Prickly Pete Gets Laughs From Schiano, Freeman
July 27th, 2013
For some reason, CBS Sports national NFL writer Prickly Pete Prisco, got a wild hair up his ass all offseason about Josh Freeman and Greg Schiano.
Prisco was happy to Twitter and flap to anyone who would listen that Schiano and Freeman had a cancerous relationship, which simply was inaccurate.
Well, finally, Prisco came to town and got to explore his own rumor by chatting with Freeman and Schiano about it, and Prisco walked away penning a new column that takes an about-face stance on No. 5 and the leader of the New Schiano Order. (Shocking!).
“We were close last year, but this offseason I spent a lot of time talking with him about a lot of stuff,” Freeman said. “About life. We’re really close.
“It’s kind of funny, but when the article came out we had a good chuckle about it during the offseason. You wrote the first article, and then there was a trickle affect. I didn’t even know the article was out. And I had friends telling me, ‘Don’t let your coach bully you.’ I didn’t even know what they were talking about. As far as I know, we’re great. I think Coach Schiano would let me know if he had a problem. We have a straightforward relationship.”
Schiano, sitting at a table in his office Thursday, seemed to chuckle some when I brought up his relationship with Freeman and the talk of tension. He focused on their time together this spring and summer getting to know each other a little better.
And what about the “fire in the belly” talk? Schiano said it’s not an issue, even if Freeman isn’t one of those in-your-face quarterbacks.
Like many Bucs fans, the views and approaches of national media types often drive Joe nuts.
July 27th, 2013 at 8:14 am
Wasn’t it Schiano who also said the Bucs were counting on Eric Wright this year before he was traded?
Never believe coach speak – they’re no different than politicians.
July 27th, 2013 at 8:16 am
J-Fro ftw
July 27th, 2013 at 8:33 am
And that takes away one of the biggest piece of evidence that the Freeman bashers refer to…that Schiano doesn’t like Freeman.
This is as close to eating crow that I’ve seen a sports media personality come.
I encourage everyone to click thru and actually read the article. I liked this line:
” Now comes the big question: Will he be there on Day 1 of 2014? I find it almost impossible to think he won’t be. He’s 25. He has thrown a combined 68 touchdown passes the past three seasons.
He does need to get his completion percentage up and he has to stay away from the streaky moments. But I think he has what it takes to be a franchise passer. It’s too early to give up on him, no matter what.
July 27th, 2013 at 8:36 am
It is amazing what these guys learn when they actually investigate in person instead of using “unnamed” souces.
July 27th, 2013 at 8:37 am
” souces” equals sources. I need a bigger tablet…
July 27th, 2013 at 8:47 am
So much for reporters to follow some type of standard or an oath like doctors and attorneys do.
They are supposed to seek truth and the public good
Expose injustice.
Report with fairness and accuracy.
Defend the public’s right to know.
Respect human dignity.
Discover and teach.
Not make up lies, slander, exaggerate truths, cherry pick quotes and assemble them to mean different than originally intended. Manufacture controversy. Pete is harming his own credibility just to sensationalize a non-issue at this point.
July 27th, 2013 at 8:48 am
If Freeman is having a good or great year, he will be signed in mid year. If he is having a bad year & the Bucs record suffers, then Glennon will start & Freeman will be gone.
My bet is on Freeman having a good year.
July 27th, 2013 at 9:10 am
Tampabaybucfan
I think its possible but doubtful they do a mid-season deal. If they start the season they may as well finish it. That’s why there is a franchise tag…to keep teams from losing key players. They’ll hit him with it and then work out a deal before they have to pay it.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they do the unexapected and work out a deal before the start of the regular season this year. Wouldn’t that throw the haters into a frenzy?
July 27th, 2013 at 9:18 am
J-FRO!!!! SIX-PACK!!! JACKSON!!!
There, got THAT out of the way lol
You’re welcome Robert.
July 27th, 2013 at 9:28 am
BucBonzai,
People are over the Freeman bashing. There are just past facts and expectations for this season. Truth is he deserved criticism and has the opportunity to clean up his reputation league-wide for being inconsistent but wildly talented.
No sense in writing paragraphs talking about Freman bashing when people have justification to doubt him.
July 27th, 2013 at 9:29 am
I haven’t ever noticed any tension between Freeman and Schiano nor have I ever seen Schiano display any sideline disgust with Freeman’s play during a game. You know the kind of animated sideline emotion shown by Tom Coughlin when 2 time SB-winning Eli Manning throws an interception. And for Freeman, there’s been opportunity for lots of justifiable frustration.
I’m a Freeman supporter and I struggle to relate to his laid back personality and seemingly unemotional approach to the game. I know you don’t have to act like Brett Farve to win games, but I like it. I like that Kaepernick and RGIII bounce and prance around the field – that outward display of energy and self-confidence.
