Was Spence Close To Being Cut?
November 11th, 2015
Could the Bucs have sent a strong message to the team by releasing Akeem Spence yesterday?
Lovie Smith, in a rare outburst of anger, went off on Akeem Spence after the defensive tackle, claiming he was blasted in the grill, threw Giants’ center Weston Richburg to the ground drawing a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness on the Giants’ final drive, all but killing any chance of a Bucs comeback.
Lovie could be seen on the FOX broadcast, screaming “Get out!” at Spence while doing the old baseball umpire’s motion — a thumb in the air for an out. When Spence got to the sidelines, Lovie grabbed him by the jersey and shouted something to him briefly.
While appearing on Miller and Moulton on WWCN-FM 99.3 in Fort Myers yesterday, Bucs beat man Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune was asked why doesn’t Lovie just pull a Jimmy Johnson and run a guy to send a strong message: Be dumb and you will have to find work elsewhere.
Cummings said that may be happening, but the Bucs couldn’t cut Spence because of depth issues on the defensive line.
“I think you are already seeing that actually,” Cummings said. “I think the Tim Jennings release was part of that. … The problem is the Bucs don’t have the depth now. Akeem Spence is a perfect example. Akeem Spence committed a penalty at the end of the game the other night, that pretty much sealed it. … It was a critical penalty you couldn’t afford at that point. I think [Lovie] would have loved, instead of just pulling Akeem Spence off they field, to take his uniform and said, ‘Leave the building. You are done.’ They don’t have the depth. At cornerback they had depth [to cut Jennings].”
It’s an interesting point, but is Spence that much better than a guy off the street? Yes, Joe knows the Bucs still have a prayer to get back in the hunt for a wild card berth, but if as team co-president Bryan Glazer said before the season, this year is “a growing year,” then cutting Spence could have been chalked up as a learning lesson to grow a better team.
Part of “growing” could be launching a guy to send a message that playing with their collective heads of their rear ends will no longer be tolerated, and unless players wise up, they won’t be living in sunny Tampa in the winter any longer.
Look, let’s not confuse Spence with John Randle. Spence is one of Joe’s favorite guys in the locker room but he’s not a precious commodity. If Lovie really thinks he could send a valuable message, then he shouldn’t waffle.
Joe is pretty sure there will be a guy of Spence’s talent level available in the offseason.
November 11th, 2015 at 7:45 am
It’s not like cutting him would make the D line much worse. Are the going to get negative sacks without him? Cut him and go find a practuce squad guy.
It’s time to find disciplined players who can maintain their emotions at critical times. That was a stupid penalty. Show him the door.
November 11th, 2015 at 7:51 am
Reminds me of the best advice my old boss gave me when I was a manager. He said always have enough employees where it doesn’t hurt the team to just fire a malcontent. Otherwise the tail starts wagging the dog. Easy to do in my old line of work. Not so easy for an NFL team
November 11th, 2015 at 7:53 am
Was Spence the same guy who lost his cool toward the end of the Washington game as well?
I think Lovie and Co. Would be justified in sitting him down for a week, as opposed to releasing him, to see if that helps him figure it out.
November 11th, 2015 at 7:56 am
Can the team start imposing their own fines for personal fouls? Start hurting guys in their wallets and they might start learning. I don’t think Tony McDaniel is any good from what I’ve seen so I would keep Spence.
November 11th, 2015 at 8:22 am
@Joe … “Spence is one of Joe’s favorite guys in the locker room but he’s not a precious commodity.”
Wow, if Spence is one of your favorites Joe and you’d kick him to the street over 1 penalty, I can only wonder what you’d do to some of the other Bucs (like our LBs?) who’ve had multiple 15-yd penalties. Would Lavonte be on the street for his sideline hit a couple years ago that cost us the game?
Spence was provoked and lost his temper, and he lost it at a bad time to be sure. But it’s not like he’s a habitual offender. And the reality is that one penalty didn’t cost us the game. I’d be pissed at Akeem too if I were Lovie, but I’d be much more concerned about why we lead the NFL in penalties as a TEAM. The Bucs are not a well-disciplined team right now in terms of penalties, and that should be what concerns our HC more than one stupid penalty.
November 11th, 2015 at 8:44 am
Is there video somewhere on the Internet of Spence doing this?
It would be interesting to see what provoked him
November 11th, 2015 at 9:32 am
This is stupid. You get mad at him, but cut him over one moment of stupid? How many stupid penalties did Gholston have a couple weeks ago? More than Spence? Should we cut him even though he’s probably our best DE right now? Of course not.
This is just a fundamentally stupid suggestion. You cut Jennings because he sucks. Spence doesn’t suck, he just made a brain dead retaliation. Rip him a new one, sure. Cut him? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
November 11th, 2015 at 9:48 am
I can see it now…if they cut him like people here seem to want, and his replacement sucks…everyone of you will blame Lovie for cutting a guy who was at least good against the run.
Cutting Spence would be stupid unless there is a problem in the locker room because of him, or unless his replacement is obviously better.
Roy Cummings is voicing HIS OWN OPINION of what he thinks Lovie should be thinking…not what Lovie is actually thinking.
