Addressing The Freeman Rumors
September 26th, 2013
Credible and non-credible media types have been buzzing publicly for days about “off-the-field” negative behavior by Josh Freeman. And now they’ve escalated that talk to imply Freeman’s behavior has led, in part, to Freeman’s benching and the franchise changing course to Mike Glennon.
Joe is extraordinarily confident that whatever Freeman is or isn’t involved in “off the field” ultimately had no impact on the football decision to go to Mike Glennon yesterday. Joe’s got an excellent handle on what’s going on behind the scenes, and Joe is not going to get involved in rumors on these pages.
Yes, Freeman played poorly. But trust Joe, if the Bucs aren’t 0-3 on Monday, or if Freeman played well in New England, then Freeman would still be the Bucs’ starting quarterback today. Every One Buc Palace insider Joe talked to yesterday agreed. Freeman was victimized by late-game collapses that had nothing to do with him, senseless penalties, and he also was hurt significantly by dropped passes. Collectively, those were the knockout blows to Freeman. That’s life in the NFL.
Frankly, that’s all that matters to Joe.
September 26th, 2013 at 7:03 am
But the late second collapses could have been avoided if the offense got going earlier in the game and created a buffer.
September 26th, 2013 at 7:06 am
Knockout “BLOW” indeed….
September 26th, 2013 at 7:07 am
Good for you Joe.
September 26th, 2013 at 7:10 am
If you “got an excellent handle on what’s going on behind the scenes” then it wouldn’t be rumor peddling. As long as something is going on secretly behind the scenes – and it obviously is – rumors will fill the void left by the secrecy.
September 26th, 2013 at 7:12 am
If Freeman could have performed, I would be ok with him going “skiing”. If it helps your players get energized, then there’s nothing wrong with that.
September 26th, 2013 at 7:25 am
CouchFan Says:
September 26th, 2013 at 7:12 am
If Freeman could have performed, I would be ok with him going “skiing”. If it helps your players get energized, then there’s nothing wrong with that.
LOL You cannot be serious. Funny guy. Then again, there are probably more junkies living here than I realize. Sniff away guy, I hope all of you get raging heartattacks
September 26th, 2013 at 7:26 am
Yes, Freeman is the victim here. All those dropped passes. And that damn defense for keeping him in games….
September 26th, 2013 at 7:27 am
Boomer Esiason, who was maligned on this site a year ago already, was way ahead of everyone. Warren Moon too.
September 26th, 2013 at 7:33 am
Bad play and bad football luck got to Freeman. It’s still his own fault for regressing over the years.
September 26th, 2013 at 7:35 am
In order for a a player (any player) to catch the ball consistently the ball has to be accurately thrown on a consistent basis. It is unrealistic to ask said player to be money when the element of ‘shock’ and ‘unexpected’ is about you.
September 26th, 2013 at 7:36 am
In order for a player (any player) to catch the ball consistently the ball has to be accurately thrown on a consistent basis. It is unrealistic to ask said player to be money when the element of ‘shock’ and ‘unexpected’ is about you.
September 26th, 2013 at 7:37 am
What are the Rumors that you have heard? I’ve heard Beckles/King and others say they hope the rumors aren’t true. What are these rumors?
September 26th, 2013 at 7:43 am
tampa2, what do you think supplements do? They enchance performance! Same thing. They need to legalize the stuff anyways.
September 26th, 2013 at 7:44 am
@Joe
How could you possibly say it has nothing to do with it? I’m sorry, but if an organization knows that it’s QB really likes ‘candy’ than it absolutely has to do with it. Credibility goes out the window, especially when guys see him not showing up for stuff. I”m sorry, if anyone listened to the Ron and Ian interview at the SECOND day of this camp they would know. That was one of the most uncomfortable interviews I have ever heard. Ron was trying so hard to end the interview and slurry Josh kept going.
Well, the organization heard that interview, and Schiano and Dominik had time to investigate and determined that Freeman would be the face of the franchise entering training camp. And, as Joe wrote, Freeman would be the QB today if he had played well or the Bucs were 1-2. –Joe
September 26th, 2013 at 7:58 am
I have to respectfully disagree. If he is struggling with addiction, it has EVERYTHING to do with his performance.
You cannot say that he is judged on game performance only, as if it happens in a vacuum.
