Why Lawrence Tynes Is Bitter
September 2nd, 2013
Since the Bucs placed kicker Lawrence Tynes on non-football injury list due to his battle with MRSA, he has been outspoken about how he believes he has been mistreated by the Bucs; his wife, Amanda, has been even more so.
Tynes has been so angry, he implied he contracted MRSA from a Bucs employee. No one will ever know for sure where and/or how he and guard Carl Nicks got infected, but Joe has learned, via Olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball box score-reading Peter King on his new website, theMMQB.com, that Tynes is PO’ed because, all together now, it’s all about the money.
The Bucs signed Lawrence Tynes to be their kicker, but he came down with a serious infection, MRSA, that is resistant to antibiotics. So Rian Lindell won the kicking job, and Tynes, trying to get healthy, is bitter the team put him on the non-football injury list rather than injured reserve. The non-football injury status means Tynes won’t have this year count toward his NFL pension. His wife, Amanda, tweeted that the Bucs informed Tynes of the designation via email. That didn’t go over well in the Tynes household.
Joe should have known better. Tynes is getting roughly $900,000 this year. Not bad for not playing, though Joe is very sympathetic to his condition. MRSA is nothing to play around with.
If Tynes lives a long life, that $900,000 may not cover what he may lose in an NFL pension. Joe wouldn’t be surprised if Tynes tries some legal wrangling to try to recover that missed year of pension eligibility.
September 2nd, 2013 at 10:19 am
Well that’s just “two bags of sad” isn’t it – idiot.
I do empathize about the infection but I insist that 900K is still a good day.
Greed is rampit in our society- even kickers feel obligated.
I agree joe I can say a legal fallout in the near future – possibly at the least litigation with a payoff to go away quietly.
September 2nd, 2013 at 10:22 am
I believe the Bucs could have simply cut Tynes. An ingrown tonail is most certainly a non football injury…how the MRSA fits into that is for the Lawyers to argue.
Tynes & his wife have not handled this well. No employee should openly attack their employer. If he eventually recovers and wants to play again for another team…they will take this into account.
In particular, his wife shouldn’t be out there at all.
I wish him well with his health…but for everything else…they can kiss my azz!!
September 2nd, 2013 at 10:27 am
After the Bucs paid him 900k to be at home with his precious wife for the entire season, I don’t see a court of law giving him more. He needs to concentrate on getting better and maybe before the end of the year another team may need help and he can resume his career.
September 2nd, 2013 at 10:33 am
” at home with his precious wife”…..one thing worse than MRSA
September 2nd, 2013 at 10:41 am
If, as he implies, the Bucs trainer, Toriscelli, was carrying this infection up to four months ago, it’s pretty logical to think Tynes and Nicks, both of whom were injured and being treated regularly by the trainer, got it from a Bucs employee. Say what you want about Tynes and his wife, but if true, the Bucs won’t have a legal leg to stand on. Remember, in civil cases, guilt does not have to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The Bucs should settle with him now – move him to IR so he gets his pension benefit as long as Tynes agrees not to legally pursue anything further with the Bucs
September 2nd, 2013 at 10:41 am
I’ve got a feeling that the real bitterness stems from him looking into the future and imagining what a year at home with his banshee of a wife will be like. Getting more money might make it more tolerable so he can just send her on a year of back to back vacations
September 2nd, 2013 at 10:44 am
Maybe he could cut his toes off and borrow Tom Dempsey s old kicking shoe.
Buc him and his wife he rode in on.
September 2nd, 2013 at 10:44 am
Joe,
Has Todd Toriscelli been present at Bucs practices and games, or is he off the premises now? I’m surprised more hasn’t been said about his potential involvement in all of this.
September 2nd, 2013 at 10:50 am
I really feel for the guy… oh wait, didnt he keep the 800K they gave him? Nevermind I feel much better now.
September 2nd, 2013 at 10:54 am
The real issue will be proving where the infection came from. It’s possible that it came from One Buc during his rehab activities; however, it’s also possible that Mr. Tynes contracted the infection outside of football activities. It will be very difficult to prove how the disease was contracted. That’s the issue. If the Bucs put him on IR, then they are essentially admitting that he contracted the disease while on Buc property. There is a huge liability associated with that small personnel move.
