Jason Licht Tried Not To Cry
May 1st, 2015
Bucs GM Jason Licht fought off going all Dick Vermeil last night.
Jason Licht was one happy camper last night. It’s not often you scout a college football player jumps out at you and you think, “Man, would I ever love to draft that guy.”
Then more than a year later, you do.
That was what the general manager Jason Licht did last night drafting Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston to lead the Bucs out of too many years of despair.
Licht confessed in his press conference that Winston got his attention in 2013, Winston’s freshman season, when he led the Seminoles to the 2013 national title.
Licht was working for the Arizona Cardinals and was general manager Steve Keim’s right-hand man. Licht hinted he never dreamed he would be in position over a year later to draft Winston. But he was — and did.
“It’s not often a general manager gets a chance to draft who he and the coach think is a franchise quarterback,” Licht said. “I’m sure it’s similar for Lovie but somebody asked me if it was like Christmas and I said ‘No, it’s more like your wedding day.’ Without the cold feet – I never had cold feet on my wedding day. That’s what it’s like: the buildup, you know it’s coming, it’s finally here, and I’m trying to avoid having a Dick Vermeil moment right now.
“The process that we went through, there was just a lot of work. Not just for Jameis, but for this entire draft. Which I’ve said could be the biggest draft in the history of this franchise and Jameis has a lot to do with that. We’re beyond excited.”
Joe understands how Licht feels. Joe, too, tried to keep a dry eye last night.
Joe remembers watching Winston shred Pittsburgh in his first game as a college player, coming as close to perfect as Joe has ever seen, missing but two passes, completing 25 of 27 passes for 356 yards and four touchdowns.
Joe, for years, has been harping on how the Bucs need a quarterback. After watching Winston tear apart Pittsburgh that Monday night to open the 2013 season, Joe never dreamed that same signal-caller would wear a Tampa Bay jersey.
Wow.
May 1st, 2015 at 7:18 am
Jason Licht crying for the fans of Tampa! Jamarcus Winston’s in your face Tampa Bay celebration with the crab legs clearly states he has no remorse whether it is for theft or for assault.
Tampa made a huge mistake hiring Lovie Smith who tanked the last game of 2014 against the Saints to pick #1 and its second biggest mistake when they picked Winston!
Big Dog you lose the bet! My son sat at that Saints game with me and watched Lovie lose purposefully and last night at 8:23 EST, he started his first fire as our season tickets were a funeral pyre!
Lovie Smith is the anti-Bellichick and despite what Joe thinks of the man, he has more talent in his pinkie than Lovie Smith has in his entire body.
May 1st, 2015 at 7:18 am
I’m a little blurry this morning after that celebration. On to round 2! Go Bucs!
May 1st, 2015 at 7:21 am
At least I didn’t wake up bitter like the guy above me. I would rub it in, but, it’s too easy.
May 1st, 2015 at 7:21 am
Licht looks like a totally different person in that pic than any I’ve ever seen of him. Congrats Jason!
May 1st, 2015 at 7:32 am
It’s good to see the Bucs not mess up the first pick. Now we need offensive & defensive lineman.
May 1st, 2015 at 7:42 am
I’m not bitter…. Distraught would be more accurate. I sincerely hope Winston is a superstar in this league, but my confidence level in him and his skillset is pretty low for sure.
The Titans are definitely my 2nd favorite team now and maybe they’ll grow on me in time and overtake the Bucs as my #1, but Idk right now. I just love Mariota so much. WTF, L & L.
If the Titans somehow beat us Week 1 , with lesser overall talent, I’m going to be so embarrassed for our franchise and their idiotic decision making. I hope we’re not the Raiders South now…. We appear to be insane to me, but maybe this explains it:
May 1st, 2015 at 7:43 am
Some one should change their name to “f#cboy”.
May 1st, 2015 at 7:45 am
Lael Collins is on his way to meet with the police. If it turns out he had absolutely nothing to do with that situation, and he was just making a bad decision in trying to wait until after the draft, then we just might have got lucky as hell.
He’s sitting there, we badly need a LT and he was projected as the best one out there…and he dropped because of this. Will probably be cleared, and he’s still available.
Theres our 2nd pick. Would love to get Landon Collins or even Gregory, but this is a cant miss.
May 1st, 2015 at 7:47 am
Warning to Jameis
Joe(s) has a Man Crush on you
Just Kidding
But geesh Joe(s)
Take a cold shower would you
May 1st, 2015 at 7:50 am
Some one should change their name to “f#cboy”.
____________________________________________________
Totally! Hey Bucboy don’t et the door hitcha in the kiester on your way out to some other teams band wagon.
May 1st, 2015 at 7:54 am
Owe you an apology Joe…I truly thought you were just seeing what you wanted when you wrote about Licht’s face lighting up when talking about Winston. Apparently he was and is all in with the pick. Good thing because it will probably determine his future as the Buc’s GM.
May 1st, 2015 at 7:54 am
Tip of the cap to the Joes for pulling it together so early this morning after what I have to imagine was a bout of wild celebration last night following the pick.