IF, and I said IF, Freeman is struggling with drugs/alcohol, it would impact every aspect of his life. He doesn’t stop being an addict from 1-4 pm on Sundays.
September 26th, 2013 at 7:58 am
@Joe
I know they heard but they were also somewhat handcuffed as well. If they bring in a veteran (like they tried to do) the local media would be outraged. If they benched him, the local media would be outraged. The correct course of action, in my opinion (which admittedly means nothing), was taken to try to get him better and playing at a high level again. I think being 1-2 at this point would have only bought him time to the bye week (with his play being the same). Just very disappointed with him because I really thought we FINALLY had our guy. Oh well, life goes on. Go Bucs!
September 26th, 2013 at 8:00 am
In addition, the organization can’t come out and say ‘our QB has a substance abuse problem so we are moving on’. That just cannot be said. It is a delicate situation.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:02 am
If Freeman has off field issues, alcohol, drugs, personality/mental dissorder,whatever, why wouldn’t the Bucs organization get him the help he needs. We can only speculate on what his issues are, if he has an issue at all. But, it seems to be suggested by the insiders that something is definately going on. If the insiders know, the team would have to know as well. The team has resources available to help. Maybe the team has tried to help Freeman and maybe it’s not working. Or, Schiano doesn’t want Freeman regardless and the team didn’t offer to help. If Freeman does have off field issues, I hope he gets the help he needs. He’s young and still has a bright future.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:04 am
BS !
September 26th, 2013 at 8:06 am
Get the Freeman tattoo removed already. His benching was his own doing. Not being able to read defenses, staring down receivers because he doesn’t know when they’ll be open via the defensive set. He’s bad and to suggest that he got benched because of late-game collapses that had nothing to do with him is totally wrong.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:08 am
BucFanForever Says:
September 26th, 2013 at 7:03 am
But the late second collapses could have been avoided if the offense got going earlier in the game and created a buffer.
I want to shout this every time someone says, “He put us in a position to win the first two games and the defense let us down!” Three-and-outs and settling for field goals are the reasons he HAD to bring us from behind those first two games. You don’t give a guy credit for getting out of a hole when he helped dig the hole in the first place.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:09 am
Joe doesn’t permit unsourced stories of players personal activities, good, bad, interesting, whatever. Sorry. Joe’s responsible for what is printed here. — Joe
September 26th, 2013 at 8:11 am
“Freeman was victimized by late-game collapses that had nothing to do with him, senseless penalties, and he also was hurt significantly by dropped passes. Collectively, those were the knockout blows to Freeman. That’s life in the NFL.”
I know this post is more about rumors than Free’s actual play but I want to address his play:
1) I went back and watched the Saints game on the All-22 on NFL.com and — man Free looks terrible. Watching him play vs Brees and comparing the two was embarrassing. He’s seeing ghosts in the pocket which is causing him to leave plays on the field. He missed VJax on an out route from 5 yards away — just threw it in the dirt because he was flushed from the pocket. He checked down to Dougie when Ogletree was wide open on a deep post/dig. He had a clean pocket and plenty of time — I had to stop watching after that.
2) I asked myself if I was just hyping him (Freeman) up in my own head. I turned on the 2010 tape and he looked like a franchise guy! He was getting the ball out on time, he was somewhat accurate, he was actually going through progressions, wasn’t afraid to gun it into tight spaces and BOY could he scramble and use his size to shake off defenders. He was so confident in his abilities. A stark contrast to the shell we’ve seen over the past two years.
3) Freeman’s decline is very disappointing, obviously, but watching his old games gives me some hope for his future yet makes me mildly nervous for Glennon. I watched a ton of his NC State games and he looks WAY better than I thought. His only two glaring issues are ball security and his penchant for taking sacks which can be fixed. I just hope Schiano allows him to go out and actually play QB instead of overcoaching him like he did with Freeman. One good thing in Glennon’s favor? He threw a ton of short to intermediate passes and checkdowns lol. So if that’s what Schiano wants out of his QB he’ll definitely get that.
