“Where My Heart Was Taken”
January 17th, 2015
You remember Bucs icon John Lynch; he’s the guy who called Tampa Bay’s trade of Mark Barron to the Rams a “colossal failure” of Lovie Smith and Greg Schiano.
Lynch and Father Dungy are back in the news as finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The big vote on the 2015 class is Jan. 31, and Lynch opened up a bit about his career this week.
Speaking on The Jim Rome Show, Lynch talked about being a second-round pick of the Florida Marlins and playing minor league baseball before Bill Walsh convinced him to return to the Stanford football team.
Lynch was a backup for the lowly Buccaneers in 1993, 1994 and 1995. People used to ask Lynch what he was doing playing football over baseball. But Lynch was always steadfast, he said, explaining football was “where my heart was taken” and how much he loved defensive football, even if he wasn’t on the field.
Most interesting to Joe was Lynch talking about how the current Seahawks, highlighted by the ferocity of Kam Chancellor, has restored his faith that hard-hitting, defensive football is not a thing of the past.
Man, Joe would love to see the current Bucs look like a nasty, angry, hustling defense. Lovie Smith’s group rarely looked that way.
(Listen to the full Lynch interview via the link above.)
January 17th, 2015 at 1:40 pm
Still have the Lynch Jersey I bought in 99
January 17th, 2015 at 1:42 pm
“Man, Joe would love to see the current Bucs look like a nasty, angry, hustling defense. Lovie Smith’s group rarely looked that way.”
—————————————-
The D played much like Lovie’s own demeanor.
I’m convinced the only reason we lost the Saints game was someone turned Lovie’s headset on in the second half.
January 17th, 2015 at 1:49 pm
Floyd Peters tried to make Lynch a hybrid LB/DB
January 17th, 2015 at 1:54 pm
We all remember what a great player guys like Lynch and Barber were. What we always forget is these guys had to sit and learn for a few years. Before they became the studs we remember now. I also think we gave up on Mark Barron too soon. But in this day and age, patience is not a virtue amongst fans.
January 17th, 2015 at 1:57 pm
Puleeeeeeeazzze Biff Barker, no more of your convoluted logic.
Using your logic, the same ferocious defense Lynch played on would have taken on Dungy’s calm cool demeanor as well.
Get out of your high school football mentality.
Still, Joe has a valid point.
The defense did look a bit reserved at the beginning of the year but as they became more comfortable with the scheme, I believe they played more aggressively as the season went on.
And if your looking for nasty legal hits, then you don’t have to look any further than the one Lavonte David put on Jimmy Graham. Not only did it put Graham on the sidelines for two weeks, I actually heard an announcer during an NFL game say Graham hadn’t been the same player since he got that injury..
So yes, you can still put hard hits on players, you just can’t try to,purposely maim or cripple them by going for their head when they are defenseless.
January 17th, 2015 at 2:16 pm
I know this is off-topic JBF, but how important was it that we took Koetter off the market when we did? All these defensive coaches being hired as Head Coaches around the NFL, the OC position is going to be in demand like we’ve never seen before. Clearly there are not enough of them to go around and are typically in short supply in good market. Also, with Del Rio going to Oakland out of left field one could only wonder if Koetter would have wanted to re-unite with Del Rio there. I completely feel blessed that we locked up Koetter when we did. I have a feeling that Marc Trestman is going to get a massive contract wherever he goes.
January 17th, 2015 at 2:35 pm
@lion
You are very correct sir…..Lovie gets some credit for this hire…his confidence levels will go up with Joe’s next poll…
As for Mark Barron….he wasn’t or never will be worth the 7th pick….
January 17th, 2015 at 3:53 pm
The whole defenseless hit thing is depressing. It took away an edge that fans lived for and a big part of football. Now, I’m all for hits to the head being illegal but that is as far as it should have gone. You can try to put a skirt on QB’s and WR’s all you want but the punishment of the game is still going to be there. It’s a risk these young men take and there is no secret that it is part of the game that they need to accept. The tradeoff is a huge amount of money for those lucky enough to be in the NFL. I don’t exactly hear Goodell complaining about the amount of money the NFL makes.
John Lynch impacted entire offenses. The weakness of the Cover 2 is the soft spots in the zone between LB’s and the secondary in the middle of the field. Guess what. If you got a safety that will knock you into tomorrow, then you have to adjust which always meant falling right into our lap. Seattle’s defense is legit but they don’t hit like we used to hit and that isn’t their fault. I sincerely doubt Lynch gets the call this year, but man I hope he does.
Now, on to Mark Barron. That trade was a great trade. Barron is 4th round material that was disguised as a 1st rounder. I wanted Mo Claiborne so who am I to judge? The fact is getting a 4th and 6th rounder for Barron was a job well done. Perhaps a different scheme will help Barron be adequate but he won’t be confused for Earl Thomas or Jairus Byrd (I was hoping we were getting this guy when we had the chance).
January 17th, 2015 at 5:57 pm
You made an endorsement to upgrade defense to improve that side of the ball. Nasty, angry, hustling defense. I’d feel good if the Bucs matched those descriptions. Even with an ordinary QB. It’s not in the cards for the Bucs to become a high powered offense. It’s in the Bucs DNA. If the Bucs are anything, they are a defensive team, that will carry on with Lovie’s tenure.
January 17th, 2015 at 7:14 pm
In all fairness, the defense did show flashes this year. RGIII comes to mind, drew Brees had 16 ints this year and Tampa had 6 of those. Big Ben was sacked 4 or 5 times in the first half alone.
January 18th, 2015 at 4:56 pm
I’d settle for a youngry D.