Thus, this isn’t about the Tynes family being upset at how they were treated. It’s about corporate liability and risk. While they are a football team, the Bucs are also a corporation, and all corporations take risk and potential litigation very seriously. They did the “right thing” by paying him is salary, but there is simply too much riding on the situation for the Bucs to simply place him on the IR and admit culpability.
September 2nd, 2013 at 10:56 am
MRSA of the hemorrhoids….be very careful Amanda
September 2nd, 2013 at 11:07 am
Joe,
Is Barth on NFI?
If so, is Barth getting paid? If not, why?
September 2nd, 2013 at 11:08 am
Sounds like someone who would complain if they hung them with a new rope. lol.
September 2nd, 2013 at 11:10 am
Wow, there are jobs out there that have a pension? Must be nice. $900k not to work? Must be nice. Look, the MRSA is unfortunate and I feel bad for the guy just a little, but come on man. Hard for me to have too much sympathy and then to whine about it so much. I do hope that he has a full recovery.
September 2nd, 2013 at 11:17 am
“Bitter”….is an unrealistic reaction to what the Bucs have done.
The Bucs moves are Corporate 101. Dominick has a fiduciary responibility to protect the Bucs interest and that he has done.
I say…end his pay…give him something to be bitter about.
That way he can persue us with his own money.
Lets just hope that Amanda doen’t have a foot fetish!!!
September 2nd, 2013 at 11:27 am
Tynes has every right to be ticked off. To be put on the NFI List reports that the Bucs organization are saying he did not get Staff on their premises. Yet, the Trainer and Carl Nicks did in fact become infected with MRSA.
Dom sends a pitty email to notify Tynes of this move. Classless right? How would you like it if your employer lays you off by sending a little message of “adios”.
Tynes does not get any of this towards his pension. Also, throw in the fact, that if it were the Bucs team doctors that orginally missed the MRSA, which in fact led to the spreading to the bone and in terms having Tynes get a second opinion, the team is in even more trouble in this legal situation.
I think most fans here need to put the persepectives of this guys health and how the situation is being handled rather than defend dom without evidence.
September 2nd, 2013 at 11:28 am
I wonder if they will cheerfully refund the $840,000 if it turns out he was the initial carrier. Maybe he is really ticked now because he knows his wife going uber whine on twitter is actually what will result in him never accumulating any further tenure in the NFL toward his pension. Any guesses how many teams will sign him now if he recovers to health?
September 2nd, 2013 at 11:30 am
I doubt anybody is going to march on Washington over this, since the guy is getting in one year what many make in a lifetime.
Invest it, start a business, quit whining.
Welcome to the real world.
September 2nd, 2013 at 11:32 am
And then there were 8
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed CB Marc Anthony (Ravens) to the practice squad. I heard he can sing too.
September 2nd, 2013 at 11:55 am
Joe says
“If Tynes lives a long life, that $900,000 may not cover what he may lose in an NFL pension.”
Last I saw, no pension is equal to or exceeds your salary. I disagree with your statement. Mainly because Tynes could recover and get work before the season is over AND the salary is for a year. No way a year of pension will be more than that. Certainly not for a kicker.
Tynes had an infected toe since arriving. It is clear the problem started with him and he brought it into the facility. Frankly, he’s looking a gift horse in the mouth, because the Bucs went above and beyond in this by paying him.
September 2nd, 2013 at 11:59 am
bucfanjeff Says
“Joe,
Is Barth on NFI?
If so, is Barth getting paid? If not, why?”
I’m not Joe, clearly, but as I recall the Bucs chose to pay Barth. They got good press because of it, which is why they probably paid Tynes.
September 2nd, 2013 at 12:01 pm
I’m very sure Barth got at least $500,000.
September 2nd, 2013 at 12:04 pm
This is interesting. Tynes has been having infection issues for 4 months right?
He was signed around July 17th. That’s less than 2 months at the Bucs.
Think about it.
September 2nd, 2013 at 12:05 pm
@ Chris
You always seem to take the position against the Bucs. How do you know Tynes didn’t bring the infection with him. I hope you don’t serve on jury duty anytime soon…let the evidence come in before you start convicting.
If you want to show concern….how about the massive amount of money we have tied up in kickers…..we have Barth & Tynes…now we have to pay Lindell….not to mention what we are paying Koenen….
September 2nd, 2013 at 12:18 pm
wa waa waaaaaaaaaa KICKER. The only NFL position where his wife will speak for him!