As a long time Freemanite, I’ve got renewed hope for the franchise today. Glennon’s game fits what Schiano wants to do: run the ball, stop the run, don’t turn the ball over and win the game at the end. I’m not sure that will work in today’s NFL but at least the plan makes more sense in my head than it has for the past two years.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:12 am
The guy likes to have a good time, I am sure most of you have seen the pic of freeman with the little person partying it up, hell joe namath partied hard, the super bowl steelers partied with the coke underworld day before their 1980 superbowl in miami, athletes and people in society sometimes unwind and get after it, who cares if freeman did, the problem starts when all of that interferes with your family or you job and that has happened here. And then it turns into a problem. NO multi-million dollar team leader shows up for a pro team picture or blows off his own camp those 2 things there show that the guy has a problem and I am sure that some of that led to the decision. Freeman gets after it off the field there is proof out there and I am sure that pictures and evidence will surface if there is a $$$ amount available to the people who own the evidence….this is not a steve duimig proclomation it is fact
September 26th, 2013 at 8:13 am
I’d argue that if the Bucs are 2-1 there might be a different problem. The Defense might be saying privately, how long do we have to wait for this kid to start completing passes? It’s no secret that the 90s Bucs resented the offense for not producing. On “Americas Game” warren Sapp even said “I need 5 points to get to a Super Bowl.” He openly comained about the O not being held to the same standard.
If NOW wasn’t the time to pull the plug, now long do you wait? Fans had 50+ games. I’d pretty much compare Freeman’s success level to Scott Mitchell.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:13 am
Freeman played well 1 out of 4 years… 25% of his career thus far. Why people make excuses for him every year blows my mind. Yes, he’s had some bad luck with his teammates not stepping up… So has EVERY other QB in the league. This guy has gone through multiple coaches, offensive coordinators, WR’s, RB’s, etc. How is it everyone else’s fault that Josh doesn’t succeed?
I think the problem with Josh is he was handed the “franchise QB” title way too early in his career. Rah and Dom were crowning this guy as the franchise QB before he did ANYTHING. The first full year he went out and played without thinking… He just played. Running for 1st downs, rolling out, extending plays, etc. The next year he tried to prove everyone that we wasn’t a scrambling QB and would sit in the pocket and throw bad passes all day. NOT HIS GAME… I don’t know if that change came about by him, or Rah, or Dom… I’m sure they didn’t want him getting hurt (because he was the “franchise”) so I could see coaching or management being a part of that change. Whatever the reason, is what I believe started Josh’s downward spiral. Josh is not a cerebral QB… He is a backyard playing QB… If you make him think too much he looked like a deer in headlights (literally). That type of QB is not Schiano’s choice… period.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:17 am
@CouchFan
The usual “Couch Fan” has a space between the “Couch” and the “Fan” name and I can’t remember him ever getting on Dominick. There was some imposter posting yesterday too.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:20 am
@joe
We know it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out. I don’t think the so called Journalists at bspn and in the big apple will have your same outlook on covering for freeman.
I thought bringing news to the bucs fans took precedent over toes on the line at one buc whether the news was popular or not but I guess your walking the line and don’t want to lose access. I get that. It’s a business. A tough one at that.
Might want to work on our reading skills and re-read what’s actually written in this post. –Joe
September 26th, 2013 at 8:20 am
I believe it is not all of Freemans fault. However, he did his part to take a ton of blame but I am glad this happened. We will find out what kind of a coach Schiano really is. A good coach can teach, train, get the very best out of his players and win. Harbaugh won with Smith for God sake. Singletary could not. Carroll is getting the very best out of Wilson. This is going to be all Schiano now because he does not have Freeman to blame for David pushing people out of bounds, missed kicks, and a general lack of gameplan. Good coaching does not cost games they win games. We will see if this is our coach or not.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:22 am
@Nate
“Josh is not a cerebral QB… He is a backyard playing QB… If you make him think too much he looked like a deer in headlights (literally). That type of QB is not Schiano’s choice… period.”
Exactly correct…but I think Schiano did a disservice to our team by not crafting his system to the QB and talent we have available. I mean, I hope Glennon is the guy but if he isn’t do you feel that Schiano could develop a guy like Johnny Manziel?
September 26th, 2013 at 8:27 am
Addiction? You people are going overboard. First, Ron & Ian are the very worse sources for information. Ian makes things up as he goes along and Ron is too intimidated of am idiot to fully put him in his place. And with Ian it always comes down to social or culture issues…or race.
Boomer and Moon were not right. People are saying anything amd everything right now to make Freeman look bad.
Heck, local hacks are having a field day because they only time they get national attention is when they can share negative opinions. Ira, for example, lives in a completely imaginary world where he “thinks” he can guess at everything.
