Freeman, Barber Should Be Bucs Draft Huggers
March 16th, 2011
Joe’s getting annoyed with NFL superwriter Peter King’s attitude.
The way King is writing for Sports Illustrated it seems he thinks the owners’ lockout of the players should still mean a business-as-usual, made-for-TV NFL Draft. What is he thinking?
While the draft will go on as planned in late April — thank the heavens — players are considering hosting their own live draft-day programming, where essentially the draft picks will hang out and talk to media not part of the official NFL draft broadcast. So Roger Goodell will call their name and team on BSPN and NFL Network, and then the draftee will hug his new teammates on, say, TNT, broadcasting the players’ little draft festival.
Of course, that would cut the testicles off the official NFL broadcast, cost the league advertising money, and make for a legendary day of channel-flipping across the country.
Exciting television, in Joe’s eyes. But King seems bitter.
You get the picture. Under a plan now under consideration — and those are the key words, now under consideration, because the idea isn’t set in stone yet — the decertified NFL Players Association would ask top picks to skip the annual NFL draft party and pre-draft events to attend a separate event organized by players. I am told the prospective rookies won’t be ordered to do this. But the suggestion would be a strong one to rookies-to-be and their agents.
That’s right, players who aren’t in the NFL yet and haven’t paid a dime of union dues could be the latest pawns in the fight between the owners and players over a new collective bargaining agreement. The decertified union is looking into getting veterans from every team to show up in New York, so that when the college players are drafted, they’ll all have a future teammate, not the commissioner, greet them.
“Pawns,” King calls these future draft picks? Uh, the players are locked out. So these draft picks are supposed to hug and kiss their new team’s front office members who won’t even give them the time of day once the cameras are off, if there’s still a lockout in place?
Please. King and the owners he seems partial to should have seen this coming miles away.
Joe hopes the labor dispute is settled long before the draft, but if this second TV event goes off, Joe hopes Josh Freeman and Ronde Barber are the Bucs’ contingent leading the hugs and greetings for the new crop of Buccaneers. That’s who Joe wants in the new guys’ ears.
March 16th, 2011 at 10:55 am
Peter King, kissing the ass that feeds him…
March 16th, 2011 at 11:13 am
Until they sign a contract, draft picks aren’t NFL players and aren’t represented by the NFLPA. So they really shouldn’t be at an NFLPA event.
March 16th, 2011 at 11:23 am
I’d rather watch the draft itself. If the players are at a separate draft party, that’s fine, but I’ll be watching the NFL Draft, not the “New Pawn Party”. No channel flipping here. There will be plenty of highlights of the players drafted from their college days.
March 16th, 2011 at 11:25 am
What happen to morning cup of joe? This is the most important thing of the day.
March 16th, 2011 at 11:26 am
The image of Free hugging a future beast DE and LB would be great indeed.
March 16th, 2011 at 11:28 am
Joe here,
@Phil – Morning Cup of Joe will return tomorrow. Joe had a rough night.
March 16th, 2011 at 11:35 am
I think King is right. Sorry Joe. This is their dream to walk up on that stage and get a team cap and jersey. They’ve been thinking about it for YEARS. Now all of a sudden they are supposed to give that up? Let them enjoy this moment. They are young kids. Keep them out of this nonsense until it is necessary. Like the day after draft day. Give them their moment in the sun, they earned it. And as for the NFL losing money on TV and such. The amount will be so minimal that it would not have any affect on the NFL. It just seems like a petty move by the NFLPA. Love ya Joe, but I must disagree on this point.
March 16th, 2011 at 11:37 am
I call B.S. on this Joe.
This isn’t about the labor dispute, this is about these players.
You’re telling me that we’re going to be so greedy and petty as to not allow these players, who have been dreaming of this moment for the last 20 years, to enjoy one of the finest moments of their lives, when their name gets called and they get to hold up the jersey of their new team and shake the commish’s hand?
And, no, shaking their new teammates hand at some other location, on some other channel with less viewers is not the same. At all.
