What Is Byron Leftwich Trying To Say?
June 26th, 2010
Joe still scratches his head, wondering why hateful Bucs fans wanted to jettison quarterback Byron Leftwich, yet a team that has clearly shown how to build not just winning teams, but Super Bowl winning teams, finds Leftwich valuable.
Joe also has other questions about the Bucs after reading a Leftwich interview on Steelers.com. The former Bucs starting quarterback sure seems to insinuate that the Bucs are an unprofessional organization.
Luke Collins asks: What is the Steelers locker room like compared to other teams you played for?
Byron Leftwich: It’s very different. It’s a professional football team and they act that way. We have veteran guys who understand how to win football games. That’s what you want. We are all on the football team to win football games. One thing I know about this locker room is everybody in there has one goal in common and that is to win football games.
This opens the door to so many questions Joe isn”t sure where to begin. Is Leftwich saying the Bucs had a divided locker room last year, or that they had no focus, or that in damning terms the team was unprofessional?
June 26th, 2010 at 9:46 am
As far as im concerned it means he is bitter. I mean seriously he is getting used by the Steelers like a 10 dollar hooker anyway. They only brought him in for the temp value, if there even is any “value” to him being on the team. I couldn’t care less what he thinks, I am focused on our team and it’s future not it’s past. This kind of garbage just brings more negativity, doom and gloom that this pre-season doesn’t need. Instead of bashing this regime (which isn’t changing this season) lets try (however hard) to support our team. I have had my doubts and things that upset me since I was old enough to watch and understand the game of football. Im 26 now and get tired of the whiners always finding excuses for problems. Most any true fan will be able to see for themselves where the problems come from and all we can do is hope at some point everything gets corrected. I live this team no matter what and will continue them while they are here in Tampa. Even how bad things are and get if you are a fan you should be happy to even have this team here.
June 26th, 2010 at 10:02 am
Leftwich is the exception to the Steelers locker room… You act like he’s been a lifetime Steeler…
June 26th, 2010 at 10:07 am
Leftwhich works on a veteran team, because he’s a good (not great) quarterback and an average, at best, leader. Last year (and still this year), the Bucs need, virtually crave, leadership and Leftwhich couldn’t “rally the troops”, he’s not that kind of player/leader.
Freeman looks to be developing into the leader this team needs, hopefully he’ll prove it this year.
Leftwhich was not and is not the right QB for this team, and moving him was the right move.
June 26th, 2010 at 10:13 am
Leftwich is so terrible, it makes me cringe thinking of him throwing a pass. I Love mendenhall in fantasy football so i sure hope he can catch the hundred mile an hour and high dump off pass he is going to be recieving.
I really could care less about anything that slug says.
June 26th, 2010 at 10:23 am
joe whats with your love for Byron? You 2 need to get a room.
June 26th, 2010 at 10:55 am
The Steelers find value in Leftwich because he’s the exact same type of QB that Big Ben is. He’s big and holds the ball too long. The team is built around QBs like that, so he fits there. That doesn’t mean he fit in Tampa.
As for his comments… Every player and team want to win football games, if they didn’t, they’d collect their first million or two and retire to a beach somewhere to watch bikini clad women. So, stating that the Steelers locker room is different because they all want to win is ridiculous.
That leaves it open to the comment of “unprofessional”. The guy got benched in favor of Josh Johnson. That’s right, JJ… not Freeman. He probably could have accepted being benched for the “future franchise” QB, but not for the “future backup” QB. So, he feels that’s unprofessional. If he had won any games for us, on his shoulders, put the team on his back, maybe he wouldn’t have been benched. That’s not unprofessional, that’s wanting to win games.
June 26th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Wow, that’s a lot of reading between the lines:
“It’s very different.” — Yea, a winning team vs. a losing team.