The plain and simple truth is this…Josh Freeman was late to a few things over a stretch of time. It happens to good people sometimes. Deal with it.
Schiano has to watch what he says because the last thing he wants is for the team to turn on him, but he said the reasons and deciding factors.
Perfomance-based. 1-8. 45% completions.
As much as I like Freeman, and even though there were outside factors that contributed to his stats, those stats still speak loudly. The fact that Josh wasn’t inspiring his offense probably played a role as well.
My belief for the change before this weeks game is this:
Schiano and Dominick decided previously that if things did not improve they would make a change in the bye week. After the last game they realized even if Josh had an excellent game this sunday, his overall stats would not have improved by more than 5%, which would still leave him with a lowly 50% completion percentage.
Would that change things? No, they likely decided. So then they started discussing the benefits to starting Glennon. A game of experience heading into the bye. Nearly two weeks to process that experience.
The tardiness of Josh likely had no bearing on things until Schiano and Dominick were well on their way to benching him. Once they were leaning in that direction it might have added to reasons, but not before.
And Josh was a hard worker. He came in before everyone player-wise. He held his own mini-camps in the off seasons to get more work in. Hexstudied had. He watched tape.
But in the end his stats did him in. Nothing more.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:27 am
Joe,
Say what you may, but, I just don’t buy your opinion on the matter. Just the day before you gave us reasons and virtually certified he would not be sat down. So, whatever insight you may have over at OBP is not without error.
At best, the off the field stuff certainly did not help things. Just my opinion.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:29 am
Bravo, Terry4505! I completely agree with terry4505 and others. Joe, how could you possibly say the decision has nothing to do with off-the-field issues? That’s an outrageous opinion to have. Have you never known anyone with drug problems and seen their life spiral out of control? If you haven’t I would say that you are a fortunate man. Yes Joe, the Buccaneers made a football decision based on performance but the off-the-field issues are a significantly big issue. I know someone on Tampa PD who can confirm the kind of party animal life Freeman lives off the field. Heck, Boomer Esiason said as much last year:
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=76001
When it comes to sports far more often than not rumors are actually true! Did you hear the rumor about Dashon Goldson and Davin Joseph getting into a fight in the locker room? Yeah, me neither because it never happened. Rumors just don’t spring up out of nowhere.
I hope Josh gets the help he needs and I hope the Buccaneers actually try and help Josh instead of shipping him out of here. A man’s life is on the line.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:29 am
Come on Joe….Leading the league in turnovers the last 3 years has nothing to do with Drops, Defense or any other excuse you gave. You just can’t be a sloppy quarterback in the NFL and thrive. That is who Josh has been his entire career sans 2010. The team around him got better, he got worse. End of story…
September 26th, 2013 at 8:30 am
Funny, when white quarterbacks suck, they’re not on drugs.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:35 am
SensibleBuc, that was a really good breakdown.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:39 am
It doesn’t really matter anymore. Schiano said pretty clearly that Glennon is the starter and thats how they’re going from here on out. Freeman had many chances to get back in the groove, and threw it away. Hopefully the team (especially the o-line) rallies around Glennon and gives him a shot to succeed. Freeman aint coming back.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:40 am
What does race have anything to do with the allegations? Besides that Brett Favre, Jim McMahon, Todd Marinovich, have had issues with substance abuse during their playing days.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:48 am
Joe
I love your site. I’m an older dude who used to be a sportscaster in another life and another location.
I understand the pressure that is placed on the media. You’ve been hanging out too much with the “Big Dog”. It’s a clear conflict of interest when a media guy is co hosting an athlete’s show. I’ve hosted many coaches shows in the past and human nature makes it very difficult to criticize a person you face every week, a person who has probably become a friend.
Conflict of what interest? That really makes no sense if you break it down. Duemig is paid for his opinions on sports. –Joe
In addition if you really want to be an honest “journalist” there are some questions you should ask the “Big Dog”. He was the leader of the run Dilfer out of town group. How did that work out…oh a Super Bowl for Baltimore!
Joe you are a blogger and do not have to follow journalistic conventions. Same for Steve, radio host who doesn’t really have to have credibility, just bombast and ratings.
Actually, Joe does have to follow the laws of journalism on the same scale as anyone else. Joe can be sued just like a newspaper. Hell, Joe has more readers than some daily newspapers around the country. So that makes zero sense. –Joe
I understand the difficulty of the topics I’ve just raised. Perhaps you might simply wish to think of the situation and assess your position in our community. An entertaining blogger? You’re a success. A genuine journalist…not so much. But it’s not too late, just get off the JF apology tour.
