No Buccaneer Has Reached Out To Mason Foster
May 16th, 2011
Joe was in stunned disbelief listening to former Bucs Ryan Nece (2002-2007) and Anthony Becht (’05-’07) interviewing Bucs third-round pick Mason Foster on WHBO-AM 1040 this morning.
Asked what Bucs players he’s been in touch with since being drafted and what plans, if any, he had to come work out with them in Tampa, Foster replied, “I haven’t talked to any players yet.” And Foster very politely went on to say he looked forward to hearing from somebody at some point.
Nobody reached out to the Foster? C’mon. In Joe’s eyes, this is disgraceful.
Nece and Becht were equally horrified and expressed their disbelief after they hung up the phone with Foster.
“Who on the Bucs defense is going to make that phone call?” Nece asked rhetorically. “That’s a problem. … I’ve got his number. They can call me to get it.”
“Somebody has to be a leader on that defense,” Becht said. “Somebody has to reach out.”
An oversight by captains Ronde Barber, Josh Freeman and activist Jeff Faine? Or simply evidence that all team leaders aren’t too on the ball? Regardless, it stinks.
In case any of the Bucs care, Foster said he’s been training regularly on the University of Washington campus with fellow Huskies Jake Locker and Nate Williams.
May 16th, 2011 at 10:28 am
Well, that would be the job of the captain of the defense Barrett Rudd … oh wait.
Hmm, that might be a little awkward.
May 16th, 2011 at 10:31 am
Maybe Foster is the Leader we need and introduces himself to the league come Game 1 whenever that is.
May 16th, 2011 at 10:34 am
OoOo…. that is a bit awkward.
My guess is Morris is the leader until Ruud ‘leaves’…
Hmmm.
May 16th, 2011 at 10:34 am
As I’ve been saying all along; this defense has lacked leadership for a long time. Mason Foster needs to come in and start taking charge himself! Be the leader this team has been missing since Derrick left! His best bet would be to contact Bowers & Clayborne and make a pact that the three of them together will lead this Bucs Defense into the future. This is exactly what Sapp, Brooks & Lynch did. Commit to make this D Great again.
May 16th, 2011 at 10:38 am
Good post Jim.
May 16th, 2011 at 10:49 am
One of our Lbs shoulda made that call! Maybe I have been to nice to Ruud. Maybe all 3 of those guys stink, like everyone around the league has been saying. Tampa’s LB Corp is a train wreck”. Yeah, apparently even at something as simple as calling up the new guy.
By the way, not a rocket, Morris can’t call him- due to the lock out prohibiting any contact between coaches and players.
May 16th, 2011 at 10:56 am
GMC has made himself the leader of the Dline and he called both draft picks. This is truly a reflection of Geno Hayes, because Quincy and Ruud are FAs. Geno is the only sure starter coming back and he should have made the phone call but hes an idiot. Wake up and get Geno off the team, hes weak and he’s way to overrated and he cant even take a minute out of his life to call a future LB starter. Geno is the worst LB out of the 3
May 16th, 2011 at 11:00 am
Next year, our starting LBs will be Foster, Ruud, and our first round draft pick (Dominik said next year was deep at LB)
May 16th, 2011 at 11:08 am
Since a lot of the troops that could be a leader are coming off injures and a lot of the older troops are concerned about their jobs because of the new troops, that doesn’t leave very many people. Rhonde is one, probably the only one that can except for John Lynch if he wants, Derrick and Quarrels are employed so they can’t.
If Barrett Rudd thought he was going to be a Buc wouldn’t he do it if he was a leader?
May 16th, 2011 at 11:15 am
The CBA mess has everyone confused and nobody thinking normally. Sure, someone should have reached out, but they probably have other matters pressing as well.
May 16th, 2011 at 11:54 am
Capt Tim, we disagree on on that cornerback that id rather not mention but on these linebackers I have a hard time taking up for either one.Hayes gives you splash plays every three games,Ruud gives you consistant tackling even though its sometimes late,and black I just dont know he would have a game every three or four that looks like he turned a corner,but if you put them all together you have Brooks.They all suck and could benefit from someone being dominant ,would love to see KENZIE FOSTER and RUUD and there all over 240lbs ,Rah and Dom seem to be getting bigger and Hayes is an average little guy and why have him unless hes a Zach Thomas.I just cant wait to see what happens next season because last year all Morris and Barber talked about was how Kenzie was like a coach on the field,so I looked at his predraft comparison and they compared him to Ruud!
