Ruud's great, but not that great.

Joe loves Barrett Ruud. The guy’s a stud, and the only reason he didn’t make the Pro Bowl is because the Bucs’ defense was embarrassed in the last two games and Derrick Brooks understandably took votes from him.  

Ruud is sixth in the NFL with 117 tackles, 89 solo and 28 assists, according to the stats at NFL.com. Joe even counted the game-by-game reports to verify. The Bucs official Web site shows Ruud with 124 tackles. 

Now the St. Pete Times, Lakeland Ledger and Pewter Report are all reporting that Ruud has 154 tackles. It’s bizarre that they all gave him an extra 37 tackles.

It’s likely due to an error on a Bucs media relations report, or the Bucs in-house stats keeper is working the games like a high school girl who adds rebounds every night to her boyfriend’s line in the basketball scorebook.

Either way, Joe is perplexed and disappointed. What makes this troubling is that the newspaper stories are about Ruud and his greatness. And the readers no doubt assume that Ruud has wrapped up opponents 154 times this year. That didn’t happen.

The three writers and multiple editors of these stories should be embarrassed. They typed and read the No. 1 stat for Ruud or any linebacker — tackles — in a story about Ruud, and none thought it odd that Ruud had a whopping 154 tackles.

Joe will patiently wait for their published corrections.