Joe is on no apology tour for Freeman. Work on your reading skills. –Joe
BTW I do not believe this nonsense about “franchise Q.B’s.’ There are three groups of Q.B.’s. Those “franchise QB’s who can carry a team…maybe a half dozen in the league…those who do their job well enough to let a good team and great defense carry them to a Super Bowl, can you say Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson? And those who are so wretched they prevent any team from having a chance.
I’ve always believed JF never was going to make the top tier, but I held out hope he could at least make the middle group and give us a chance. Perhaps he’ll yet do it with another team…again remember Trent Dilfer.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:49 am
Joe not trying to really start anything here. But, haven’t you recently stated on numerous occasions that all QBs suffer through drops, and that the great ones find a way to perservere? Freeman’s accuracy was always in question even during his college days. He is an inaccurate QB which unfortunately is extremely important in the NFL with the small passing windows available. He may improve eleswhere, but it will not be here.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:49 am
While I understand the need to post something like this, because there are laws such as Libel and Slander, the main point is simply wrong.
IF Freeman played better against the Jets, we would have won.
IF Freeman didnt throw 4 picks in a game, we would have won.
IF Freeman showed up for his camp
IF Freeman showed up for a 620 inteview
IF Freeman showed up FOR THE FREAKING 2013 TEAM PHOTO!!
so dont tell us there is no point to the rumours. Keep them off the site, I understand. But theres a point alright.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:54 am
@D-Rome – Brett Favre, Jim McMahon, Todd Marinovich were never accused of doing drugs *when they had bad games*.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:58 am
It’s comical that half of you apparently didn’t read the first sentence of the third paragraph. “Freeman played poorly.” Whatever else Joe wrote here about drops and other game factors are not excuses for Freeman. They are realities of the NFL.
You are all kidding yourself if you think Freeman gets sat down if the Bucs were collectively playing better, of if they were 1-2. Therefore, what’s happening off the field is not relevant to what happened yesterday. Far more relevant is Freeman’s contract status. In the final season of his deal, the Bucs have a different perspective of on-field performance, which happens to any player. See Quincy Black returning in 2012 — only because he had $6 million left guaranteed.
September 26th, 2013 at 8:59 am
Freeman is middle of the pack he is a one read guy who they tried to make a pocket passer. Imagine if Dom had to only roll out the players he drafted with no free agent signings we would be 0-16. As long as that guy is gm we will never be over 500
September 26th, 2013 at 9:20 am
Simply put, Josh Freeman sucks at the most critical part of the modern NFL: The 5-15 yard passes. Thats how you win in this league, not by completing low percentage 40 yard pass plays down the field, which Josh is very good at. Excelling at down field passing doesn’t mean much when you can’t pick up a 3rd and 6.
September 26th, 2013 at 9:27 am
Joe you can’t have it both ways. If you know something you are not sharing about the reasons for the benching. Then you are not be truthful about all of the rest of the drivel you are posting as the reasons we should support him. And why he is the best chance to win, not if he has serious problems elsewhere in his life. Which is it?
Where the hell did Joe give Joe’s reasons to support Josh Freeman? Please stop making stuff up. Joe has already stated here very clearly that the benching is about being 0-3 and the other factors are not relevant to yesterday’s call. Accusing Joe of not being truthful is outlandish. –Joe
September 26th, 2013 at 9:28 am
I doubt that Free was blindsided. It was rumored last week that he wanted a trade, and this morning theyre confirming that he’s wanting out.
We need to just move on and focus solely on Glennon. If a trade comes up, it most likely wont be anything worth getting excited over.
I want to know how Crbtree is doing, cause a TE will be Glennons best friend.
September 26th, 2013 at 9:30 am
whoops, wrong article.
September 26th, 2013 at 9:40 am
Whether Freeman was a boy scout or the hardest partying celebrity after hours may help explain why we argued every week about whether Good Josh or Bad Josh would show up on game day over time we saw less and less Good Josh and way too much Bad Josh. Neither the front office nor the HC are blameless in this year’s 0-3 mess but in the end Bad Josh ran Good Josh off the field whether Unknown Mike is ready or not.
September 26th, 2013 at 9:47 am
Crazy drops the logic bomb!
