99.9 percent healthy” from his knee blowout in the 2012 preseason.

“I want to block for that guy Doug. He’s very special, man,” Joseph said.

“[The offensive line] is going to start a little early. We’re cheating. We’re cheating. We’re starting early. It is going to be something that is going to be contagious for our team. We’re going to try to get just about everybody back in the building early. And we’re going to work, and we’re going to put in this year and really get it rollin’ because it’s Tampa’s time. I believe that with 100 percent in my heart; it is Tampa’s time to really play well. We don’t have that team effort yet.”

Joseph went on to explain the Bucs have loads of talent but the team must come together not just as individuals or position groups. “This offseason we need to become a team,” Joseph said.

Bonding and work-ethic talk aside, Joe’s just giddy to hear Joseph is healthy. Joe would love to see the Bucs have an unstoppable, consistent running game. It would improve the entire team.

OK folks, this could be the day of days for former Bucs great Warren Sapp.

It is today that the Cusitodian of Canton, eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune, presents Sapp, in his first year of eligibility, to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Sapp, one of 15 finalists, must beat out at least10 other finalists in order to have his bust cemented into the great of greats.

The electors cannot elect more than five “current day” candidates, which include coaches and contributors, who are eligible. Joe actually likes this. This ensures the Pro Football Hall of Fame is the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of the Pretty Good or the Hall of the Most Popular, which in some ways baseball has turned into.

(For example, Joe once got into a row on Twitter with a Hall of Fame elector who thought it was a crime against humanity that Don Coryell was not in the Hall of Fame. He never won a championship game for crying out loud!!! What next, Jerry Glanville for the Hall of Fame? Shoot, Joe loved George Allen but didn’t think he was worthy of the Hall of Fame. Same with Marv Levy.)

Joe is pleased that players who pass muster must endure a difficult path to be among the game’s elite. So, let’s say Sapp is not elected today/tonight. For a fan to grumble fairly, one must also state who shouldn’t have been elected if Sapp was robbed. Again, the cap on inductees per season is five. Joe applauds this restriction.

This week, while in New Orleans, by chance Joe got to sit and BS with a very, very, very NFL heavy hitter for about 45 minutes who is deeply involved with the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joe won’t mention his name because the conversation was not for publication, but Joe was told by said person that two years ago when Kaufman was chosen as the presenter for Ed Sabol to be elected as a contributor — the ultimate of difficult elections — Kaufman absolutely nailed his presentation of Sabol out of the park and moved many in the room. Joe was told that if not for Kaufman, it is likely Sabol would still be on the outside looking in. That’s impressive.

So, based on that information, Sapp’s fate is in good hands.

Joe knows for a fact Kaufman has taken this task, his first presentation of a Bucs player since he became a Hall of Fame elector representing the Tampa Bay franchise, very, very seriously. Joe saw with his own eyes how Kaufman spoke to other voters seeking input into how to form a winning presentation, voters from Peter King down to those who represented visiting teams at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway.

The election process is rigorous, last year taking over seven hours. So we shall all know by late this afternoon, or very early this evening, if Sapp will have his bronze bust in Canton this summer, or if he will have to wait a while for that honor.

Remember, Sapp has to beat out (at least) 10 other finalists. It won’t be easy.

Joe interviewed all sorts of movers and shakers in the NFL and national media during Media Day this week and one of the highlights was speaking with Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Cowher. The former Steelers coach discussed with Joe how defense — like what Greg Schiano is trying to build — is still in vogue in the NFL, and quarterback Josh Freeman’s struggles.

JoeBucsFan: Obviously Baltimore has a good defense. San Francisco has a punishing defense. Your old Steelers still have a good defense. Denver has a good defense. Greg Schiano is starting to build that kind of defense with his suffocating rush defense. Is there a renaissance in the NFL with teams turning to defense despite the Star Wars type offenses and gun-slinging quarterbacks that dot the league? If you don’t have a defense, you will be sitting on the couch in January?

Bill Cowher: (smiles) Well, I just think it is so ironic, like you said, we live in this world of wide open offense but the two teams that play here kind of got here by defense and a running game. So, the game is still played, you still have to have a degree of toughness. The one thing a good defense does is, they thrive on limiting the offense’s ability to run the ball. That is the one thing if you don’t have a running game, and I really believe when Jim Caldwell got the job [as Ravens offensive coordinator] to get Ray Rice more involved. The running game keeps the defense off the field. They run in synch.

