Jeff Faine Responds, Will Now Attend Workouts
May 27th, 2011
Bucs center and captain Jeff Faine has reacted to the criticism leveled at him by JoeBucsFan.com in a big way today.
Earlier this week Faine said in a radio interview that he didn’t want to attend team workouts in Tampa led by Josh Freeman and said he didn’t see the value in it. Joe criticized Faine for not acting — or communicating — like a captain.
Today Faine penned an open letter now published on TampaBay.com and spoke to J.P. Peterson on WQYK-AM 1010. Faine told Peterson it is “ludricous for me for me to have to defend my leadership” and went on to say he will attend future Bucs workouts with his teammates.
Here’s his verbatim letter on TampaBay.com:
Open letter from Jeff Faine:
I don’t typically respond to blogs but I found it necessary to respond to a recent post when my dedication to my team and the quality of my character as a captain was questioned. The Buccaneers fans deserve to hear the truth directly from me. There is nothing more I’d rather be doing than going through the offseason program and preparing for the upcoming season with my teammates on our journey to compete for a championship.
Back in February when I was asked about the feasibility of organizing player workouts, I wasn’t questioning Josh Freeman’s ability as a leader, I was more saying how difficult it will be for any individual to logistically get the entire team together for an offseason program comparable to one organized by the Buccaneers. If I wasn’t clear on that matter, I apologize.
I can assure you that my dedication to my team, the Buccaneers organization and the Tampa community has never wavered. I take pride in sharing not only football experience, but life skills and business knowledge that my teammates can use after their football careers end. This quality is why I have been voted a captain the past three years. It would be tough to find a player in this league that wears that captain’s patch with more pride.
As Josh well knows, the relationship between a center and the quarterback is of utmost importance and he knows that I support him completely in his efforts to prepare during the lockout. Although I missed the first three days of field work in Tampa because of prior commitments, I will be part of future sessions to build team camaraderie. As professionals, we are all accountable for our training and preparation regardless of where we live in the off season. I can assure you I will do all I can to continue to build on our team success from last season.
Go Bucs!
Jeff Faine
Joe’s glad to see Faine has done an aboutface and now has determined his presence is valuable at Bucs workouts in Tampa.
Joe considers this matter closed and wishes Faine the best of luck.
May 27th, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Glad to hear that public pressure can make a difference!!!! Maybe Joe can help get the labor deal done with a another article!!!!!
May 27th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
@big007hed
lol
May 27th, 2011 at 6:46 pm
At least he’s sensitive to fan sentiment. Shows some maturity & leadership to change positions in such a public way. Gotta respect that at least.
May 27th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
Thank you Jeff for stepping up and getting involved with these practices!Your veteran leadership will pay huge dividens.Hopefully next G.M.C. hires Steve White to lead there D line practices.
May 27th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
Man, what a great response. Way to step up and address an issue and clear the air. I was a little dissapointed in some of your earlier comments but this make it all clear and fine by me.
Show those Young BUCS How to work.
DO WORK SON!
May 27th, 2011 at 7:09 pm
When Josh Freeman sends Talib to your house to tell you that you need to be at practice – Dawg, you are comin’ and will write a letter of apology on your way in the trunk!
May 27th, 2011 at 7:16 pm
Nice job Joe. Now you need to write a few more articles about the lock out and you can get that resolved too. And Thank You Jeff.
May 27th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
That is a first-class reply from Faine….the Bucs, all the way around, are really a class act. The media will always tell you the bad stuff, but there is a lot of good at One Buc Place, with Faine being a good example. GO BUCS!!
May 27th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Glad to see the big man steppin up. Go Faine!!!
May 27th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
good now we can move on…get cba done in june
May 27th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Well said Mr. Faine. The clarification is appreciated! JBF has more sway than I thought!
May 27th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
It’s great that he (or more likely, his agent) now recognizes that, regardless of his personal interests, his role of team captain dictates a certain expectation of leadership. Since the end of the season, his position has been consistently anti-team function, even individualistic.
