Dear Josh: Make The Workouts Public
May 22nd, 2011
Rather than write to his pen pals in a renowned Russian women’s prison, today Joe is penning a note to Josh Freeman.
Dear Josh,
Joe hopes you’re having a fun offseason and continuing to train hard with blocking icon Michael Clayton. There may never have been a better practice player in Bucs history, so he’s probably a solid choice.
As the unquestioned leader of the Bucs, Joe wants to advise you to make your next workouts with skill position players open to media and fans — at least in part. Consider the prior week of workouts a test run. Now it’s time to play to the community.
Your Bucs aren’t your typical NFL team. They struggle to sell tickets, and they need all the buzz and loving local publicity they can get. You charging a couple of bucks to watch a practice, hiring a few security guards for the event and giving the proceeds to charity would be a great move on so many levels. Believe it or not, there are legions of people whose lives would be enriched by the chance to watch you throw a spiral to Sammie Stroughter. Not everyone’s world is as glamorous as yours.
The TV cameras would be all over it, and how could the world seeing players hungry to play be bad for your labor negotiations?
Frankly, Joe sees no reason to keep the workouts completely private. The Bucs don’t play the Patriots in 2011, so there’s not much to worry about there. And surely, you guys can handle signing autographs for the average Joes (no relation).
Do the right thing, Josh. Every Bucs fan knows you’re calling the shots.
Be your best self. —Joe
May 22nd, 2011 at 11:32 am
First you insult the man’s friend then ask him for a favor. This is why your not a politican.
May 22nd, 2011 at 11:47 am
Maybe he doesn’t want the distractions and would rather keep it private.
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:22 pm
I think you are right. These guys have nothing to lose by getting the boys some local facetime. It helps with the “Buzz” of football for the local market and it shows they are not complete “Douchebags” in there negotiations.
Go Bucs!
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:31 pm
it could be that these workouts are not as well attended as we would like… which might only hurt things if people showed up expecting something
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:57 pm
sorry to rag on you Joes, but i trust freeman’s leadership skills a little more than the joes…I say, let freeman do his thing.
May 22nd, 2011 at 1:12 pm
Well said, Patrick. Honestly Joe if you’re going to ask for favors you probably shouldn’t insult the friend of the person you are asking a favor of.
May 22nd, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Not the greatest letter at all. This lock out needs to end soon before Joe buries himself lol
May 22nd, 2011 at 2:16 pm
hell…all you have to do is show up and run routes…I have not dropped a prpoerly thrown pass yet…it’s fun
May 22nd, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Don’t question the genius of Josh Freeman.
…and I mean that 100% sincerely.
(i.e. I’m not being facetious)
May 22nd, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Totally disagree. Josh is a professional, not a grandstanding showman. His only concern is improving continuously in order to help the Bucs win games and eventually a Super Bowl. He’s not concerned with giving anyone a show just because there’s a lockout. In fact, I think it’s extremely irritating how Brees has handled things as opposed to Freeman. Much respect for Josh, little respect for Brees (on this issue, not as a QB of course).
Josh doesn’t “owe” anyone anything whatsoever, especially the media during a lockout. He knows a potentially huge distraction when he sees one and is very smart for avoiding it. As a fan I hold no grudge against him at all for the way he’s handled this. In fact my respect for him has grown even more as a result. Humility is a strength of his and it’s because he has class. A media whore, on the other hand, knows nothing about class.
May 22nd, 2011 at 3:47 pm
Maybe not many players are showing up and it wouldnt look good. Why is hands of stone hanging around our players? Nothing good can come from that. I guess gruden’s doghouse wasnt the reason why clayton couldnt catch crabs in a mexican whore house.
May 22nd, 2011 at 5:09 pm
FLBOYInDallas:
You mean Freeman can avoid the lockout? Wow, dude really is talented.
May 22nd, 2011 at 5:41 pm
“A media whore, on the other hand, knows nothing about class.”
