Punters the center of a sideline hassle Sunday night.

Punters are not people. They are the personification of failure, evil, and in some respects, the face of incompetence.

Joe knows of no football fan who pays to see a punter, with the possible exception of the punter’s family, which tries to hide their identity at games by wearing gear of other players. Not even the girlfriend of a punter pays for a ticket. She gets hers free from her squeeze.

When you see a punter on the field, it means the offense failed. The more you see a punter, the worse your team is. Punters are like IRS accountants and telemarketers: The world would be much better off without them.

So leave it to punters to start a fracas Sunday night after the weather delay between the Bucs and Broncos. That’s the word from veteran Broncos beat guy Mike Klis of KUSA-TV in Denver, who claims Broncos punter Riley Dixon and Bucs punter Bryan Anger sparked the fireworks.

As players from both sides were stretching on opposite sides of the field, Broncos rookie Riley Dixon started warming up with Australian-style punts that traveled to the Bucs’ side of the field. The Bucs punter was kicking balls to the Broncos’ side of the field, too.

The Bucs, though, were a little more irritated. As a member of the Broncos’ equipment staff went back to catch Dixon’s punts, a few Bucs’ players started telling at him to get out. Next thing you know, some Broncos’ players said No. 78, who is listed as backup Tampa Bay offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus, walked over and knocked off the equipment guy’s Broncos’ ball cap. Broncos safety Shiloh Keo, who was inactive because of a right knee injury, was standing along the sideline toward where the Broncos’ were stretching when he noticed the disturbance. Keo ran over for support.

“Honestly, I thought they were being jerks,’’ Keo said of the Buc players. “Here’s a guy who was trying to help them out by giving them a heads up. I think they got sour and took it the wrong way. And every day we’re taught to fight for each other. To me it doesn’t matter if you’re a player, a coach or somebody who works in the organization, we’re going to look after our own.”

Joe had seen on Twitter that night that something had occurred and, erroneously, Akeem Spence was cited as part of the fracas with Broncos coaches were involved. Joe spoke with Spence after the game and he said he wasn’t anywhere near the scene, but he walked in to try to get players to get back to the Bucs side of the field.

Before the end of the game, Paul Ryan of WFLA-TV Channel 8 Twittered out video of the end of the hassle (since deleted), and the video really didn’t show anything other than a bunch of players woofing at each other and sticking their chests out. Joe had seen more physical activity from the cheerleaders.

Punters!