Joe: You groomed Ben Roethlisberger as a young player as a rookie for his first few years in the NFL. Down in Tampa, Josh Freeman, at times he looks like Roethlisberger, a lot of people compare him to Roethlisberger with the size and the arm, at times he looks like John Elway, at times he looks like Bobby Douglass, he is having his struggles. And as soon as the season is over, Schiano says, well, we have to have competition. What is going on with that guy? Is he ever going to be that elite quarterback the Bucs had hoped and what he flashes at times he can be? What do you see?

Cowher: He has gone through a number of coordinators. I think that they finally have some good weapons around him this year. At times, he was playing this year at a very, very high level. You know, defensively, they had trouble stopping some teams. He has flashed at times. I think the consistency is something that is lacking in him but give him some consistency with the offence. Let him stay with the same system a couple of years in a row before we judge him too quickly because it is really hard to be consistent when you are changing the system every year. That’s the thing that we have to remember. He has a lot of abilities that you are looking for in a quarterback.

Joe: Whitey Herzog used to have a famous theory in baseball that he would tell his scouts to sign or draft pitchers who could throw 95-100 mph because, “You can teach control but you cannot teach a guy to throw 95.” Can that baseball axiom be translated to football? Can you teach a quarterback accuracy?

Cowher: I don’t think it can be taught. You can become a more accurate thrower sometimes by running an offense that allows you to be a more accurate thrower. [Freeman] has to work on technique too. I have seen the guy enough that I think he is an accurate thrower. Again, he struggles at times being inconsistent. But he has a lot of positive skills that I like. If he works at it, I think he can change.

The man who personifies a virtual hanger-on (still) riding the coattails of being associated with a two-time Super Bowl-winning coach, the corpse of Dave Wannstedt has risen again, this time with the Bucs.

Per Adam Schefter of BSPN, the Bucs have hired Dave Wannstedt as special teams coach.

@AdamSchefter: Former Bills defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt has been hired as the Tampa Bay Buccannees special teams coordinator.

Joe isn’t sure what to make of this hire. Wannstedt wasn’t an awful defensive coordinator, but he was simply over his head whether it be in the NFL or in college as a head coach. Greg Schiano was on his Bears staff (1996-1998).

Joe will stay open-minded and call this hire of Wannstedt as a special teams coach as, well, bold if not different.

Bucs fans would like to think the team has one of the biggest followings in the NFL. Shoot, even Joe would like to think so.

But alas, not only are the Bucs not the NFL’s most popular team, they aren’t remotely close. In fact, the Bucs are closer to the bottom of the NFL in popularity than the top.

The eggheads at something called the “Harvard College Sports Analysis Collective” got out their calculators and spreadsheets and determined, using various collections of data, the Bucs are No. 28.

Dallass, of course, is No. 1, relayed by Deadspin.

For an NFL franchise to truly be “America’s Team,” as the Cowboys have claimed to be for 35 years, they would need to be beloved across the nation, by more people in more places than any other team. But the Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl in 17 years. They’ve struggled through mediocrity for a decade. Is the nickname accurate, out of date, or is it just an ingenious marketing ploy that has convinced pundits to repeat ad nauseam?

Ten years ago the best way to get a sense of a team’s fanbase might have been to do an assessment of TV ratings for each team. These ratings were (and still are) not released in detail for public consumption. Today we have a better method for determining how many fans like each team. Specifically, finding out how many fans “like” each team.

Rounding out the top five are the Steelers (no shock), the Patriots (bit of a surprise), the Packers (no shock) and the Saints.

The Saints?

Joe can’t figure that out, unless it takes a future Hall of Fame quarterback to play for a team, or maybe a team wins a Super Bowl just after a natural calamity nearly wipes a city off the map.

One giant question of the Bucs’ offseason — and one that is sure to be decided this month — is whether Ronde Barber will return.

And who better to ask than Barber’s twin brother Tiki. The two are close and Tiki opened up on the subject to “Booger and Rich” on 98.7 FM yesterday.

Tiki explained that Ronde’s dedication to his body and luck avoiding injuries, aren’t the only factors in his football longevity.

“Coupled with a coach in Raheem Morris those last couple of years that was very friendly to him. He didn’t have hard training camps. He got to do what he needed to do, but he was still playing at a high level,” Tiki Barber said. “And then the move to safety with Schiano. It’s a different position playing safety and it’s a new challenge for him. And I think that challenge, that conversion to safety, was something he took real seriously. He had a pretty good year this year. And you know, he’s going to have to make that decision again. Do they want him? And does he want to keep doing it?”

