“Superstar” Josh Freeman
November 21st, 2012
There were two Josh Freemans in recent years for the Bucs.
There was the “good” Josh Freeman who damned near led the Bucs to a 2010 playoff berth, only to lose out in a tiebreaker to eventual Super Bowl champ Green Bay.
Then there was the “bad” Josh Freeman of 2011, who threw so many interceptions Bucs fans began murmuring the vulgar slur of “Trent Dilfer” when Freeman’s name was brought up.
Shoot, just weeks ago, some Bucs fans, claiming to be sane and sober, with the memories of 2011 all too fresh in their minds, were pining for Dan Orlovsky to bark signals for the Bucs, if you can imagine such a thing?
Two years ago, “Jaws,” Ron Jaworski of ESPN, thought Freeman had the makings of an NFL superstar. Now Jaws believes Freeman may be better than ever, so he told NFL insider Adam Caplan via that piece of garbage software, “Sulia.”
Two years ago I thought he was really coming on and had the potential to be a superstar. I’m seeing that superstar potential now come to the forefront. I think he’s right now in a very good balanced offense. They run the football. They use the play action, and he has been absolutely phenomenal in the red zone.
The NFL is now a red zone league. If you set up for field goals, you’re going to lose. You need to score touchdowns. The throw he made to Vincent Jackson on Sunday was an absolutely phenomenal throw before the two‑point conversion; and that throw kind of to me crystallized the year that Josh is having. He has the confidence to make that throw and trust his receivers, especially a guy like Vincent Jackson. So clearly I’m seeing a very confident quarterback that trusts the system and trusts the players that surround him.
I think clearly Freeman is on his way to becoming a superstar in this league. He’s got all the attributes you would want in a quarterback. Clearly those are being refined.
Will Freeman be a superstar? Time will tell. But in Joe’s eyes, there’s no way you can label any NFL quarterback a superstar, much less debate the principle of such gloss, until said quarterback takes a snap in the postseason.
November 21st, 2012 at 10:04 am
Extend him right now….10 year deal
November 21st, 2012 at 10:11 am
Wow Joe.. You have a great article going and you have to be a Debbie downer in your last paragraph. Why can’t you just enjoy the teams success and get on the bandwagon. Wait till the team does something to warrant negative talk. Are you hanging out with Ira, Tom, and Ian? Enjoy until u have a reason not too..
November 21st, 2012 at 10:35 am
Brad he is not being a Debbie downer. I was actually going to say the same thing about Freeman. I am a huge Freeman fan but he has to WIN a playoff game before I can give him superstar status. That’s how I see any “superstar qb” (yeah I’m looking at you too Matt Ryan). Until he wins one he will just be known as a good qb.
November 21st, 2012 at 10:48 am
I think everyone is just excited that Freeman has the potential to be a Superstar. Something that the Bucs have never had in their entire history. Maybe you could call Doug Williams very good, but no one else has ever looked this good. You could take every good offensive player throughout Buccaneer history and put them on the same team and they wouldn’t be as good as this offense.
November 21st, 2012 at 10:48 am
I agree on winning in the playoffs before we crown him but its just a matter of time before that happens.
I’ll go as far to say that when we win on Sunday, Freeman gets that signature playoff win (rematch with the Giants) this year.
Nobody wants to play the Bucs in the playoffs
November 21st, 2012 at 11:38 am
“Shoot, just weeks ago, some Bucs fans, claiming to be sane and sober, with the memories of 2011 all too fresh in their minds, were pining for Dan Orlovsky to bark signals for the Bucs, if you can imagine such a thing?”
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *gasps for breath* AAHAHAHAHAHAHA
November 21st, 2012 at 11:55 am
Brad:
Joe is not a cheerleader, sorry. You should know Joe better than that by now.
As much as Joe likes Josh Freeman, there’s no way Joe can gloss him as a “superstar” if he hasn’t even stepped on a field for a playoff game, much less been named to a Pro Bowl.
Joe is flattered you would liken him to eye-RAH! Kaufman. Thank you.
November 21st, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Joe you da man!
I put the “Freeman is a superstar” logic up there with “Mark Dominick is a Rockstar”.
Both of those statements can come to truth with a playoff berth, and by the end of the year hopefully the Bucs have a presence in the pro bowl (perhaps a Dom Draftee/Signee).