Let me give you an example. In his presser Thursday, he was asked about the emergence of leadership on the team this year and I wanted so bad to hear him say “McCoy may become the leader of the defense ad Penn or Joseph may become the leader of the offense, but make no mistake about it I’m the leader of this team!” Oh well!
Listen, Freeman is my QB and as long as he’s on the team, he’ll have my support. But there is no disrespect in my wanting him to be my hero too!
July 27th, 2013 at 9:53 am
Freeman has an NFL worst 39 INTs over the last two seasons, and his TD/INT ratio is 43/39.
We need to make the playoffs.
July 27th, 2013 at 9:55 am
Architek,
But wait. I’m not accusing you of this because you seem pretty level headed, but people are bashed for supporting Freeman all the time.
It doesn’t really bother me. I could care less what others think because I learned long ago that everyone has differing opinions. I just made the point because I don’t want someone to mention “reports of friction between Schiano and Freeman” as a means to make a point against Freeman.
This article invalidates those claims.
As to whether Freeman has earned criticism, I’m not one of these guys that denies his faults. I know Josh needs improvement. I also know the whole team does. And I know that not ALL of last year was Freeman’s fault. But it was partially.
July 27th, 2013 at 10:00 am
On a side note, I just found this (off topic):
“Federal regulators warned consumers to avoid one brand of vitamin B dietary supplement because it contains potentially harmful anabolic steroids.
Preliminary lab tests showed the product, Healthy Life Chemistry By Purity First B-50, contains methasterone, a controlled substance, and dimethazine, the Food and Drug Administration said.
– – – –
How bad would it be if a bunch of players were suspended for taking Vitamin B?
July 27th, 2013 at 10:25 am
@Macabee
Publicly, Josh appears timid, or low key. No real sense of urgency, gets to lost in the moment. And has that perception of being that deer in the headlight when confronted with an unscripted situation.
He needs to step-it-up for his own sake and for those who believe he has yet to peak. Many of us, including myself, still believe that Josh can turn that corner and become that vocal articulate leader everyone dreams of. The main question now is will he respond well to the pressure? Can all that pressure turn Josh into a diamond or will it squash him like a fragile bug?
July 27th, 2013 at 10:31 am
Mr Lucky Says:
July 27th, 2013 at 8:14 am
Wasn’t it Schiano who also said the Bucs were counting on Eric Wright this year before he was traded?
Never believe coach speak – they’re no different than politicians.
Yeah he did before Eric wright screwed over the team and the guys who gave him 2nd and 3rd chances. 2 DUI s and an addarall suspension during a mid season run. Yeah. I think he ran out of chances. Not Schianos or Dom’s fault he was cut. Use your head there fellow buc fan.
As for prisco, that fat sob is just an idiot who knows nothing. As much as I am critical of Freeman’s play on the field, he made t seem like nobody liked josh freeman in the organization. Not true. It’s a business and if you’re not winning games , it’s hard to extend a qb at the going rate these days. In my opinion freeman is an par with Matt stafford. And look why e got? Nearly 18 mil per. Josh is gonna cost 15-18 million per in his agents eyes. And do you really wanna make that mistake with an inconsistent qb? Let the year play out.
July 27th, 2013 at 10:40 am
I am a big Freeman critic and think he still has some holes in his game, however, I don’t think he is as easily replacable as many commentors on this site would have you think. I expect the offense as a hole to be more on the same page this year.
I would not be all that suprised if they ink Freeman to a new deal right before the season starts so it isn’t a distraction all year. It just feels more like a Dominik move to get this out of the way sooner rather than later and now that the Mike Williams deal is out of the way they can focus on this one. Just a gut feeling.
July 27th, 2013 at 11:06 am
The national media drives me nuts as well. Just last year Boomer was implying that Freeman needed to stop the late night parties and focus on football. Really, how the hell would he know!?!
If Revis was not in Tampa, the Bucs would not even be a blip on the national media radar.
Screw the national media, BSPN, NFLN, its all sound bites and and half truths. The national media loves the same 8 big market teams and that’s just about all the focus on. The other teams are just fill-in fodder.
This is why I trust JoeBucsFan,com for all the true details that are important to the team. No need to go anywhere else. And no, I’m not getting paid for this endorsement, its just how I feel.
Joe, feed me more!
July 27th, 2013 at 11:12 am
@lucky
Schiano is a very straight up guy, actually funny too. He’s not twisting words, but the one who is getting his words twisted.
Ol’ Peety P. is the one with his junk stuck in the pooch here.
July 27th, 2013 at 11:21 am
Lol why is it the Freeman homers are always crying about being bashed yet they are the ones who do most of the bashing to people who dont agree with them?