September 26th, 2013 at 9:54 am
Funny thing is, after a few awful games, the Glennon mob will promptly re-form as the Glennon Posse.
It’s the business of football.
September 26th, 2013 at 9:59 am
@NjBucsFan
If what you wrote is true, that just made my day haha. I’ve been waiting for someone who’s seen Josh out at a bar actin’ a fool finally report on it in detail, and you did just that. Makes me feel even better that he’s not starting for us this weekend.
September 26th, 2013 at 10:04 am
biff barker Says:
September 26th, 2013 at 9:54 am
Funny thing is, after a few awful games, the Glennon mob will promptly re-form as the Glennon Posse.
It’s the business of football.
______________________________________________________
Im telling you, theyre next whipping boy will be Sully. Regardless of dropped passes, o-line play, defensiv production.
brace yourself Sully.
September 26th, 2013 at 10:44 am
I don’t think players in the locker room would turn on Freeman if he had a drug issue. I do think they’d turn on him if he was a homosexual or something of that nature.
September 26th, 2013 at 11:14 am
Duemig, the biggest supporter of Freeman said “I’ was surprised Josh even made it on the radio” on Tuesday. He said “I agree with the benching” . If you listened to him he all but said he has a problem. And that he needs to get help.
September 26th, 2013 at 11:27 am
Joe your playing both sides like a pro 😉
Freeman victimized? Lol By his own less than mediocre play maybe.
The defense would have never had to try and stop those last drives for the W if the offense had actually scored some point the PLETHORA of times the defense handed them the ball back throughout the entirety of those two games.
September 26th, 2013 at 11:48 am
Joe, if Freeman is into some bad shit off the field, it’s extremely disingenuous to say that it has nothing to do with this benching.
Accuracy is never disingenuous.–Joe
I was asking a few days ago (before I’d read any of these rumors) — what happened to the offense that was tearing up the league and setting records in the early part of 2012? How does that fall off so badly to your QB having the worst rating in the league?
Then I heard these rumors. A substance abuse problem that got out of control would clearly fit as an explanation for Josh getting so much worse. If those off-field rumors are true, I highly doubt that they’re not the main reason his play fell off so badly and he got benched.
I can definitely see a future where the Bucs let Josh go, he gets a change of scenery and gets his life straight, and ends up a top 10 QB somewhere else. He’s a young and talented guy. While I’d be frustrated to see that happen (again) with a former Tampa QB, it’s absolutely the best-case scenario if these rumors are true, and I’d be really happy for Josh.
September 26th, 2013 at 11:51 am
And Joe,
The conflict of interest in StPeteBucsFan’s post is obvious. Duemig is supposed to “report” and provide opinion and analysis on these guys. But he also hosts a QB show. If he pisses off the Bucs or the QB, he could lose his access and that hurts his ratings. Obvious conflict of interest.
Of course, that’s endemic to sports “reporting”. Beat writers aren’t out there doing high-effort investigative journalism, they’re relying on their access to the team to provide info to readers. Lose that access and you’re not a beat writer anymore.
Why would you possibly think that Duemig’s access has anything to do with his ratings. Additionally, The Josh Freeman Show is owned by the Bucs and is not part of Duemig’s ratings. You obviously don’t know the radio business. Duemig was a top-rated host when his station was not the Buccaneer flagship radio station. Much like Joe, Duemig is not a slave to access. Joe built huge traffic without access, and this site would continue to thrive if Joe’s access was diminished. A newspaper beat writer is a totally different animal. –Joe
September 26th, 2013 at 11:54 am
Barry the locker wouldnt turn on him if he was a homosexual are you living ina holde somehwere? They would tunr if he was banging roxies or oxies and showing no study habits or practice habits that would lead to victories
September 26th, 2013 at 12:15 pm
@Joe
For clarification, I am not sure I would not make the same decision you did wearing your shoes. I was taking issue with this specific sentence. “Joe is extraordinarily confident that whatever Freeman is or isn’t involved in “off the field” ultimately had no impact on the football decision to go to Mike Glennon yesterday. ”
My 2 word response is>>> the lodge. It had a big effect on him and the decision so I disagree with your assessment that no off field issue was not considered during the ownership assessment. Josh is not the first athlete to succumb to a personal weakness. In time, the truth will come out. I wish Josh nothing but the best. He is a good person but human. We all struggle with life.