“It’s a professional football team and they act that way.” — This is the biggie! Tomlin vs. The Dream. Sticking w/Cowher through all those average years vs. firing the winningest coach in Bucs history. Consistency vs. firing both coordinators mid-season. Keeping veteran leadership vs. cutting them to save money, including unceremoniously cutting future HOF’er Brooks. And on, and on…
“We have veteran guys who understand how to win football games. That’s what you want.” — veterans who know how to win vs. kids who don’t and don’t have the veterans learn from.
“We are all on the football team to win football games. One thing I know about this locker room is everybody in there has one goal in common and that is to win football games.” — a winning tradition vs. the Glazerhouse’s who’s #1 priority is clearly NOT winning.
Those few sentances were worth a 1000 words Byron!
June 26th, 2010 at 11:01 am
@BamBam: “The Steelers find value in Leftwich because he’s the exact same type of QB that Big Ben is. He’s big and holds the ball too long. The team is built around QBs like that, so he fits there. That doesn’t mean he fit in Tampa.”
Exactly and the Bucs front office should have known that before bringing him in. It was pretty obvious he was going to have problems. It’s like trying to jam a round object into a square hole. Last year’s QB competition was a total joke.
June 26th, 2010 at 11:47 am
@ Louie
I won’t argue with that. The QB competition was a joke. They gave the job to McCown, brought in Leftwich to “throw teams off about them drafting Freeman”, decided Lefty was better than McCown as a “fill in” until Freeman was ready…. and on and on. It was a joke. McCown would have been just as serviceable as a stand in until Freeman was ready, and probably better, considering that he was more mobile and suited the Bucs style of QB play better than Lefty.
All I can say about that is that I assume they were looking for that “veteran leadership” Lefty was talking about and didn’t find it in him like they thought they would. Mistakes were made last year, no doubt. Mistakes were also corrected last year (i.e. ending the Bates experiment, losing Jagz, benching Lefty, etc.). That is why I’m more optimistic this year. They are willing to correct mistakes quickly instead of letting them fester. We should know after this season if the coach and GM making these decisions are actually the mistakes needing correction or if they’re the guys getting the job done correcting mistakes.
June 26th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
What someone from the inside with experience on other teams thought that this team was/is unprofessional? Shocker! This team epitomizes unprofessional – it is the very definition – our head coach is rah morris for goodness sake.
June 26th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
leftwitch is a tool he sucks, he was 0-6 so apparently he doesnt know how to win football games when josh freeman went 3-6 and won agaist the saints and packers… while byron lost to teams like the redskins… what a sellout
June 26th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Hate on raheem all u want, I like him and I think he knows what he is doing. Whats the point of coming on here and saying the bucs are unprofessional and our coach doesnt know what he is doing? what kind of fan are u? go cheer for the saints. raheem knows what he is doing, looks like he is right about josh freeman cause he bust his ass all off season and has done everything he is asked. They owned the draft. Watch our schedule is the 25th hardest. ppl like u are gonna relize late in the season his plan is working. bucs are getting 8 wins minimum. our secondary was 10th last year. adding sean jones to replace sabby, drafting myron lewis for nickel. drafting 2 stud DTs. Bucs got this.
June 26th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Sluggo had a horrible tenure in Tampa Bay and he has no one to blame but himself. His slow long windup is all his. His slow hobbling footwork is his too. Again, I must go back to the fact that he has not taken a single snap yet in Pissburgh since his return. So before we anoint him the 2’nd coming of Johnny Unitas, he needs to play a few downs. IMO, Raheem’s defense knows Sluggo all too well and will blitz/feast on him when the Rapist Haveners come to Tampa.
June 26th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Who Cares It’s Byron Leftwich.. He should have never been brought here in the first place. But he got his 2 mill didn’t he?
Unprofessional = Making 2 million for very little production then bad mouthing the team for giving you the 2 million. What a professional.
Maybe just maybe some of that “veteran” presence, was supposed to be coming from the older crafty veteran QB, and it never showed up, well maybe he is still in the process of bringing it to the team. He does have a long delivery.