Now that we have this piece around which we are going to be building the franchise, I’m really interested to see what happens with the rest of the draft. I’d like to see a solid MLB come in at some point but if one isn’t there that is a good fit at the right price, I’ll be happy to see a string of OT, OG and C selections until the 6th or 7th when we take Loomis and get out from under Koenen’s huge contract and awful punt yardage average.
Really pumped about seeing this thing play out today and tomorrow
May 1st, 2015 at 7:58 am
Reading through some of these posts, I don’t understand why so many are still so bitter about Winston. We all have spent months debating the pros and cons of this guy. I’m not gonna waste my time writing the 5,000th post defending him. What I will say is that he’s a Buc now. Support him. You don’t have to like a player as a person to support his play for your team (i.e Sapp). You don’t have to buy his jersey or be his number #1 fan, but as a Bucs fan you should be rooting for his success.
May 1st, 2015 at 7:59 am
Hey Bucboy…
Where were your seats? I’m looking at trading up.
May 1st, 2015 at 8:04 am
Agreed on La’el Collins. He’s already ruled out as a suspect. The timing was the worst for the guy, but this could be good luck for us.
May 1st, 2015 at 8:07 am
@nate_tweetz – This is where we start to distinguish the people who were against bringing in Winston because of his merits as a player and those who had an ax to grind against him based on some other perceived transgression. Despite how many times he was cleared without any charges being filed. Despite the fact that none of the other “issues” that came up should have garnered anything more than an eye roll and a shake of the head at a kid being a kid or a person accepting something that was offered to him, which happens in all walks of life all the time, they’re still trying to vilify the guy.
At least before, people could claim to be bigger fans of Mariota. Now that Mariota is not an option, these guys have to just settle in to bashing the guy simply because they have an ax to grind.
May 1st, 2015 at 8:08 am
@Name Required – if he has legitimately been cleared, that could be a huge win for us to get him. I’d be cool with doing something to jump Tennessee to get him because we need a solid guy up front
May 1st, 2015 at 8:08 am
I saw a list somewhere tracking the Bucs visits with Draft Prospects
and while oline has the most number of prospects visited
Collins was NOT on the list
May 1st, 2015 at 8:12 am
I’m not bitter…. Distraught would be more accurate. I sincerely hope Winston is a superstar in this league, but my confidence level in him and his skillset is pretty low for sure.
The Titans are definitely my 2nd favorite team now and maybe they’ll grow on me in time and overtake the Bucs as my #1, but Idk right now. I just love Mariota so much. WTF, L & L.
If the Titans somehow beat us Week 1 , with lesser overall talent, I’m going to be so embarrassed for our franchise and their idiotic decision making. I hope we’re not the Raiders South now….
May 1st, 2015 at 8:15 am
I can’t blame the bitters too much. I’ll be honest. If we picked Mariota, I would acting the same way. Minus the racism and threatening to quit my fandom.
May 1st, 2015 at 8:18 am
It’s a good thing he didn’t, cuz Jameis jailbird would have laughed at him and got suspended for the first game against future hall of famer Marcus Mariota.
May 1st, 2015 at 8:18 am
I thought Lovie might bawl out there for a minute, talking about meeting the family.
And he was emotional in asking the fans to give the kid a chance.
I figured he would know the score with the haters and see the truth.
Great to have such a first class guy coach our Bucs.
Go Jaboo!
May 1st, 2015 at 8:22 am
Collins hasn’t been “cleared” as a suspect, just isn’t a suspect yet. There really isn’t much info out there on that situation unfortunately. Would be a really risky pick to take him unless there is a clear cut alibi.
May 1st, 2015 at 8:27 am
You know that is what is seriously wrong with Football and America at this point…if you have an opinion that is not what the “MOB” supports, you are called names because that is the only intelligent (lack thereof) response available to the mob.
“That’s why Winston represents the biggest gamble in modern draft history. If Leaf stands among the draft’s most conspicuous busts (he threw 14 touchdown passes and 36 interceptions in a 25-game career and later did prison time on burglary and drug charges), the pre-draft character concerns about him wouldn’t fill up a page in a Winston personnel file as thick as the Tampa phone book.”
Not my words….just those of someone smarter than me. I am bitter….I sat there telling my son at the last Saints game how hard the Buc’s were playing…gonna win the game because football is all about the struggle…..and then Joe’s boy Lovie intentionally throws the game. I am not as frustrated by the pick of Jamarcus Winston is I am of the fact after 2-14 Team Glazer did not show Lovie the door.
Trust me…..the NFL Commish will take care of crab boy! Who is going to replace Lovie next year is my concern!
May 1st, 2015 at 8:28 am
Oh well, can’t say I didn’t expect it. Props to the JW group. I hope you guys are right. You won’t see me posting under a new name. I’ll stand by my claim to follow another team, primarily because I am in S. FL, my daughter is a Dolphins fan and I just don’t see this panning out. I just can’t sit through another season and pay to watch what I believe will be a failure. Probably just watch the occasional game here and there on Sundays. That being said, the display of hate put on last night was disgusting and I do not stand with that crowd. I throw out the occasional bait for fun, but I am not in the crowd to stereotype an entire group of people. I did throw out something at LW yesterday, and I stand by that statement, but it’s to a select minority within that group. Just as things could be said against the minority of any other group. I.e. trailer trash, inbred, redneck etc. In closing I’ll offer my apologies to those I offended, wish the bucs fans the best of luck with the pick and it’s a good day if the majority are happy.