May 16th, 2011 at 11:54 am
1st off, these idiots are football players playing a game, they aren’t troops, Kellen Winslow III.
Secondly, the miscommunication gets a free pass this year because of the lockout, the confusion on who can and cannot talk to whom. There is a lot of uncertainty out there about communication. Ruud and Black are free agents, they aren’t allowed to talk. Geno Hayes doesn’t really know better becaus Raheem’s dumbass didn’t tell give Geno the phone number to Foster, there are no team meetings the off season confusion because of the lockout… et al.
Only person’s fault it can be is Raheem Morris tbh.
May 16th, 2011 at 11:59 am
WeNeedD,You are so right maybe Morris is the blame for the lockout too?
May 16th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
It’s not Ruud’s or Blacks fault, they are free agents.
It’s not Geno’s fault, he’s busy getting arrested at the club.
Has to be Raheem’s fault. 🙂
May 16th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
How is it Raheems fault if he cant talk to players lol. We Need Defense go bury your head in the sand for that comment. Bottom line is Geno was the only LB starter under contract and it should be his job to find Fosters number which isnt really hard
May 16th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Achetti813, i completely agree with you! geno is the most overrated LB we have and the weakest. he should be replaced as soon as possible. I don’t Care if #55 said he is going to be good. proof in the game film, DVR, TiVo or what ever else you want to call it.
May 16th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
The Raheem Morris bashing on this topic could not be more comical. If there was a CBA in place Raheem would have him in Tampa already, since their is none it is up to the players to contact him. Even if said players are off working out in San Diego or wherever halfway across the country, they need to pick up the phone and welcome him to the team at the very least. That is embarassing for the team. Ridiculous.
May 16th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
I understand the customary courtesy call to welcome Foster aboard, but is Foster a Bucaneer yet? Because there is a lockout, Buc management can’t talk to players, draftees, or their agents, therefore no contract. I know that even if there was no lockout, if the draftee is not under contract, he can’t come to camp. Are the players free to conduct any NFL-related activity with a non-contracted player? If so, can they reach out to undrafted FAs in order to establish a rapport that might influence that player’s decision when the lockout is over? Joe, anybody – I honestly don’t know the answers.
May 16th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Im with Joe on this one. I think there is a serious leadership void on the defense.
If Rudd is truly the “quarterback of the defense” then we would be hearing about our defense running 7 on 7 practices with Freeman and his players.
Instead we have to hear from a draft pick that nobody bothered to call him.
Pretty lame.
This lockout makes me wonder how Derrick Brooks would have handled it at the tail end of his career with Freeman on the team.
May 16th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
What sucks is we cut 55 to give Black and Hayes a chance to show what they can do. While they’ve been average at best we now know they can’t make a phone call. In the end, Ruud is the “QB of the defense” or so we have been reminded a hundred times, so he really should have made the call. Dollars to donuts Freeman wouldn’t have let that happen if he was an offensive player. Ruud is a by bum, Quincy hasn’t shown us anything, Hayes seems like a light version of Talib. LB corp has got to get better and it needs to start with Foster! Let’s see what Dekoda Watson can do.
May 16th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
This year’s draft class will be the guys who make those calls.
May 16th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
It is Morris’ fault for not having a plan in place for players to contact draft picks before the lockout is/was imposed.
Many teams have publicized that they had a “plan” in place for their players for a work stoppage – apparently the rah rah led bucs werent one of them. They really dont have much of a practice plan in place when there isnt a lockout (except for the standard: stretch, position work/group work, team work, 7 on 7 and 5 on 5, the offense v. defense work followed by conditioning – that is the same general practice format from starting in high school).
More dysfunction, it is okay to have contingency plans you know. Sorry Mason Foster that you had to be brought into this mess. I bet Greg Olson had a plan that he discussed with Freeman.