Tiki went on to say that Ronde may not return. And, in what is troubling to Joe, it seems Ronde might be getting pushed in the retirement direction.

“I’ve been telling him for three years he needs to be done,” Tiki said.

If Joe had to wager, Joe would say Barber will return for the 2013 season. Schiano already had talked about wanting Barber on his footbal team, and Joe’s going by Barber’s track record. Plus, the Bucs have been off the field for more than a month and there’s still no announcement. Joe finds it hard to believe Barber, who left the season healthy, is still making up his mind.

Joe has an amusing yet confused interest in the love affair Bucs fans have with some cornerbacks.

Last year, the obsession with the stiff known as Stanford Routt (pfffttt!) bordered on the lunatic fringe. Despite getting cut from the worst team in the NFL, Bucs fans hounded Joe daily about the Bucs signing Routt, even though he was walking the sidewalks for weeks before someone felt sorry for him and gave him a job.

At one point, Bucs fans were so out of control over the Bucs not signing Routt, Joe was convinced Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik would have been seal-clubbed if caught jogging in south Tampa.

Well, Routt has company, sort of. Bucs fans have had a long, yet far less senile crush on Cowboys defensive back Michael Jenkins. And with the Bucs having cash to throw around and the market for cornerbacks both in the draft and in free agency somewhat scant, the drumbeat of Jenkins is slowly growing louder.

Take this Bucs TBO Q&A for example:

Q. I have a hunch that Tampa is gonna make a move for Mike Jenkins before or during the draft. Dallas doesn’t want or need him and he is a young talented player that probably wouldn’t yield a heavy draft pick. This move would also allow the Bucs not to reach for corner in first round so we could address pass rush or something there and corner in second. What are your thoughts?

– Mike, Fitchburg, Mass.

A. I guess anything is possible.

– Woody Cummings

Joe cannot find the video on YouTube.com any longer, but Jenkins once actually gave up on a clear tackle that could have saved a touchdown; A PeeWee kid would have been benched for that stunt, much less an NFL player.

When Bucs coach Greg Schiano was first hired, he went spoke to popular sports radio personality Adam Schein and former Super Bowl quarterback Rich Gannon, co-hosts of “The Blitz,” heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, and tore apart unnamed Bucs cornerbacks for giving up on tackles (it had to have been Aqib Talib?) and flatly said that type of nonense was “not going to be acceptable” on his team. In OTAs and training camp, Schiano put the Bucs defenders through rigorous tackling drills.

 There is a reason Jerry Jones went out and signed a cornerback and drafted a cornerback last spring. There is also a reason why Cowboys fans loathe Jenkins.

In short, USF product Jenkins is not a Buccaneer Man. No, the Bucs can do better than Jenkins.

Yet Joe knows this strange love affair between Bucs fans and Jenkins won’t subside any time soon.

Taking a break from working feverishly to fine tune his Warren Sapp pitch to Hall of Fame voters on Saturday, eye-RAH Kaufman, Tampa Tribune NFL writer, sat down for his annual fireside chat with Steve Duemig this evening on WDAE-AM 620.

As always, this was must-listen radio. Kaufman dove into all things Hall of Fame, Bucs and NFL.

Kaufman, known as the “Custodian of Canton” among some in the national media, is charged with making the case for Sapp to Hall voters. Sapp, in his first-year of eligibility, is a finalist in a very tough field.

Enjoy.

Joe’s always keeps track of what influential national NFL voices are saying about the Bucs. So Joe was eager to hit energetic SiriusXM NFL Radio host Adam Schein, who also is a regular on CBS Sports and was a player for FOX, with a few questions at Super Bowl media day Tuesday. Schein was quick to reaffirm his stance that he prefers Christian Ponder to Josh Freeman, as does Gil Brandt.

JoeBucsFan.com: Your impressions of Greg Schiano’s first year?

Adam Schein: I thought he did a good job. He’s the right guy for the Buccaneers.

Joe: A couple of months ago you said you trusted Christian Ponder more than Josh Freeman, and that was when Freeman was at the height of his season before the Bucs’ collapse. It turned out Freeman vanished in big games and Ponder came up big. What’s your view on them now?

Schein: I think Ponder’s just got a knack. I think Freeman has a lot of potential, but I think that we’ve got to see exactly who Josh Freeman is. I like him with the weapons they have now, with Vincent Jackson and company. Doug Martin takes the pressure off. But we’ll see what he can do. We don’t know.