Just a thought what would you rather have an old crafty veteran team or a energetic enthusiastic youthful team?
I will take the Youthful team any day. Why? Because there is only one way to go and thats up. Sure the “vet” may know what play is being called but just cant seem to get there in time to stop the play anymore.
June 26th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Joe, nothing better than an ambiguous statement. The usual suspects interpret Byron’s comments as a clear indictment of the entire Bucs franchise. (LOL).) Others see the comments as nothing more than commentary about the Steelers locker room. Great fodder for JBF’s non-message board message board.
June 26th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
So long as you have zero expectations for this team, you should have nothing to worry about. Tampa finished last in the league on defense, they couldn’t stop anybody. Yet somehow people try to claim Raheem did well with the defense??? Tampa was the epitome of unprofessinal last year, hell they finished last in the league in proffesionalism as well.
But knowing all of that, knowing where we are coming from, guys we have no where to go but up! The Bucs unprofessionalism may still be bottom of the league, but our horse will be running wildly all over the field. That could net us a few more wins. Look we are young, we have a young coach and GM, don’t go expecting playoffs and winning seasons just yet. Re-adjust to zero expectations and you may be quite surprised. And when its all said and done, we will have one of the top draft picks yet again for 2011 and ready for another A+ draft!
June 26th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Leftwich sucks as a quarterback, however he’s totally right. The Bucs ARE unprofessional, unclassy, any word you want to use to describe it. Just look at the way they released Derrick Brooks, Galloway, and Dunn. No class at all. Look at the way Dominik treated Penn in public last week. When Jeff Garcia left Tampa also, Dominik said they “didn’t want him back.”
They treat their deserving and hardworking players like crap and reward whiners like Clayton. It’s always a mess and this staff will never reach the level of class and professionalism that the Colts, Ravens, or the Steelers have. The Bucs were more professional when we actually had a PROFESSIONAL staff here. Tony Dungy and Rich McKay= professionals. Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen=professionals. The team had a better image and more respect when those 4 guys were here.
Despite being a fan of Gruden, I wasn’t that all that huge of a Bruce Allen fan. I’ll admit, he wasn’t that great of a GM. But still, he was professional, had experience and was always a classy guy.
Leftwich- “We have veteran guys who understand how to win football games”
Here there was none of that when he was around. Not even from the coach was any of that. He himself was a freakin rookie who didn’t have a direction in his first year. So was the GM. There was ZERO leadership around here and zero competency. Raheem is not even close to being in the same class as Gruden as far as intelligence and being a professional goes. Raheem showed last year that he “didn’t understand how to win football games” by his decision making and game strategy.
Now as far as Raheem’s speaking in press conferences goes, it’s just another part of it. Everytime he speaks, I go nuts, such as when he made the “underwear” comment a couple of days ago. It’s one thing not to have experience, but to say immature statements like that is ridiculous. He’s always so stiff and awkward during the conferences, looking like he’s always on the verge of saying something Bucs fans don’t want to hear. Tony Dungy, he was an okay speaker. But Gruden was excellent with the media and in press conferences. He was always laid back and relaxed too, just comfortably answering questions and giving good and sometimes entertaining responses. One thing I always liked about his conferences……he always said “I’m very proud of my football team” after every game.
If they were both available who do you think teams would be rushing to hire??? Gruden or Morris??
June 26th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Byron knows how to act professional, but acting like a professional QB doesn’t make you a good one. And a good QB, Byron is not.
June 26th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Who the hell cares what Sluggo says. I’m just glad that he is gone! Maybe Raheem should have went up there and been DC for Tomlin. Then they could be 3-13!
June 26th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Leftwich has the worst mechanics of any QB in the entire league…possibly in the history of the league.
His footwork is a complete joke.
His windup is legendarily pathetic…maybe the slowest of all time.
His accuracy stinks.
He’s slower than a snail on a salt bed.
His work ethic sucks , hence the reason he’s usually fat.