Remember, Cummings is also on of the guys who “claimed” Lovie favored Jennings over all the other cornerbacks.
Unreliable.
November 11th, 2015 at 10:15 am
I always liked Spence. A very strong guy to plug up running lanes on early down.
I agree a message needs to be sent. But why cut Spence and not David after his 15 harder early in the game – especially after David’s already told us earlier in the year how much those early penalties kill momentum in a game.
He’s been injured. I think it’s incredibly selfish to come back and immediately pull a stupid ass move like that. But one and done, for a former 4th rd pick? We can’t just keep cutting guys.
Lovie pulled him from the game, perfect. Hopefully that resonates next time he wants to shove someone, even if it was retaliation – total rook move. If he pulls it again -> then I’ll entertain the boot.
November 11th, 2015 at 10:16 am
what meh said
November 11th, 2015 at 10:21 am
Lovie was pissed off, and rightfully so. There was talk of Personal Foul fanboy heroism on the field with a few people a couple of weeks ago during the Redskins game, one PF by a rookie guard that was also stupid, oh wait, he is a fanboy hero for getting suckered into that Goldson flop. He was a dumbass, as was Spence.
If they happen in the 1st qtr they are stupid, and affect the outcome. Bonzia is right, there is no need to cut Spence. Spence has never struck me as the brightest bulb, and if it was always a problem then yea, cut him. He isn’t a problem, JW handled it, Move on.
Did Cummings talk about the Redskin penalty’s, and cutting someone in that game? How about David, the Defensive Captain, who shows Spence the way with his own PF.
That is one of the worst things Lovie could do is be inconsistent with discipline.
November 11th, 2015 at 10:23 am
@Defenserules
As always excellent and “measured” take.
I’m as angry as anybody about the lack of discipline. But if you’re going to run Spence over this infraction how do you keep an idiot like ASJ who does Captain Morgan poses in the end zone getting a penalty. Those are brain dead penalties.
What about GMC and all the other morons lining up offsides..the offsides on our OL…those are MENTAL penalties and reflect poorly on the coaches and the players.
While penalties of emotion or effort…like holding and personal fouls while not acceptable are a lot more understandable that freaking Capt Morgan poses and lining up offsides.
November 11th, 2015 at 10:53 am
Tolerate him until the new coach can replace him.
November 11th, 2015 at 11:18 am
Akeem Speence is committing the same personal foul penalty he sees other players on defense committing. Lovonte David had a personal foul penalty on the first series of the game. How many has William Gholston committed in the past two games? Here is were I am at with the personal fouls. If you are that undisciplined and need to commit a personal foul, you had better make it worth the while by getting yourself and the opponent kicked out of the game. I actually like the personal foul penalties right now. They build character and if it is to stick up for yourself or your teammate so be it. The Seahawks have been one of the most penalized teams in the past two years. Here is Pete Carrolls take – “We’re playing really hard and really aggressive,” “It’s kind of like last year. We were pretty good at leading last year, too, in penalties. You have to be first in something, you know? So that’s what it is.”
November 11th, 2015 at 11:20 am
cutting spence would be stupid…of course he lost his cool at the wrong time and it cost us a few ticks on the clock but I like spence…he’s a good player and plays with a lot of effort…he’s one of the only players that gets pissed and shows some emotion on the defense…I don’t think running gassers is the answer but maybe a team imposed fine or warming the bench would work better….GO BUCS!!!
November 11th, 2015 at 11:36 am
I agree with pretty much everyone, you can’t cut the guy for that. Inactive vs. Dallas? Maybe. But cutting him would set a dangerous precedent, what happens if GMC [insert joke about how that won’t happen] or Lavonte swing on someone in a crucial situation?
November 11th, 2015 at 11:54 am
Once Lovie pulled him, we couldn’t stop the run with mcdaniel in there.
November 11th, 2015 at 11:56 am
spence will be fine over the long term. it would be shortsighted to run yet another promising young player who seems to care alot about being a buc. let’s not watch him be a difference maker for somebody else because yet another buccaneer coach can’t think of a better way to deal with yet another imperfect citizen
November 11th, 2015 at 5:11 pm
Spence is a hard headed kid still playing for his rookie contract. Im sure he was provoked and lost his cool. The guy can stop the run and is built like a bulldog.Given the history of this team teleasing players and them having success on other teams I vote to keep him around. Artitude can be an asset when learned to be cobtrolled. He just needs to mature a bit. Sorry for the typos my phone sucks
November 12th, 2015 at 9:42 am
There are worse ways to punish Spence than to cut him. Fine him a game check for conduct detrimental to the team, put him on the scout team for the rest of the season, give him extra cardio workouts, deactivate him on game days, etc. Once the season is over and teams are allowed to make trades, trade him to Cleveland or Detroit for a ham sandwich.
If the Bucs were to cut Spence now, it’s possible a playoff-bound team would pick him up and he’d get a chance to put himself in a better situation, and maybe even get a ring.
It’s a far worse punishment to be on the scout team for a club that doesn’t have a realistic chance of making a deep run into the playoffs than it would be to get a fresh start with a club that’s a real contender.