Blount’s Tardiness “Blown Out Of Proportion”
July 24th, 2012
In the waning hours before Bucs training camp begins, the Interwebs have been abuzz over the claims by Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times that the Bucs’ top running back, LeGarrette Blount, had a constant and continued inability to get to One Buc Palace on time for meetings and practices unless a car service was used to pick him up.
Here was Joe’s initial response if you missed it.
Joe has zero problem with the car service. Bob Knight, when he lorded over the Hoosiers basketball program at the University of Indiana, employed a similar tool to make sure his players not just got to practice on time, but to class. If the end game is to make sure a player is on time, then what’s the big deal about a car service ensuring said player’s attendance?
Appearing on “Rome,” hosted by popular sports personality Jim Rome, seen exclusively on CBS Sports Network this afternoon, new Bucs coach Greg Schiano bluntly threw cold water on the degree of Blount’s tardiness.
When Rome asked Schiano point blank about Blount’s tardiness, Schiano, who seemed to grin throughout the interview, changed his body language when the subject of Blount was broached. His response was documented by Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com.
“I think that probably got blown out of proportion a little bit,” Schiano said, waving off the question. “He probably had some troubles — I’m not really familiar with the facts — but that’s all behind us.”
Schiano went on to laud Blount for buying in to his program, his work ethic, and yes, his punctuality.
What Stroud reported about Blount wasn’t exactly a state secret. Joe has written about this subject before, and as he did before, Joe asks, if Blount’s actions were as mutinous as some would have you believe (coughformercoachescough), then why the hell was Blount on the active roster?
If Blount truly couldn’t show up on time to his own funeral if not for a car service, then it’s glaring evidence that the previous Bucs staff enabled Blount. If Blount being late to One Buc Palace daily isn’t enough to get the guy benched or deactivated, then why harp on this?
At worst, former coaches dredging up Blount and his inability to be punctual last year is nothing more than a weak attempt at a scapegoat for the grotesque 10-game losing streak to end last season.
July 24th, 2012 at 7:44 pm
Nothing like a first round draft pick at your position to make you buy into the system and act like a professional, huh Joe
July 24th, 2012 at 7:48 pm
realist:
Or, perhaps a coaching staff that covets and understands the value of a running game.
July 24th, 2012 at 7:56 pm
Blount has bought in the whole time i’ve seen him in tampa. Don’t know what first poster is talking about..
July 24th, 2012 at 8:10 pm
Don’t understand why community news so down on Blount, yes the Bucs drafted Doug Martin in first round, anybody remember last year when both Blount and Graham went down, Bucs had nada, so if either one of them go down, I have confidence that at least we a starting caliber running back in the backfield. I think Bucs were thinking that way also.m
July 24th, 2012 at 8:11 pm
Why bother showing up at all, it isn’t like Greg Olsen planned on using him.
July 24th, 2012 at 8:19 pm
Uh he was on the active roster
Because your little Rock Star GM did absolutely nothing last year to add depth and talent to the team, if Blount wasnt active then Kregg Lumpkin and Madu would have been your 2 Rb’s… Mark dominik handcuffed Raheem and his staff, they had to do the best with what they had and what they had was sh$t. They had no choice to put up with him and deal with his BS because they did want to win and he was their best option to win at RB…..because they literary had nothing else…that’s why they paid for a car service, so that they could rely on him to be there on time.
How about the Chicago game where your superstar GM only had 2Rbs and 1 FB active??? How many GMs have ever gone into a game with 3 total running backs? Im sure the number is close to zero….Because when EG is hurt without even being touched and then Erik Lorig is hurt 2 plays later on the punt……the team was left with Kregg Lumpkin as the only RB left for the rest of the game…how in the world can Greg Olson run an effective offense with 1 RB??
Automatically all his Base personnel plays are throw out with no FB as well as the U personnel and GL/SY package…then he’s left having Freeman throw the ball 40 times and when u ask Freeman to do that he’s going to throw Interceptions because Freeman is not an accurate QB, he is no Tom Brady or Drew Brees….Freeman is best throwing the ball 15-20 times so you can minimalism his mistakes… You can’t teach accuracy to QBs they either have it or they don’t. You can teach fundamentals and footwork and reading defenses and mechanics but you can’t teach anticipation or touch..Feeman does not throw dime peices…
Mark Dominik is a fraud…. He does not know football, he Makes horrible decisions and you think he is great because he was able to snag Donald Penn and Blount off of waivers……look at his other signings and his drafts they have been awful.
Joe I like how you love the buccaneers and want to be positive and support them but you are blinded by Mark Dominik and Grella and fabrications they feed you…you blindly believe that Raheem and his staff doomed the buccaneers last year and fail to blame Dominik for his part in it…
July 24th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
Bottom line is we have Blount + Martin + whomever. Pound the rock. Run people over with fresh bodies then use play action with that’s right…
July 24th, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Maybe you shouldn’t omit the ” probably” in the headline quote, and the “I am not familiar with the facts.”
You also left the critical statement: you see the things he does as a RB “from time to time” are great, but he ” needs to put those things together consistently.” Greg Schiano (sounds just like Thomas 2.2).
There goes the LB is great and the next Bo Jackson or Earl Campbell.
To summarize: Blount was late a lot last year, but not so far this year. He makes a few spectacular runs but also a lot of mistakes.
Hardly an endorsement as the starter.
July 24th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Any coincidence to the fact that my Blount comments get filtered out?