Why is that you can’t understand our hatred again Joe ?
June 27th, 2010 at 9:28 am
I’ll be honest, I thought last year, there seemed to be an” agenda” to have three black Qb’s on this team. Leftwich can play in this league, but only with an established OL, and a good running game. Because he is Immobile. This team had neither going into last year. Was a horrible fit. McCown seemed to make more sense, at least he was Moble.
Everyone who reads my Post Knows I am A major believer in Josh”NEO” Freeman. Think he is the franchise QB of this team for years. Once he started, our starting QB issues ended. But Leftwich never made sense. Hope I’m wrong about the Agenda thing, but both leftwich, then Johnson seem to like bad fits. Johnson is just “given” the backup job, and He hasn’t shown any ability to win an NFL game. Style wise, he is the opposite of Freeman, and will require the team to change it’s gameplan the second he hits the field. Your Backup should be able to CONTINUE the same game plan
June 27th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
I truly hope the Steelers start Sluggo against the Bucs. The Bucs are going o eat his lunch. O line, run game, whatever, Sluggo’s going down hard. TJax will have 3 int’s in the first half alone. Hell, Sabby may even get some. They’ll change his name from Sluggo to Sacko to Sucko.
June 27th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Capt. Tim said:
“I’ll be honest, I thought last year, there seemed to be an” agenda” to have three black Qb’s on this team”
You should try being less honest. 🙂
June 27th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Lol, not my style jimmyboy, the capt. Calls em’ like he sees ’em
June 27th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Maybe time for glasses then. 🙂 An “agenda” to keep 3 black qbs? I am a fan of Luke McCown but he did not win the position and he had soem trade value.
June 27th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
There was certainly an agenda to keep 3 black QBs… which is why Jags got canned… he wasn’t DOWN WIT DAT.
Soon as they get rid of Ruud and Trueblood, Raheem will have his 53 man black army.
And you morons are ‘wishing’ the Bucs play Leftwich…….. how quick will you forget the Monday after when the Steelers and Byron pounds the Bucs?
I’ll be the first to remind you.
June 27th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
You just lost any credibility with that statement! Sounds like a case of the great white hype.
June 27th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Stupidest discussion ever. An “agenda.” Idiotic
June 27th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
JimmyBuc.,
Really, you, calling my Agenda comment idiotic! Listen up “jimmybuc”, nobody has ever called the good Capt. A “racist Comment Nazi”! I’ve heard that thrown at you a few times now!I originally dismissed that, but looks like they may be a little something there!!
June 27th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Capt. Tim — Maybe I misunderstand your comment, so let me ask you to clarify before I respond. Are you — the guy who thinks there was an “agenda” to have “4 black qbs” on the team and the guy who called me a “Nazi” — calling me a “racist”? Really? I am hoping I misunderstand your comment. Maybe your drunk or have a keyboard probloem with your iPhone. I hope so. Look forward to your clarification
June 28th, 2010 at 7:11 am
Crickets . . .
June 28th, 2010 at 7:50 am
Whoa, JimmyBuc, a you, the comment Nazi, trying to insinuate that The Capt might also be a racist?? In Modern America, that is impossible!! While the good Capt. Is listed as “white”, I am in fact a Cherokee. That makes me a minority! As a minority, it is impossible to be a racist! I am one of the oppressed, lol. You have to be the majority to oppress someone! Lol, don’t blame me, I didn’t make these rules!
As a matter of fact, you might be a racist(again!) for even questioning my minority opinion! Just the way you wrote your post made me feel oppressed!
Are you trying to oppress me? Is that your intent? Do you think that my opinion has less meaning because I am of Indian decent? Geez, I feel like I’m at a Klan rally all of a sudden!
June 28th, 2010 at 7:55 am
Joooee, JimBuc is oppressing me!!!
June 28th, 2010 at 9:08 am
Crickets . . .
June 28th, 2010 at 9:56 am
Capt. Tim — thanks, that cleared things up. 🙂