Doing this would be an absolute disaster for the NFLPA. You want the fans behind the owners? Do this, NFLPA.
The fact that these new players even have to think about this is ridiculous.
March 16th, 2011 at 11:38 am
Stole my thunder Bun N’ A 😉
March 16th, 2011 at 11:44 am
Joe here,
@Matt & @Buc N A — What makes you so sure that the players event would have more viewers on a competing network? It’s mostly hardcore fans watching, and Joe suspects they would rather see and hear from the players versus talking heads on a panel. Would you watch the Bucs’ pick talk after posing with a handful of Bucs players, or Chris Berman ask Keyshawn Johnson what he thinks?
They’ll still get to hold up there jersey and be on TV and dream about getting their first paycheck.
March 16th, 2011 at 11:46 am
HAha .. Joe wants Freeman or Barber .. But how much money you want to bank it would be Joes favorite Jeff Faine at the Podium .. or would it be the great lawyer DeMaurice Smith …
F* That Crap .. This just shows neither of these people give a Damn about Fans .. I will just watch the draft on NFL Network .. Not some DeMaurice Smith draft Bonanza party in some Holiday Inn Ball ROOM
March 16th, 2011 at 11:46 am
Draft huggers for the good of football? I’m a draft hugger too, but all I get is a hangover!
March 16th, 2011 at 11:47 am
I’m with the owners too. The NFLPA is just being petty by saying players shouldn’t go to the official NFL draft.
All this “the owners are meanies because of the lockout, don’t shake their hand” is just plain dumb. The lockout and antitrust lawsuit are just negotiating tactics, nothing more.
Let the new players have their day and get over it.
March 16th, 2011 at 11:51 am
Another perspective .. I have heard rookies coming in dont want to Piss off other players by going to NY ..
Well for one the owners make them rich … not other NFL Players and also I dont buy for one minute that it would make a difference once this is done if you went to the NFLPA event or NY to the players .. Other teams players will be after you no matter what once the season starts ….
Only a few Bucs in recent memory have held a jersey anyways Freeman and McCoy .. Gaines Adams .. Most others have been at home anyways
March 16th, 2011 at 11:52 am
Joe the changes you made don’t work well with the smart phones, specifically the Android. The text is overlapping the adds… and other stuff.
Believe it or not it is a big deal because lots of people have smartphones now.
March 16th, 2011 at 11:52 am
Joe Thomas went fishing with his dad instead of attending the draft.
So much for the draft being everyone’s dream.
Cadillac wasn’t at the draft either and he was also a top 5 pick.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
I’m with Joe on this one! The owners don’t make the draft in NY great- the Draftees do! I’d much rather hear Adrian Clayborn discussing his new role with Ronde Barber, it Josh saying how he campaigned for our 6th round RB, than listen to over the hill Berman discuss Romo’s latest girlfriend, while a screen list our pick. I love the draft- but it’s being ruined like the rest of sports broadcast- all Patriots/Cowboys/Farve and etc B.S. I love the idea of teammates welcoming their new players.
That’s how the draft should have been set up to begin with!! I need 8 hours of Berman and the greased hair Draft guru??? I’d rather hear from the draftees and their new teammates- bring it on!!
March 16th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
The players have the choice to do what they want. Who cares who attends and who doesn’t.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Joe here,
@Weneeddefense – Every phone reads JoeBucsFan.com differently. Happens with most sites. … Joe makes a change to help some, it affects others. Can’t win. That’s what happens when you get 2 million + visits a year. …Joe will probably have to make an upgrade in April that could affect the phones (good and bad) again.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
This is nothing more than a ploy on Demaurice Smith’s part to get his face on a T.V. screen every minute possible for when he makes his political run. If anybody can not see that this guy is using this whole scenario to further his own future political asperations must be blind.
I see fault on both sides of this issue. However, Smith will carry this as far and as long as he can possibly convince players to carry it just for free air time for him.