Joe: Given Tim Brown’s recent allegations that former Raiders head coach Bill Callahan sabotaged the Bucs-Raiders Super Bowl 10 years ago, and Jerry Rice concurred, are you surprised the NFL hasn’t launched an investigation into this, especially considering Jim Harbaugh was an assistant coach on that team?

Schein: There was no sabotage, not at all. All BS.

First, Bucs wide receivers coach P.J. Fleck moved on to become the youngest head coach in major college football, then quarterbacks coach Ron Turner was encouraged to leave by Butch Davis, and offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan jumped at a chance to leave Tampa before secondary coach Ron Cooper dove back into the college ranks. Now, Greg Schiano has dropped his axe on special teams coach Bob Ligashesky, despite Ligashesky’s Super Bowl ring (Pittsburgh) and the Bucs leading the NFL in blocked punts, per a Tweet by Tampa Bay Times beat writer Rick Stroud.

Yes, the Bucs’ special teams were not strong, but that definitely was, in part, because the Bucs had subpar returners throughout the season. The kicking game was sound, and surely special teams was not a problem.

But Joe can say that Schiano is obsessive about special teams, and would not surprise Joe if Schiano thought he could do better.

CBS has outdone BSPN at the Super Bowl this week. Usually, BSPN, with all its tentacles, overwhelms big events. Not this week. It’s CBS. With its army of talent from CBS News, CBS entertainment shows and, of course, CBS Sports Radio and CBS Sports Network, all of Jackson Square in New Orleans is Manhattan South. Yesterday, CBS had a press conference featuring all the key figures in the NFL Today stable working the Super Bowl broadcast. Joe caught up with Super Bowl-winning quarterback Phil Simms, who will call the Super Bowl with Jim Nantz, after the press conference.

JoeBucsFan: When you said [earlier in your press conference statements] that when you look at Joe Flacco you see a good, strong-armed quarterback. When you look at Josh Freeman, what do you see?

Phil Simms: Well, you know, Josh Freeman is a big guy. He shows he definitely has all the skills you need to be a successful NFL quarterback. I don’t know him. I haven’t covered any Tampa Bay games, so it’s hard for me to know him but sure, I have watched all his games this year. New coaching staff, new offense, that is different. But what I think happens to a lot of young quarterbacks is, sooner or later, you have to take the team over. If you don’t take the team over, you won’t be the team’s quarterback. I would think that would be the big thing: Lead ’em. Be a voice. Don’t be a friend with everyone. Don’t worry about it. Take advantage of the fact that players on the football team look at you differently because you are the quarterback. That is a positive. Make sure you use that to all of your power.

Joe: Up until just after the season, all you heard from the Bucs since the day Freeman was drafted that he was the franchise quarterback and all the team had to do was get him some more toys. Hours after the season was over, Greg Schiano comes out and says the Bucs need competition at quarterback. What is your read on that?

Simms: I don’t know if I take that as a knock on Josh Freeman. I think it is just the fact what they want a more competitive thing there, maybe put the quarterback on edge. Maybe some of the things I had just mentioned is what they are looking for. A lot of times, when people are faced with competition, it changes them. Makes them tougher. That’s a good thing. Or, maybe they think he needs competition because they are not going to be so lenient with him. You can take it a lot of ways. It is not a whole-hearted endorsement, that is for sure.

Joe: San Francisco has a nasty defense. Baltimore has a bruising defense. The Steelers always have a good defense. Denver had a good defense. Joe knows Schiano is trying to instill that into the Bucs and has had really good results on stopping the run. Even in the age of Star Wars quarterbacks numbers and video game offense, are we seeing sort of a renaissance, that you still need to have a beastly defense to win the Super Bowl?

Simms: Kind of. Look, we are in the day and age that defenses are going to go out there, like San Francisco last year, and hold teams to 13 or 17 points each week, I don’t think you can count on that anymore. The throwers and catchers are too good. There are too many coaches willing to use innovations and willing to show all of these plays. You need a defense that is going to be competitive. You hope it has its great games but as good as the 49ers are, and it is hard to find a weak link, what happened in the first half last [game]? And that happened up in Seattle, too. Great defenses never have those downs like that. So that tells you it is about the league. I think the new style of defense is what we see these teams play. Be conservative, a little bending, don’t give up big plays. I think that is how you have to play against the offenses of today.