Robert9
May 1st, 2015 at 8:30 am
“Supersam Says:
May 1st, 2015 at 8:18 am
It’s a good thing he didn’t, cuz Jameis jailbird would have laughed at him and got suspended for the first game against future hall of famer Marcus Mariota.”
Why are you here? It’s over. He’s a Buccaneer.
May 1st, 2015 at 8:32 am
I’d stay away from Collins in the 2nd round…..we still have Clemmings & Fisher on the board…so one of them will be there…..the Bucs had Clemmings for a visit….so he might be the trick.
Today would be the day that Glennon gets traded…so if we get an extra pick….trade back up into the 2nd for Oline/Dline.
May 1st, 2015 at 8:32 am
might be the pick….
May 1st, 2015 at 8:35 am
Licht goes totally Clarence Carter, heard walking the halls at One Buc Place, singing:
“Patches, I’m depending on you son……………………..”
May 1st, 2015 at 8:38 am
I honestly believe Mariota will be a Hall of Fame QB. And I sincerely hope that Winston isn’t a bust like my intuition says he’s going to be….
May 1st, 2015 at 8:39 am
@Bucboy
You’ve turned in your tickets, you and your son have been spurned by the franchise….why are you posting here?
Leave!
May 1st, 2015 at 8:40 am
No one has to like the pick. But, it’s the pick. Let it go or find a new team. It’s one thing to disagree before the draft. But it’s over now.
I hated the Freeman pick, but, I let it go right away. It’s the freaking Bucs, how many picks have you honestly LOVED? Maybe some, but, certainly not all.
Do what you want, but, it takes a whole lot more energy to be angry and negative. He’s the number overall. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Same with Lovie. I might not think he’s the best coach ever, but, I want the Bucs to be successful.
May 1st, 2015 at 8:46 am
Erik the WiseMMan Says:
May 1st, 2015 at 8:38 am
I honestly believe Mariota will be a Hall of Fame QB. And I sincerely hope that Winston isn’t a bust like my intuition says he’s going to be….
—————
You could be right on both accounts. You could be wrong on both accounts.
As Herm would say, it’s why you play the game!
May 1st, 2015 at 8:47 am
L & WD,
Wise words. Thank you….
I think you may have just talked me off the ledge.
May 1st, 2015 at 9:02 am
Here’s a factoid no one talks about- Peyton Manning came out of college with a sexual assault allegation that was settled in court and out of the medias cross hairs. http://www.inquisitr.com/1486872/peyton-manning-sex-scandal-largely-forgotten-even-with-a-witness/
May 1st, 2015 at 9:12 am
I appreciate that robert9,that’s real big and a classy move on your part. Salute to you dude.
May 1st, 2015 at 9:34 am
robert9 – just curious…if JW becomes a QB of philip rivers’ caliber or better, are you still off the bandwagon?
i’m a bit giddy right now. my projection for JW’s legacy (not statistically, but in terms of style and W-L records) is brett favre. nobody ever lauded brett for his maturity – his whole schtick was playing a kid’s game with the excitement of a kid – and eventually people stopped predicting doom from his tendency to throw picks. they realized that part of the reason brett would throw so many darn touchdowns and won so many games is because he took those risks.
and NOBODY ever questioned whether he was the leader of his team, or his desire to compete and win. i think JW is the type of QB who will consistently will his team to 9+ wins in the league regardless of the roster around him.
May 1st, 2015 at 9:38 am
Bucs just screwed themselves for many years to come. Watch the tape of winston with gruden winston can’t make the reads and NFL teams are going to eat him up. Should have drafted Mariota.
May 1st, 2015 at 9:49 am
I agree. Well played Robert9. Thanks for keeping it classy once the smoke cleared on the spring of discontent.
May 1st, 2015 at 9:51 am
So, we’re just supposed to pretend that you didn’t say the following?
FOH.
You keyboard warriors are so hilarious.
May 1st, 2015 at 10:07 am
Tom Edrington… that’s funny! It probably went over most fan heads who have never heard that song.
May 1st, 2015 at 10:19 am
Nope. Joe reported what he saw. Joe was not the only reporter who wrote about Licht’s reaction was like a kid finding a bike under the Christmas tree.
No need to apologize, man.
May 1st, 2015 at 10:35 am
Hey Robert9 dont let the door hit you where the good lord split you. We dont want fans like you if its that easy to switch teams, good riddance!!!!!!!
May 1st, 2015 at 11:32 am
good-bye Robert9…. you speak of only what you remember! the internet is a bit*h, you’ve been called out for being a fake azz biiiaaatch. CYA
May 1st, 2015 at 11:36 am
bone, celly, chip…..
I’d be more than happy to stay if your lack of reading comprehension compels you to provoke me.
May 1st, 2015 at 2:08 pm
robert 9 with revisionist history…too bad the winners get to rewrite history and you are a loser.