Thomas, you’re comments are not selectively filtered out. You’re paranoid. Or you have issues on your own computer. Ctrl F5 is a standard method of doing a hard refresh on any system. Our system does send you to spam at times, probably because you post so often and use so many IP addresses. –Joe
July 24th, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Don’t worry Thomas, most posters selectively filter out the comments that do make it through. Me personally, I sometimes do, sometimes don’t. Sometimes I like to prove just how wrong you are, or at least how horrible your research or facts are. Being wrong when you’re misinformed is more ignorant than wrong…
July 24th, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Nobody hefevhas been more right about this team than me. How many of you geniuses predicted that rahdom would be exposed as a fraud and epic failure?
There is an agenda here toward selling Blount, like Dom and others, as something he is not.
I will be right about Blount also. By midseason, barring injury to Martin, he will be a backup and malcontent. No matter how many slanted articles Joe posts.
July 24th, 2012 at 10:08 pm
LMAO^^^^
July 24th, 2012 at 10:10 pm
@BAMBAM “Don’t worry Thomas, most posters selectively filter out the comments that do make it through.”
Great stuff! Two hilarious comments back to back!
July 24th, 2012 at 10:39 pm
Thomas = foolish dummy….lol your really full of yourself…
*chuckles again*
Blount will be fine but Muscle Hamster will be the starter imo
July 24th, 2012 at 10:50 pm
Ignore is a great self-imposed tool.
I think Tampa is very lucky to have such a potentially great running back pair.
Bane, the GM does not develop the gameplan nor choose which players to use in it each game.
July 24th, 2012 at 10:58 pm
Thomas…as to the spam filter it’s not an intentional thing. Happens to me all the time. It’s no secret that we’re amondst the more long-winded commentors…me especially. I think the auto filter looks at that and gets picky.
July 24th, 2012 at 11:03 pm
Then guy had to be picked up to make it to practice?
Wonder how Chuck Noll would have felt about that!
July 24th, 2012 at 11:08 pm
Hey Lombardi can you send a limo for me around 8ish. And I like to stop at Starbucks on the way in.
July 25th, 2012 at 2:23 am
It is always amazing to me how fast fans can turn on a player, with a little help from the media and ex-coaches. In 2010, he was an amazing runner that is going to the hall of fame. In 2011, he’s a lazy bum that doesn’t belong on the field. Makes no sense to me. Ignoring whether or not he showed up late to practice, how can you not enjoy watching this guy play football? He runs through people, around people, past people, and even over people. He’s exciting as hell, because he is one of the few players on our team that actually has a chance to score anytime he touches the ball. Does anybody here not get excited when he breaks into the second level? We are damn lucky to have him. Aside from Freeman, he is our most recognizable player, yet so many are just destroying him because of what a reporter says. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Clearly he has some flaws to his game, and he most likely won’t start as a result. That’s fine, but why kill the guy over it? Regardless of if you believe Stroud or not, by all accounts he’s doing the right thing now. Why dwell on the past? If he really was that lackadaisical with his work ethic, imagine how good he can be when he actually does work hard (as he is doing this year). The thing that bothers me the most is that most of the ones that talk crap on this board would be the same ones who would shake his hand, swing from his nuts, and pretend to be his biggest fan if you ever saw him in person. And you wonder why players keep their distance from the fans?
July 25th, 2012 at 2:24 am
I’m going to let the coaches and GM worry about who shows up to practice on time.
July 25th, 2012 at 6:30 am
Tommy2.2: Predicting doom then sitting back hoping that it befalls on supposedly your favorite team so you can thump your chest in delight is curious way to approach to being a “fan.” Fact is, you throw out so much excrement that you are bound to be right once in a while. Bet that 2010 season quieted you for a spell. I’m starting to believe you are my old buddy BF47. You from Tennessee?
July 25th, 2012 at 7:47 am
The heartbeat of a champion does not lie therein.
The heartbeat of a spoiled chump does.
Get the opportunity of a lifetime others would kill for and can’t make practice? Speaks for itself.
July 25th, 2012 at 8:23 am
Thomass
I see your still stopping that microwave at 1 second, so you can still pretend to be a bomb defuser!
I picture you as that one caveman who discovered fire after lighting stuck, but back at the cave you act like you’re the Oylmpic Torch carrier!
BTW Hope your arms are long enough, cause you’re the only one patting yourself on the back.
FYI many of us believed Raheem was unqualified, but atleast gave the man his chance. He failed and lost the team.
Get over it!
July 25th, 2012 at 9:44 am
@ Eric
What are you talking about?
July 25th, 2012 at 10:53 am
The former regime gave the man a roster spot and starters opportunity after he went undrafted and had been released.
He decided to repay them by not showing up to practice on time.
Even if joe is right and they misused him, thats no excuse IMO. This folowing pissing away a portion of his college career makes me wonder why everyone seems to have such high confidence in the man.
July 25th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
@Eric,
That’s only if you assume what Stroud wrote is true. Funny how you and your negative nancy brother believe everything negative you read, yet mock any positive stories (unless they have something to do with players from the Gruden regime). I find that very interesting. I have confidence in him because he rushed for 1000 yards as a rookie, without an offseason, and missing the first few games. He’s proven that he can be an effective back in this league. He’s showing up on time for everything now, so why b!tch about the past? Oh yeah, because that’s what you do. You truly are pathetic sometimes.
July 25th, 2012 at 8:03 pm
OAR: Now THAT was funny. Perfect comparison.