A scant few have better sources than Pete Roussel and his team at CoachingSearch.com. Yes, Joe talked to Roussel about the Bucs’ coaching searches a couple of weeks ago, in fact.

This morning, CoachingSearch.com reported the Bucs have hired former Saints and Jaguars secondary coach Tony Oden.

Oden’s got an interesting background. A linebacker in college, Oden once worked as an assistant defensive backs coach at West Point and was a longtime assistant DBs coach with the Saints before Sean Peyton promoted him to the head job there in 2011. Last season, he was the secondary coach in Jacksonville. He also spent time as an assistant in Houston.

It would seem Oden is stepping into a great situation. Production from the Bucs secondary, one would think, can only get better.

Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings goes deep into the Bucs’ movements at the Senior Bowl and many other topics of interest with Dan Lucas, via the TBO.com video below. Cummings references rockstar general manager and Greg Schiano’s offseason film review and what that means for Josh Freeman, and he leaves the door open for an Eric Wright return, a move that would shock Joe thoroughly. Enjoy.

Tuesday at Super Bowl Media Day, Joe hustled all day for interviews and photos. Hopefully, they’ll keep you both informed and entertained in the coming days.

Some thoughts on Media Day as Joe is wrapping up an 18-hour day in the Big Easy, with only two beers consumed.

There was a record of over 5,000 media members credentialed. But for some reason, it seemed much more subdued than years past. No dancers, no would-be brides proposing to quarterbacks, no belly dancers, scant superheroes.

And Joe heard Ray Lewis hollering about something.

But there was an abundance of scantily-clad Latina reporters working for Spanish-language networks. Bless their hearts.

That noted, of all the women at Media Day, Joe can state without hesitation that the most beautiful woman was Molly Qerim of NFL Network. A stunning woman.

OK, since you asked, Joe will rate the top six.

Molly Qerim
Katherine Webb
An unknown reporter from a Spanish-speaking network.
Allie LaForce of CBS Sports.
Melissa Stark of NFL Network.
Ines Sainz of TV Azteca.

Again, the scene was subdued, and the second session, with the Ravens, was less populated by the Fourth Estate. Joe wonders if the laid back atmosphere had something to do with Bourbon Street?

To set the scene, each team selects about a dozen players, including the head coach, who have their own podiums, surrounded by fencing and often dozens if not hundreds of reporters. The rest of the team mingles with the press, almost like guys in college trolling bars for the evening’s conquest. It’s a very relaxed, comfortable atmosphere.

Joe tried to speak to 49ers tackle Anthony Davis about Greg Schiano since Davis played for Schiano at Rutgers. It sure seemed like there may be frayed nerves between the two. When Joe asked Davis if he would be the success he became without playing for Schiano, he replied, “Yes.” Then, Joe asked him three questions about Schiano and David replied either “I’m not talking about Schiano,” or “I’m not answering any questions about Schiano.”

Oh, kay.

Two odd answers Joe overheard from players (not knowing what the questions were):

“We have a mens locker room.”

“This isn’t tennis. I don’t play tennis, I play football.”

Mostly, the players are really cool with reporters as they are still giddy from winning their respective conference title games. Media Day is often the time when it finally dawns on players that, yes, they are playing in the Super Bowl.

Of course, the prettier the reporter is, the more likely players will do something odd, though 49ers tight end Brian Jennings was teaching Mo Rocca of the Cooking Channel how to do pushups.

No, Joe doesn’t know why.

Photos coming later this morning.

When Joe wrote about Mike Williams sniffing a new contract yesterday, Joe figured Williams might score an extension in the three-year, $15-million range. Williams’ paltry rookie contract — fourth-round picks don’t earn much — expires after the 2013 season.

But it seems more cash will be in the sights of Williams and his agent. Contract guru Evan Silva, of ProFootballTalk.com, writes today that Williams should be expensive.

Jackson makes $11 million a year. Williams should target Robert Meachem’s $6.5 million annual average as a baseline in negotiations. He’ll probably aim for $7 million a year or more.

The national chatter about Williams comes on the heels of Woody Cummings’ Tampa Tribune report today that says the Bucs’ and Williams have started negotiating a new deal.

Joe hopes the two sides can hammer out a deal. Williams has earned it. However, Joe wonders whether the Bucs might target a receiver in the NFL Draft, if they can’t get Williams’ signature this offseason. Arrelious Benn and Tiquan Underwood also will hit unrestricted free agency after next season.