This about-face, with a hint of “Now that I took care of stuff, I plan on participating”, to me, smacks of agent-driven P.R. damage control and frankly doesn’t feel contrite to me. I’ll take it, though.
Glad to see the power of the written word used for good.
May 27th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
Macabee THAT’S SOME FUNNY S(P)IT!!!!
i was thinking exactly what Bucsnutt just said.. also I agree with FLBoyInDallas, Faine’s been takin heat and it does take a man to step up and address it publicly and agree to do what he should be doing, which is showing up and leading this team to the promised land! Go Bucs!!!
May 27th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
What to go Jeff Faine!! Lets be honest if there is football all the training makes the difference between the winners and losers in the end imo!
May 27th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
This is definitely a PR move but you still gotta give him some credit. Good job for manning up on this one Jeff. Go Bucs!
May 27th, 2011 at 9:05 pm
Yeah yeah, but would this change of heart happened if not for this blog? I don’t think so, and as a season ticket holder, I’m not buying it. Walk the walk Jeff and we’ll see where it leads you. I don’t think that 1 Buc Place was too happy with Faine’s comments either. I think it’s about Jeff’s money, which he makes too much for his performance over the last 2 years. I think the writing is on the wall and Faine is getting the boot. Just my opinion, but that’s how I feel. When Faine proves otherwise, I’ll change my tone. Talk is cheap especially when you’re pedaling backwards. Talib may be a juvenile delinquent but at least he can keep his mouth shut.
May 27th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
I think Joe’s just smarter and more plugged in then the rest of the Bucs media and not afraid to call it straight — right or wrong. (Don’t always agree with you Joe). Faine got fried on his own words. Why else would he send an open letter to the Times. He had to know he got exposed. I think the Bucs know what they have there, an overpaid center who still has some value, but a lot less if he’s not acting like a devoted captain.
May 27th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
To be honest BigMacAttack, Joe would like to believe Faine decided to attend Freeman’s workouts due to peer pressure.
May 27th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
McSID:
Ha! Joe wishes.
May 27th, 2011 at 11:22 pm
Well props to Joe for picking up on this story and running with it.
In the lazy daze of the lockout when there should be little to read or write about there was an issue that most fans who read it were passionate about and were heard by the person in question. This in spite of sycophants like JP who try to blow smoke up Faine’s butt because of his self-interest in player access.
Sorry JP I find it coincidental at best that you happened to be one of the 5% of people who agreed with Faine’s anti-team stance.
May 27th, 2011 at 11:42 pm
I think the “Block Air” comment from Faine is what really didn’t agree with me.
But hey, can’t complain with his response. I’m glad to see that Faine takes the fans seriously. Much more than I can say for NFL Ownership…
Thanks Jeff!
May 27th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
Thank you Tom!
Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times this evening reacted angrily to Joe about this subject on Twitter. He really went after Joe (and Florio).
I guess Joe — and others — made Holder do a little extra work?
Joe is very disappointed in Holder’s reaction, especially the way he lashed out. Joe thinks the world of Holder and Joe thought this was very unbecoming of an objective journalist.
Joe has never seen Holder react like this, which makes Joe wonder — of all the things Holder has seen and read dealing with the Bucs over the years — why he would flip out the way he did?
Again, Joe has never, ever seen Holder this angry.
Joe sincerely believes — or wants to believe — it was peer pressure that got Faine to reconsider his actions.
May 28th, 2011 at 12:00 am
Joe:
Gotta give it to you!!!! The masses have spoken!!!
By the way Holder is just green with envy!!!
and you were 100% right on that blog.
May 28th, 2011 at 12:57 am
The pen is mightier than the sword.. Go Joe.
May 28th, 2011 at 10:11 am
If Faine could block air all of the time, he’d been in several Pro-bowls by now.
Joe, can you post the Holder rants?
May 28th, 2011 at 10:44 am
I read the Holder comments I could get. He seemed a little upset, maybe I didn’t get the whole picture(not a real twit here). I don’t understand why he didn’t just call Joe or email and ask Joe out for lunch or a drink to hash it out. it seems a little odd how Holder came after Joe, a little bit like shooting the messenger. Our comments were far worse than anything written on the blog. Holder should try to get a job with JoeBucsFan where the readers outnumber the writers.