If this ploy does come off as they are considering, I guarantee you that Smith will be on whatever screen as the first to shake each selected player’s hand and then pass them to whatever pawns are representing each team.
March 16th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
I honestly don’t care what the player has to say until he’s with the team, so I’ll follow the draft and listen to the so-called experts and watch the videos of college film and see what the player we drafted has done so far. Until he suits up on the practice field, what he says means nothing to me. If he wants to get up on stage and shake the commish’s hand or a new teammate’s hand is up to him. I’d rather see the highlight videos and breakdown analysis. He’s a rookie and hasn’t done a thing in the NFL yet.
March 16th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Joe,
The two major smart phone Operating Systems are Android and the Apple OS (I left out blackberry on purpose). But those two are specifically designed for users who surf the net on their phone. All jokes aside, who ever your web developer POC is, he would completely understand that that fix needs to be in place. Or whomever is the theme or plugin designer for what you loaded that screwed it up, those designers would know that they need to fix that problem. It’s really a bug.
March 16th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
I think this is about Demaurice Smith carving out a future political career for himslef. Why would they want to rob new players from the experience that the players that would be greeting them have already had? The answer is simple, this is purly an event to get Demaurice Smith on the same level as Goodell. Who do you think will be calling out the names there when they are picked at the real draft? Bust the union I say.
March 16th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Sorry Joe but if the rookies were tto attend an ‘alternative’ draft event hosted by the players I would NOT tune into that event at all. All it would do is really piss me off – WHY?
First the players would be using the rookies to make point
Second the players don’t really care about these rookies – especially rookies who will be making MORE than the veterans!
Third – most of these KIDS have NOTHING to say and most have losey verbal/communication skills as well. Who cares what these kids think about how their college careers were – they’re going to the NFL
Joe YOU may not like Keyshawn, Berman et al., but they’re more interesting to listen to/make fun of than illerate NFL rookies.
March 16th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
I’m with King 100% The union is using these kids as pawns. The draft experience is special and unique. Asking this year’s top prospects to miss out on this once in a lifetime experience that they have dreamed of since childhood is ridiculous.
March 16th, 2011 at 7:35 pm
This is one thing I am 100% against. It is completely unfair to ask these draftees to skip their special moment to basically stick it to the NFL. Most players dream of shaking the commissioner’s hand, and that should not be taken away from them. Remember GMC crying after he was chosen last year? That most likely doesn’t happen if he is sitting at a separate venue. Yeah, it’s nice they would get to hug their future teammates, but I guarantee you they would rather be in Radio City Music Hall. They have nothing to do with this CBA crap, yet they are expected to be punished. The ironic thing is, the players that are asking these rookies to skip the event are the same ones that are screaming for rookies to get paid less (which they reportedly got before negotiations broke off).
I’m not big on watching the draft (except to see the Bucs pick), but I guarantee you I’m not going to change the channel and watch the players hug. That’s so ridiculous, and it will not help the players’ cause. I predict that due to all the heat they are catching (I think it was PFT that had a poll where 75% of fans disagreed with the players on this issue), they will eventually change their mind and not force these rookies into this awkward, can’t-win situation.
March 16th, 2011 at 9:10 pm
How can the NFLPA(union?) expect these young people to go along with a union action from a union that not only doesn’t exist anymore, but also harms their earning potential?(rookie wage scale) By de-certifying, the NFLPA(union?) is basically saying it’s every man for himself! The NFLPA(union?) has absolutely no right to ask that of these youngsters!
March 17th, 2011 at 7:23 am
I hate to say it but this could hurt the draft stock for the players that agree to this. The front office guys have to do what their bosses tell them and They just may let these players slide to deny them their bigger payday. This could backfire for these kids in the name of the union.
March 17th, 2011 at 8:04 am
Can anyone say, ‘STUPID IDEA PLAYERS!!!!’
To the rookies I would add, ‘DON’T SCREW YOURSELFS…GO TO RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL OR STAY HOME!’