May 16th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
Maybe the rest of the D is banding around Barrett Ruud and not letting Mason Foster sit at their lunch table.
May 16th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
It’s more like everyone in the middle is affraid this guy is going to take their jobs! Guess what? They are probably right!!
May 16th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Exactly right bucnjim!!! They are sacred…. they know this kid is coming for one of them!!! Gutless! I hope he comes in and shows them what toughness is all about..
May 16th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
*scared
May 16th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
Really, guys? Are you seriously blaming Raheem for this? Wow, emberassing. I’m pretty sure WeNeedDefense is joking, but I’m pretty sure Thomas isn’t (there is a difference between him joking and being a joke).
So Thomas, Raheem should have a system set up so everyone can call the draft picks? Even though they don’t know who they are going to draft yet? It’s amazing to me how you can take any topic and spin it against Raheem and/or GMC. The hatred you feel for them is amazing, and even more amazing is that you still pretend that you care about this team.
May 16th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
It CAN NOT be Barrett Ruud’s fault nor Quincy Black’s, mainly because they are still free agents.
It is either on Geno, the other non starting LBs or Raheem Morris. But seriously, I agree with WeNeedDefense, its the lockouts fault. Think about it, no one really knows who is allowed to talk to who, other than “you can’t talk to the players”. The lockout was put back in place the day before Foster was drafted.
Do the math. Raheem or no one else.
Geno is one step above Talib in the thugery department, expecting anything more from those two knuckle heads is asking waaaaaaaaay too much.
But you can’t blame a free agent. That is downright retarded.
FYI, don’t expect Ruud to return. Rah will beg for him to come back, but Ruud will say, uh, you tagged me last year, see ya losers. Time for me to hit paydirt. And if im wrong, then great, we got Ruud back.
May 16th, 2011 at 8:15 pm
“FYI, don’t expect Ruud to return. Rah will beg for him to come back, but Ruud will say, uh, you tagged me last year, see ya losers. Time for me to hit paydirt. And if im wrong, then great, we got Ruud back.”
——–
Wow, you really don’t understand how pro sports works do you? He will beg for him to come back? Really? This isn’t college buddy. That’s an ignorant statement. Money talks, end of story.
May 16th, 2011 at 8:29 pm
come on Hawaiian you know Ruud is the most physical backer we have,according to some
May 16th, 2011 at 8:34 pm
You are right M. Wesley. I don’t know what I’m thinking, lol.
May 16th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
man if you cant beat em join em
May 16th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
Wow we really have some dysfunctional fans around here!
1. Coach Morris can not call any players – PERIOD. If he did he’d lose his job in a heartbeart – PERIOD
2. Saying Ruud is a FA so he sholdn’t call a rookie is just plain dumb. Barrett isn’t a FA at the present – his status is on hold and just out of respect for the game Barrett ‘should’ call this kid; it’s just the right thing to do.
May 16th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
“Activist Jeff Faine”, bwahahahaha…cleaning the coffee off my laptop right now.
Good stuff Joe.
And what about it Activist? Why hasn’t anyone contacted this young gun?
Hey Foster, just remember this for future reference, leadership needed.
May 16th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
If I were Ruud I wouldn’t want to come back to the Bucs with these sorry excuse for fans as they are. Making Ruud the scapegoat for everything?
The guy is a free agent you idiots. Why no hate for Quincy Black? He doesn’t deserve it either, but he most likely will be restricted unlike Ruud who will be UFA. And if the CBA gets forced and the 2010 rules go into effect in 2011 you better believe that Ruud won’t play without a Donald Penn type contract.
Raheem Morris or Geno Hayes gets the blame, not the free agents to stupid idiots.
May 16th, 2011 at 10:18 pm
We need he is not the kind of player to demand anything ,thats not in his make up,he will wait till it comes to him,the same way he does the football!
May 16th, 2011 at 10:42 pm
That is a good one wesley 🙂
Ruud, it’s on you buddy.
May 17th, 2011 at 10:30 am
Good call Ian that was my thoughts exactly. So why hasn’t Barret called him? Because he is going to take his job!!!!
May 17th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
Man. It’s sad when this passes for news. These are football players. Not sorority sisters.