Mike Tomlin Would Have Used His Shoe
November 2nd, 2009
Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports suggests if a player had cursed out Mike Tomlin in a hotel lobby, that player would be wearing an imprint of Tomlin's shoe on his backside to this day.
Raheem the Dream may not be as influenced by his mentor Mike Tomlin as Raheem the Dream may want people to believe.
Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports details the spiraling downward circle the Bucs are involved in, courtesy of his weekly “Morning Rush” column.
In short, Silver writes about the tumultuous bye week for the Bucs with the Dan Sileo misinformation about the Glazer Family’s finances and the story, broken by the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620, that after breaking curfew in London, Aqib Talib cursed out Raheem the Dream in a London hotel lobby at 2 a.m.
Silver writes that if a Steelers player would have ever cursed out Tomlin, a former Bucs defensive backs coach, in public, that player would have had a severe penalty to pay.
Brrrrrrrr … It just got awfully cold in Tampa, where the Bucs (0-7) emerge from their bye week as the NFL’s lone remaining winless team. And that’s a fairly dubious distinction in a season in which seven other franchises (Browns, Chiefs, Lions, Raiders, Rams, Redskins, Titans) can make a case for being abominable. For now, the Bucs stand alone after a week in which one of its owners, Joel Glazer, forcefully denied a report by Dan Sileo of Tampa radio station WDAE-AM that he and family members had lost hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of the Bernard Madoff investment scam and that, consequently, the team might be for sale. Former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo, who lives in Tampa, told the Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer that he “would be a moron not to at least look into” a possible purchase of the franchise; and, most disturbingly, it was reported by WDAE’s Steve Duemig that second-year cornerback Aqib Talib screamed profanities at rookie coach Raheem Morris after he and other players showed up at the team’s London hotel significantly past curfew following the Bucs’ defeat to the Patriots in Week 7. Assuming that last report is true, I’m sort of speechless. This happened in front of numerous witnesses? Can you imagine if one of the Steelers’ players had tested Mike Tomlin that way during the ’07 season? I have a sneaking suspicion that if a Pittsburgh player had been stupid enough to do so, he’d have spent the flight home in the baggage area with a giant shoeprint on the back of his pants.
In a perverse way, this zoo the Bucs organization has morphed into is entertaining Joe. The rocky, winless season by the Brutal Bucs has given Joe ample subjects to write about.
Thanks for the link, Mike!
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I’m no Raheem supporter, but what about the all-world GM stepping in and taking control. If the coach had to call upstairs to converse with the GM whether to play Freeman, I would assume the GM has the authority to suspend players.
For example, back-up guard arrested suspicion of DUI, cut by team. Shutdown corner yelling at coach in public, nothing done to date. Why? Everyone is just trying to save their job, including the GM. I believe the coaching staff has been inept, but to give the GM a free pass is disturbing.
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Joe:
it seems very odd that his incident occurred over a week ago and nothing has been mentioned about it in the local papers. Why? Talib is the poster boy for stupid behavior and is allegedly the person who disrespected Raheem the Dream and the organization by using the profane language. But there were other players who disrespected the rules, the team, the fans and Raheem by blatantly disregarding the curfew rule. Why hasn’t their names been mentioned? We need to know who is so unprofessional and uncommitted. If this story is true or close to being true and the BUCs don’t punish Talib and the other players involved, they are a lost cause. You can’t overcome that lack of discipline and dedication.
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Steve:
Joe knows that, generally, his colleagues in the print media are loathe to give anyone on radio credit for breaking stories (indirectly, that would be admitting they got scooped on their own beat). Joe knows specifically of one (former) editor who was in charge of Bucs coverage for a local paper that would have rather eaten glass than listen to sports radio much less credit a sports radio host with a story.
Joe believes it’s a generational thing. Older scribes consider sports radio slightly above the ebola virus. Younger reporters are often fans of sports radio.
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Thanks Joe, they sound a bit old school which may help explain the demise of their industry. 🙂 When will we know the other players involved?
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Steve:
Not sure if we ever will.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:17 pm
When will we know if it is even true?
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Chuck:
Have you heard any denials yet?
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:49 pm
This entire franchise is a now disgrace from the owners on down. The truly sad thing about it is that nobody (within the organization) is taking any accountability or even acknowledging that they just authored the guide on how to systematically obliterate a professional sports team.