September 2nd, 2013 at 12:23 pm
Tynes may be bitter about the salary and benefit impact of the NFI v IR decision but it looks more like his MD can’t identify the source of his infection with the lab results of others at One Buc and that an inquiring press is the only way to wrestle those results loose. Public health officials and the CDC track this stuff but they can only do it with the information they receive from medical facilities and labs. As contagious as his staph infection is no one can be sure the contagion is contained somebody figures out where it started and if the original carrier has been cured. Tynes and his wife may not be going about this the best way but they don’t seem to have much support. Given the potential corporate liabilities it’s unlikely the Bucs are going to cough that stuff easily. IF that’s what he’s after what else should he do?
September 2nd, 2013 at 12:25 pm
… without the lab results of others…
September 2nd, 2013 at 12:29 pm
Dom sends a pitty email to notify Tynes of this move. Classless right? How would you like it if your employer lays you off by sending a little message of “adios”.
———————————————————
I wouldn’t give a rats ass how they fired me if they gave me my FULL YEARS pay as well. Thats a little bit of information you seemed to of left out in your analogy.
September 2nd, 2013 at 12:43 pm
@ Couch….
Right man!!! After all, we don’t know if Tynes was in town when they notified him…..
What should we have done?
A carrier pidgeon?
A text?
A tweet?
A Telegram?
A Phone call?
A Skype session?
A facetime session?
Organizations send things like this in writing all of the time. It is a matter of communicating clearly and having a written record.
September 2nd, 2013 at 12:58 pm
Exactly. Tynes has a legal right to dispute this and be as greedy as he wants to be. But im not sure as a fan how you can fault the organization in anyway. They paid him for doing nothing for petes sake. Thats 900k for hospital bills + Pain and anguish…. and he wants MORE. Lol, I can’t do anything but laugh at the sillyness in the world today.
September 2nd, 2013 at 1:25 pm
…not a Buccaneer man.
September 2nd, 2013 at 2:43 pm
@TBBF
For all we know an attachment could of been sent to Tynes. I do agree with a written records and the attachment would be a digital copy of it. There is a lot of holes that need to be filled before coming to any conclusion. Especially with the brief information the Mr. and Ms. Tynes provide.
Someone did bring up a point that Tynes was fighting a foot injury during camp, hell he never kicked besides a few weeks of practice. There is just too many holes to come up to a conclusion.
Maybe we should give the bucs a 30 minute suspension with all this uncertainty.
September 2nd, 2013 at 3:20 pm
“First of all, he has an ingrown toenail that was subsequently infected. The ingrown toenail is of his own origin and nothing to do with the Bucs facility. He likely has a history of them and may have developed antibiotic resistant staph due to those multiple infections.
He is quite fortunate that he is getting paid $800,000 plus to nurse a toe infection. MRSA is now prevalent everywhere in the community, MRSA is now one of the leading bacteria involved in skin infections. If he has a history of them, he could have been the one that brought in the infection into the Bucs facility as well.
Too many unknowns.”
To add to that MRSA is prevalent in hospitals and it is HIGHLY probably that he contracted it during his surgery there and brought it into the facility also infecting Nicks. He has no case here. Move along.
And about Todd, with as many players that he’s in contact with daily doesn’t the fact that more players weren’t infected say something??? After all MRSA is highly contagious.
September 2nd, 2013 at 5:55 pm
I believe the Bucs have carpet in the locker room. The MRSA could easily be shed on to the carpet where it can survive until a host of a foot injury or laceration could contact the bacteria even through a bandage. It occurs rather frequently in noses and can spread through the air as well as touch. The NFL has to take this stand because this can happen in every sports locker room in all sports.
September 2nd, 2013 at 6:08 pm
I believe it ultimately comes down to the original injury. If Tynes had injured his toe during football activities, say if he cut it in the facility, then everything that happens subsequent to that event can be tied back to the original event. Carl Nicks hurt is toe playing for the Bucs and has a football related injury. Tynes had an injury that could be traced back long before coming to Tampa and his surgery appears to be the reason for contracting the MRSA. If anything Tynes could argue that the Giants are responsible for the injury. I believe the Bucs attys review and sign off on these type of decisions before they happen. Much has to do with how a reasonable person would view a subsequent injury or infection and the root cause. No toe injury, no surgery and no infection.
September 2nd, 2013 at 8:14 pm
Wah. Give this fool an apple and a road map. I’ll make far less, work far harder than him, and have no pension.