May 28th, 2011 at 10:48 am
Congratulations to Jeff Vinik, Steve Yzerman, Guy Boucher, His Staff, and the Lightning players. Awesome season and a team on the right track.
May 28th, 2011 at 11:47 am
Holder flipping out is a surprise. He usually seems pretty level headed. Must be fighting with the ole’ lady
Glad to here you will be with your team, and supporting your teammates, during this trying team. Lottsa young guys looking to start. But teams always need The Vets to show the kids how it’s done. Assuming said Vet has team interest as a priority!
Glad you are showing up. The bonding with team is what’s critical here. And like all good Buc fans- no matter how much we bitch about you, once we read the letter, and see you heading to workouts, – we are all Jeff Faine supporters again!
May 28th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
I quit reading that BS. IF…he was a team Captain, no one should have to blog about him not being there. IF the relationship between a Center and QB is so important like he says. Then where the f___ was he. No one should have to question his character or whatever. Just show up like all the other guys and go to work. Even Talib is out there with the team and our “captain” which also happens to have one of the biggest contracts on our team, isn’t??? I would trade his ass while he still has some value. And I’m sure the large part of his contract has been paid already, so it would be a good pick up for another team. And give us more draft picks. This dude is a tool!!!
May 28th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
And Captain Tim, just because you are a bandwagon guy doesn’t mean everyone else is…if the guy didn’t want to be there then let him stay away.
May 28th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
too little too late for me. if you’re going to be a team captain and have one of the top center contracts in the league you sure as hell better have your ass at team functions.
May 28th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
FuNkYxMuNkEy:
Remember that Kellen Winslow on bum knees flew all the way across country to be part of the workouts. Faine only had to drive from Orlando.
May 28th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Capt.Tim:
Yup. Joe is VERY disappointed in Holder’s emotional reaction.
Makes Joe want to think there is a reason for Holder’s outburst that is less than transparent.
May 28th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
Where have we read that before?
May 28th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
What a laughable response from one of our “team” captains.
” I take pride in sharing not only football experience, but life skills and business knowledge that my teammates can use after their football careers end. This quality is why I have been voted a captain the past three years.”
Really Mr. Faine? I would have thought it was your playmaking ability, and leadership you brought into the locker room. That got you the C on your jersey. Not your savy in making more $ than any other player at your position. And not showing up on the field due to injury the past two seasons. As for not being their for your teammates as they go out and work out together, if it takes a blog or your teammates b!tching then if I’m your teammates you can bet your a$$ your not wearing a C on your jersey ever again in Tampa. For me leadership and being a team captain puts you in that position. Is defined as follows. Leadership means follow me. Because real leaders lead from the front not the rear. And never have to “explain” their position. You can see it.
May 29th, 2011 at 11:55 am
FunkeyxMunkey- Faine apologized, and is showing up to contribute and help his team. That deserves a welcome back. As I wrote.
It means he is accepted back in the fold. It doesnt mean we developed amnesia, and forgot his statements or actions. Not at all. But the time for those choices will be later. He apologized, good enough for now.
We Forgive, But we don’t forget, and we base our decisions on what we have learned.
As Far as Me being “A BandWagon guy” – stick that up yer a*^! I had season tickets for over a decade at the big Sombero, when the team went years without achieving “Average”. I was also in Sand Diego to watch us win the SuperBowl. And while I have get joy in talking about what this team is doing well( a lot lately!), I was huge and vocal critic justa couple years ago,as I watched the team being dismantled and draft choices wasted. I have also been dubbed a hater even recently, for my opposition to Talib returning to the team, and stance on our OLb( they suck), and our Ol vets( all underachieve- except Penn).
So, keep yer labels to yerself
May 29th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
Joe- while Stephen Holdes’s reaction is strange and out of character, it doesn’t change the fact that you were right . Your criticism of Faine was spot on. That’s what really matters. It was good work on your part, Joe. Disregard any unwarranted criticism. I personally was amazed at Faine’s stance, and glad you brought it to light!