Bruce Allen: Glazers Extremely Loyal And Honest
July 9th, 2012
Those who read Peter King’s massive, must-read Monday Morning Quarterback column on SI.com noticed that former Bucs general manager Bruce Allen was the guest author today.
Bruce Almighty did a solid job and went out of his way to reference Team Glazer and other of his past NFL employers. Joe found it interesting that despite getting fired along with Chucky with multiple years left on their contracts, Bruce Almighty praised Team Glazer’s loyalty.
During the Al Davis celebration it dawned on me how much I have learned from the NFL owners for whom I have worked. The Glazers of Tampa Bay are an extremely loyal and honest family, and are becoming the leading experts on sports franchise ownership around the world thanks to their time with Manchester United. Similar to the Davis family, they have a burning desire to win on the field (or pitch).
Now Joe knows some cynical/psychotic Bucs fans that will claim Allen has some sort of agenda and is just kissing up to Team Glazer because it looks good and he wants another job someday. Of course, Joe is not in that conspiracy camp.
It’s simply nice to read good things about anything related to the Bucs.
July 9th, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Cynical/psychotic?
Gee, I wonder who you might be referring to?
Personally I’d add a couple of slashes with a few more choice words BUT…..
I won’t.
Being a past critic of the Glazers I cannot complain about their actions this entire off-season. I do think they were loyal to a fault with the Raheem experiment but that’s done and I try to live in the present. the positive present!
Buccaneers in 2012?
Can’t WAIT!!!
July 9th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Nice job Joe, I too love to see ANYTHING positive relating to my Buccaneers!
July 9th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
The Glazers burning desire? Profit….
They did’nt spend an extra dime until they had to because of the Man U. financing situation.
Hillsborough County taxpayers foot the bill for their stadium after the franchise was held hostage. Now they are still refusing to release the escrow held for the training facility.
No objections to a business making a reasonable profit mind you, just don’t blow smoke about the pigs with lipstick Glazers.
July 9th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
It is nice to hear some positive stuff about the Glazers as they have been, and some rightfully so, crucified for their actions in regards to this team. I appreciate loyalty though and think it is incredible for Bruce Allen to bring them up on his own.
July 9th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Of course Bruce thinks they’re “extremely honest” b/c he’s extremely good at looking people in the eye and lying (in my opinion) and Chucky as well. I appreciate the Superbowl and will never forget it but the ONLY REASON they hired Rah and his staff b/c they got them on the CHEAP. By that point they were 100% focused on Manchester United. And FINALLY this year, they have 1 Eyeball on the Bucs. Thank God!
July 9th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
buxter Says:
July 9th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
The Glazers burning desire? Profit….
They didn’t spend an extra dime until they had to because of the Man U. financing situation.
Hillsborough County taxpayers foot the bill for their stadium after the franchise was held hostage. Now they are still refusing to release the escrow held for the training facility.
No objections to a business making a reasonable profit mind you, just don’t blow smoke about the pigs with lipstick Glazers.
.
The Glazers paid a good deal of the stadium being built, and they paid entirely for the facility.
And as far as the not putting money into the Bucs, I disagree. It was during the supposed lack of spending that the new One Buc Place was built and they updated the functionality of the organization. They also overpaid for some players.
I’ve always said, it’s not how much you spend but how you spend it. You can spend tons of money and NOT get anywhere.
And the looming CBA/Lockout played a huge role in all teams spending. Out of 32 teams, only 2-4 spent leading up to and during the lockout. It was calculated to weaken the financial position of the players.
July 9th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Dini’s Biceps Says:
July 9th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
“… but the ONLY REASON they hired Rah and his staff b/c they got them on the CHEAP…”
.
I think that played a role but it is not the ONLY REASON. As you may recall, it was Rah’s second stint with the Bucs. They’d lost him once and had made promises to get him back. So when Gruden was ousted, there really was no other option if they were going to keep their word.
That said, I’m sure the fact that he came cheap played a huge role as well.