Freeman haters bash Freeman. Freeman lovers bash the haters then cry when they get bashed. Hilarious. Anyways, Prisco is the only guy I can remember trying to insenuate that Freeman and Schiano had problems.
I, personally, think that is stupid. I am sure Schiano has great respect for Freeman and his work ethic and loves him as a person. But you are criminally insane if you think Schiano is going to outright tell us that he has little faith in Freeman at this point, or even anything remotely close. The ramifications for him doing so would be negatively huge.
And of course the Freeman lovers would also be out in full force bashing and declaring Schiano a moron.
July 27th, 2013 at 11:33 am
gotbbucs Says
“I would not be all that surprised if they ink Freeman to a new deal right before the season starts so it isn’t a distraction all year. It just feels more like a Dominik move to get this out of the way sooner rather than later and now that the Mike Williams deal is out of the way they can focus on this one. Just a gut feeling.”
This is exactly what I suggested this morning, so you are not alone in this.
July 27th, 2013 at 11:35 am
Couch Fan Says:
“Lol why is it the Freeman homers are always crying about being bashed yet they are the ones who do most of the bashing to people who don’t agree with them?”
I challenge you to find one instance of me bashing anyone. And yes, I am a homer. Of the Bucs and Josh. Proud of it. Now back up your words with proof (otherwise known as fact) and I will eat crow.
July 27th, 2013 at 11:37 am
@Bonzai
Under normal circumstance I would agree with you. But dealing with an Iffy QB who you just dont know which side of him is going to show up on sundays, I think will make Dom wait and see what he does after this season. Mike Will had earned that contract and nobody can dispute that. Freeman hasent yet. Hopefully at the end of the season this will have all cleared itself up.
July 27th, 2013 at 11:41 am
@Bonzai
I didn’t say you specifically nor do I care enough to go back and look through all the old posts to try to prove anything. But in general there is just as much bashing from the homers as there is from the Bashers if not more.
If you want to prove me wrong then you go look it up. I promise that you will 95% of the time is the “haters” bashing on Freeman/Dom and the homers bashing the “haters” Lol. I really could care less as I come here to debate regardless of what I am classified as. But again, when you read these sites you hear a lot of crying coming from the homers. Again not speaking of you specifically.
July 27th, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Haters… homers… does it really matter? I don’t think either are appropriate. Those “bashing” Freeman aren’t necessarily “haters”, they typically are pointing to one individual on the team as the ultimate deciding factor to win or lose. Those “homers” aren’t saying Freeman is perfect (although it may seem that way, since they have to put the positives out there to counter all the negatives) but are instead looking at the entire team and seeing all the deficiencies that lead to losses and put blame on all aspects.
As a “homer”, I must say I do see flaws in Freeman’s game, I’ve said so before. However, he’s better than a significant number of QBs out there and had two pretty good years out of his 3 full seasons as a starter. I’m less likely to anoint Tannehill as the next superstar QB after one mediocre season than give Josh a chance after two pretty good seasons. I’m less likely to give Ponder credit for a playoff appearance when he had some horrible numbers last year, than I am to say Peterson and the defense were phenomenal and Ponder was along for the ride. So, comparing Ponder to Freeman and giving it to Ponder because of a playoff appearance (to me) is absurd.
Looking at all the QBs taken in the draft over the past 10 years, the odds of finding a QB that is consistent is pretty slim. Too many look at the rookie success and think we can get an adequate replacement any time, even in the 3rd round. It’s truly not that easy. Is Josh the best QB in the NFL? No. Is he gonna be difficult to replace? Absolutely. That’s why some of us would rather stand behind him, support him, than tear him down and run him out of town. We’ve seen the good and the bad, and the good is enough to win despite the bad given a team around him. Problem is, there’s always that team around him that may or may not give enough support. This year’s team is the most talent I’ve seen in years, this year is the year we have the best chance of everyone coming together and making this work. Is Josh a part of that? Yeah, he is, and with the team they have he should have a very good year.
July 27th, 2013 at 12:47 pm
@BamBam
Should have a very good year. Agreed!
July 27th, 2013 at 12:48 pm
Dom has to wait on the product first with Freeman. A deal too soon could be devastating to the organization and Dominik. There is no guarantee Freeman produces.
July 27th, 2013 at 1:36 pm
I would like Freeman to step up at a presser. Say stuff like “I have to be more consistant” and “I need to set my feet, I throw far to many bad passes when I don’t set my feet. He seem’s to allway’s point the finger at someone other than himself. You will never learn for your mistakes,if you can’t admit you made a mistake.
July 27th, 2013 at 4:45 pm
I’m not 100% sure, but I don’t think Free blames others. He does use the term “we” a lot .
July 27th, 2013 at 5:11 pm
props to Prisco for eating crow. don’t see that much in journalism.