September 26th, 2013 at 12:23 pm
And Schiano specifically states that “everything” is taken into consideration during his presser when considering “performance”.
It makes sense as it is ALL part of his job not just going out onto the field on Sundays.
September 26th, 2013 at 12:28 pm
It’s really simple—if you have a career losing record…if your QB rating has fallen below 80 in your 5th year…& then you miss key team functions because you’re irresponsible enough to not figure out a way to get to them…you are no longer the team leader, & no longer the QB. Schiano, better or worse, was & is trying to change the awful ‘Reem culture (one of the worst collapses ever)…& Freeman was the leader of the previous culture. Dominick tried to make it a point to draft team leaders, but the fact is, Freeman was Rah’s guy, & Dominick just signed off on it. Now it’s time for a QB the organization trusts. The ironic part is I’m not sure Glennon’s ready (or even special)…which will definitely lead to Dom’s ousting, & maybe even Schiano. So essentially, Raheem is STILL f*ing up the Bucs…or more accurately, the Glazer brothers are, because they decided to hire him.
Or let’s be honest…Gruden’s insistence on piss-poor personnel decisions is what really killed it here, because he should’ve been coach here for 15-20 years…but he decided to be coach/GM. That said, I’d welcome him back in a heartbeat.
September 26th, 2013 at 12:47 pm
Joe, so you’re saying that if Duemig lost the QB show, he would not feel that his professional career had been in any way negatively impacted? That’s your position, that it does nothing for Duemig and he’d be just as happy if they gave it to someone else? Correct. –Joe
I don’t think you really believe that. Please don’t accuse Joe of lying.–Joe
Thus since hosting that show is worth something to Duemig, he’s in a conflict of interest wherein he needs to consider how everything that he says or reports about the Bucs will be perceived by them, because they could yank the show if they want.
And you’re right, your in a substantially different position since you’re mainly a news aggregator. Wrong again. Joe is not mainly a news aggregator. –Joe
The conflict may still be there, but it’s basically negligible (to hurt you, someone with access would have to threaten you with withholding _their_ content somehow.)
It sounds like we agree on beat writers, though. Like all those mlb.com articles that say “This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.” Two things:
1. Methinks they doth protest too much
2. Does anyone really believe that if Chastain just started lobbing bombs at MLB in these “not subject to the approval of…” stories, that they’d keep putting them up? I don’t.
September 26th, 2013 at 12:53 pm
You can claim “accuracy”, but your reporting does not support the legitimacy of that claim. If you knew that these off-field rumors about Josh were bullcrap, then you would state that outright– rather than weasel around with evasive sutff like “whatever Freeman is or isn’t involved in ‘off the field’ “.
So I suspect that you don’t _know_ these rumors to be false. And if you don’t know them to be false, you can’t legitimately say that you _know_ that substance abuse didn’t lead to Josh’s rapid decline.
Thus even if you are accurate in your absolute claim that only Freeman’s on-field performance was considered, you’re being disingenuous in not addressing what off-field problems may have led to the on-field tanking.
September 26th, 2013 at 1:06 pm
What’s funny to me is that there are TONS of awful QBs out there. Lots of high draft picks who bomb. And when they flame out, there are all sorts of problems, mainly on the field. But, how often do we hear of other guys having substance abuse issues? There’s way to much smoke here.
It’s preposterous to say that a substance abuse issue doesn’t affect every aspect of your life, including professionally. Lack of concentration, burning the candle at both ends, desire, etc.
Sure, there are athlete versions of Keith Richards that can handle both, but, does Freeman strike you as that guy?
September 26th, 2013 at 2:23 pm
If you think Freeman looked bad, saw ghosts, couldn’t think, wait until you see Glennon – who would come in 3rd place in a footrace with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning (and that is the ONLY time you will ever hear Glennon’s name mentioned with those other two for the rest of his career).
It’s going to become painfully obvious as to what the real problem is in just a few days. I predict you will first turn on the line, then you will blame the receivers, then you will blame the awkward, goofy, statue of a rookie QB, just before you start crying for the next coaches head.
…and at some point this season, the back-up QB will become your favorite again…only he’ll be different this time.
..the more things change, the more stripes I lose laughing at you predictable morons.
September 26th, 2013 at 3:08 pm
I’d rather lose with a rookie who give a Fug then a 5th year pro who doesn’t.