Couch Cough ..MARK ‘SANCHIZE’ ..Cough Cough
May 22nd, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Some of you guys are way to serious. Joe starts off saying he’s not writing to prisoners forced in to lesbianism and then you’re taking the letter to Freeman seriously as if Joe put a freaking stamp on it.
Agree with the premise here. You play for the fans. Every player is quick to say that during the season, but you’re going to put informal sessions in shorts in the dark? That’s not a match.
Freeman is smart enough to know it’s good to be out there in the community. Duh!
May 22nd, 2011 at 7:14 pm
I think the point is give a dog (the fans) a bone, in troublesome times, when they are jones-ing for some football. Freeman is rapidly becoming a Mega Star here and will draw a crowd anywhere he goes, or practices, unlike some big A-hole QB in Boston. Boston Sucks. I’m with Cowhead on this one.
Tim Thomas (g-hoalie) guaranteed the Bruins would win the the Series yesterday, after eating 5 pucks shot down his throat, and I think the Bolts are about to electrocute his sorry self with about a dozen more goals in the next few days. Never guarantee a win, or put sun screen on by yourself.
May 22nd, 2011 at 9:23 pm
After all those other guys said, THAT’S the post you address? lol
For what it’s worth, I agree with Joe. Don’t care to be reminded of Clayton though.
May 22nd, 2011 at 9:28 pm
Joe Says:
May 22nd, 2011 at 5:09 pm
“You mean Freeman can avoid the lockout? Wow, dude really is talented.”
Was referring to media attention, not the lockout. It’s the same premise as the Hard Knocks decision…the Bucs are very young & inexperienced, therefore the focus needs to be on hard work in a low-key inconspicuous manner. Setting up “pro days” for the local media doesn’t fit with that approach.
And no, during a lockout when they aren’t being paid and aren’t active employees of the Bucs, they owe the fans and media nothing at all. Josh is making the right choice here.
There will be plenty of media hype in a few months or so when a new CBA is in place or they’re playing under the 2010 rules. Until then I see this as a smart decision on Freeman’s part.
May 22nd, 2011 at 9:33 pm
Joe here,
@FLBoyInDallas — Let’s get real here. Freeman can play with the guys for 90 minutes and open it up to the public for a one-hour second session.
If they really owe the fans nothing, as you say, then they really need to shutup about how much they love the fans during the season. They can’t have it both ways.
It’s really not a big deal. And that’s the point. These guys are used to traning camp in front of thousands of people, and playing games with the distractions of fans. There’s no negative to Freeman and the QBs throwing passes with fans watching.
He’d be foolish not to engage the community with these workouts. It would be a huge lost opportunity.
May 22nd, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Joe,
Agree that there is not really a negative to doing so, but I think foolish is too strong a term. I think he’s making his decision with the best of intentions. There are many things to be said about Josh, but I don’t see him as a guy who makes foolish decisions. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in the media myself during the lockout but I’m trying to see things from his perspective here.
May 22nd, 2011 at 10:25 pm
FlBoy is right as usual. A true leader concerns himself with making his team better, NOT giving boneheaded journalists something to write about, which would probably be negative, as in 99% of “columns” written by local puke…oops, I meant rag writers.
May 22nd, 2011 at 11:51 pm
When was the last time somebody wrote something bad about Freeman? C’mon, we’re not talking about Talib.
May 23rd, 2011 at 12:42 am
I don’t care about player-led offseason workouts. I want to see coach-led workouts, followed by training camp. I want to see our rookies signed, and maybe pick up a free agent or two (cough cough Nnamdi cough cough). I want training camp. I even want preseason games where I get to watch players that have little to no chance of making the team. I just want real football, and I want it now.
May 23rd, 2011 at 4:22 am
I don’t want the work outs public. They won’t get anything done. What I want is a weekly post by Josh, just letting us know who showed up, and how it’s going. That’s really all we need. Anything else would interfere.
Yeah, I wanna know what they’re doing! But its not so important that I want to become a distraction to him getting his team ready.
Maybe Joe could ask Josh to give us a once a week update!