July 9th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
@Pete The stadium was funded completely by tax payers hence the nickname C.I.T.S.(Community Investment Tax Stadium).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_James_Stadium
Of course, they pay rent for usage just like USF, Monster Truck, Superbowl ETC, but that is a community owned stadium paid for(I assume it is still being paid for) with a half-cent sales tax.
http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/DocumentCenter/Home/View/1014
Search for Community Investment Tax in the document.
July 9th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
I meant that I assume the tax still is being paid. I’m betting that tax already paid for that stadium.
July 9th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Glazers could have moved us to L.A back in 1996 but didn’t. They also had an open check book from1997-2005ish, so I’m not going to rip them for taking a few years off. They cleaned house, saved up ect…
July 9th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
I find it rather comical that no matter what comes out about the Glazers and no matter what they do… the same fools seem to harp on the same redundant rhetoric. Its like they read something negative and put it on permanent repeat in there minds. It’s rather sad they cant find it in there heart to be happy… There real lives must be awfully miserable to have so much hate inside… even for a team they claim to love.
July 9th, 2012 at 5:07 pm
“Of course, Joe is not in that conspiracy camp.”
Naive much?
July 9th, 2012 at 5:54 pm
I too have a love/hate affair with the Glazers.
After this off season, I am in the Honeymoon Phase with them.
They are trying to bring a winner back to Tampa, and I applaud them for that.
I can’t bitch about them right now, because we are undefeated.
July 9th, 2012 at 6:10 pm
The Glazers pay a lot of money for “non-disparagement” language in their contracts with coaches and executives.
These provisions cause former employees to characterize things differently than they otherwise would.
With that said, I agree that the Glazers are very skilled at sports franchise ownership if measured by off the field profitability.
The Glazers run the team like an ATM. They draw cash from it until its empty, and then refill it. 2005-11 were taking cash, 2012 was a refill year hoping to win again, increase interest and value, and then start the withdrawal process again.
It’s their business and their right to do that.
July 9th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
@Thomas First off, do you have proof of that claim?
Second, if the players were actually scorned wouldn’t they more likely go with “no comment” over words that glorify the team/owners/management/coaches? It doesn’t make sense that players and especially Bruce Allen would go out of their way to say nice things when they could say nothing. Allen wrote an article about it for heaven’s sake. He didn’t have to write anything at all.
July 9th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Have a nice…
I have never seen Allen’s contract. I have seen a sample NFL coach and GM contract and believe that it is standard language for coaches and executives.
Do you really think that Jags, Bates, Richy, Pete, Gru, Allen etc have all been quiet about what happened out of love for the Glazers? No, they are scared of being sued.
It is bad bad business for a GM to say anything negative about another owner who they have to deal with in the future.
July 9th, 2012 at 7:07 pm
@Thomas So, based on a sample you saw, you now can make a claim that “The Glazers pay a lot of money for “non-disparagement” language in their contracts with coaches and executives”?
That is quite the stretch. There may be something along those lines in some contracts, but your claim of “The Glazer’s pay a lot of money….” is out of your realm of knowledge.
It certainly didn’t seem to be the case with Al Davis and Lane Kiffen:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/26/lane-kiffin-says-its-almost-impossible-to-win-with-al-davis/
With players I have never heard of anyone being sued and they say practically whatever they want all the time.
July 9th, 2012 at 8:55 pm
Bruce Allen Translation:
Well….. I am the GM of the Skins. My team sucks. I gave up every pick I could get my hands on for RGIII. I hired Raheem who will surely make my team worse, and his buddy TJax. The only good move I have made since I got here was cashing my checks. Hopefully, if I suck up to the Glazers, and Dominick screws up another season, I might actually get my job back, with a real coach that doesn’t beat me up. Oh please Bucs go 0 -16 while we go 2 -14, so I can move back to Tampa. I love Tampa, but I hate the beat writers. Oh and Al Davis is the greatest man to ever walk the face of the Earth, a real American Icon. Okay, I’m good, or maybe I should call Jeff Fisher. Cali is nice this time of year.
July 9th, 2012 at 11:29 pm
well said Have a nice day.. all contracts are not the same, if they were why would people still have the need for attorneys? Hire 1 to review your contract by the hour and make sure it’s legit. See Ray Allen