“It Won’t Be Something That We’ll Put Out There For The Fans Again”
October 17th, 2017
Evan Smith speaks
It’s always great to hear a Buccaneers coach or player drop the most important “F” word in the NFL.
Of course, there’s no debate on what the word is, “fans.”
The fans are the engine behind every organization. No eyeballs on the TVs, no butts in the seats, nobody wearing the gear — nobody caring — and there is no game and thrill ride as we know it.
For the Bucs or members of any team who lose sight of that, Joe feels badly for them. They don’t get it.
Evan Smith gets it. By way of WDAE-AM 620 audio, Smith said yesterday that he can’t put his finger on the turd the Bucs dropped to start the game in Arizona on Sunday. He let the faithful know it was a one-time deal.
“We’re all professionals. It’s human nature, man. I mean, I don’t know; you can’t explain it,” Smith said of the lack of intensity on the field. “You can’t quantify it. I don’t know if there’s data on it to give you a number. Stuff happens. I can’t put my thumb on it. I’m sure we’ll get it corrected. It won’t be something that we’ll put out there for the fans again.”
Smith went on to say the team takes a lot of pride in its work and takes it very seriously.
Hey, Joe’s going to be optimistic. The Bucs have to rid that kind of mess from their souls. No team can get manhandled like the Bucs did through a first half on Sunday.
Ironically, Smith was playing during the Chase for Jameis and the Tennessee-Ready game, times when the Bucs seemed to care little about what was sold to fans.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:35 am
We saw the Bears lay an egg 1st half on opening day. They are really not that bad.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:37 am
Did EDS forget the egg in Minnesota?
October 17th, 2017 at 10:40 am
Getting it out of the soul should be the quote moving forward. Some players have experienced it way too many times and it’s time to move on
October 17th, 2017 at 10:42 am
Ha…Bucs have been curb stomped at least once every year since Gruden left…A list of games that rank as some of the worst in Bucs history…It’s very mind boggling how it continues….I’m in shock with the Zona game…Thought this was over with…Non existent pass rush is probably the common denominator but horrible corner play is amongst those losses as well…A stout defense will cure this…The focus for Licht should be on getting a dominant D back to Tampa and drafting with that in mind…Dreams of the 79, 99 or Super Bowl defense here…It’s what Tampa Bay Buccaneer football was about in the beginning and should always be about…A TOP NOTCH DEFENSE!!!
October 17th, 2017 at 10:47 am
Why do people always bring up Gruden around here???? That was like 1000 years ago…..
Do people remember what him and his puppet Bruce Allen did???? Besides winning the SB in his first year, they both set this franchise back many years by poor drafting and poor acquisition of personnel………….
what the heck is wrong you buc fans??????
October 17th, 2017 at 10:52 am
Buffalo is a hard nosed tough smash mouth team. We’ll see what this team is made of and how they respond Sunday.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:53 am
Meh it’s ok. Bad teams will play bad. Just keep plugging. The fact that it can’t be explained is mind boggling. This team is a mess man, I’m utterly shocked. It all starts at the top.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:58 am
Licht the great talent evaluator saying marpet is a center, well he needs to go back to guard and get someone else in there, what a mismanaged team this is
October 17th, 2017 at 11:00 am
We can turn this bitch season around I believe in our guys !!!!
October 17th, 2017 at 11:04 am
@TheBucsAnthem …just used Gruden’s name as a timeline because the defense nose dived since he left… but I don’t remember any curb stompings when he was the coach…yes, Allen and he put the team in a tail spin with countless personnel mistakes
October 17th, 2017 at 11:07 am
Look, I can understand a bad day every now and then in any given profession.
It’s understandable for those of us working our a**es off 5-6 days a week.
It’s understandable with certain sports where they play 1,000 games a season.
It’s even understandable in pro-football to where maybe you have a bad practice, bad weight room session, etc…
What I don’t understand is this:
HOW IN THE HELL an entire team of 53 “men” plus coaches and staff can come out flat and lifeless in one of ONLY 16 F**KING GAMES, in front 50,000+ fans and a TV audience in the most popular sport in the USA???
I just can’t grasp it.
It’s a joke…
October 17th, 2017 at 11:08 am
Did the bucs gm do enough in free agency with all the $ bucs had available? Did the bucs pick the right qb in the draft and if so ,why is M.M. rated in the top 10 by the nfl and shown to be a leader with much better accuracy?
October 17th, 2017 at 11:17 am
until the leader of the losing culture cancer93 is infecting some other locker room the results will NOT change. simple as that!!!!
October 17th, 2017 at 11:26 am
We just don’t seem to play with passion or fire or effort to be honest. As someone who has played sports my entire life when I watch this team and think this is the kind of team I would hate to play for cause it looks like they are just out there to get paid. Winning seems like it is a afterthought, kinda like if we win its nice but I really don’t want to work that hard for it. The effort on Sunday was just plain disgusting and not one player (OR COACH) on this team should say one more word about the fans or attendance cause with that garbage Sunday they are lucky that anyone shows up. You get what you deserve and they don’t deserve any support after that lack of caring/effort!
October 17th, 2017 at 11:28 am
Nice words Evan Smith but the Bucs have laid a turd in both road games this year. The one in AZ is the worst first half I have seen the Bucs play since Sciano’s squad fell behind 38-0 at Baltimore in 2014 or the 56-14 beheading on Thursday night to the ATL the same year. Pathetic and I hope the Bucs do not drop another deuce but man, as a lifelong Buc fan I have heard that song and dance back to the Creamsicle Days at the old Sombrero….
October 17th, 2017 at 11:32 am
SHELTON QUARLES for GM!!!!!!
October 17th, 2017 at 11:35 am
FortMyersDave Says :
“as a lifelong Buc fan I have heard that song and dance back to the Creamsicle Days at the old Sombrero….”
Like I’ve been saying for the past 25 years….it ain’t easy being Bucs fan.
October 17th, 2017 at 11:37 am
@tmaxcon….yep, I said this in earlier post…Who has been around for ALL the “Curb Stompings”…the smiley, happy when we lose guy….time to rid this team of losers and people who don’t strive enough for WINNING…
October 17th, 2017 at 11:37 am
Said it yesterday and will say it again.
Mike Smith’s defense in Atlanta is what cost him his job.
Worst in the league for points allowed and yards per game.
I feel that the offense can and likely will be potent, cannot say the same for the defense….at all.
October 17th, 2017 at 11:38 am
If McCoy goes down, gets traded, or retires and the Bucs start winning then tmax is going to look like a genius. lol
October 17th, 2017 at 11:40 am
SHELTON QUARLES for GM!!!!!!
stop living in the past… the bucs need proven coaches and front office people NOT nostalgic figure heads from an underachieving team and era. bucs have already made the ultimate LIVING IN THE PAST mistake with lazy pathetic bad character lovie smith and the family plan hire..
October 17th, 2017 at 11:43 am
SHELTON QUARLES for GM!!!!!!
Dilly Dilly!
October 17th, 2017 at 11:48 am
Buc1987
I am a genius fine sir!!! The rest will soon accept as I am Always right…. glennon, vh3, lvd, gmc, lovie, schiano the list is so long.
It’s a burden seeing the truth so clearly while the majority of blind optimists live in a butterfly infested, gender neutral, border free world with dreams of tinker bell and Ice Cream!!!!
October 17th, 2017 at 11:49 am
Maxi pad
Shelton was a great player who overcame a lot of adversity, knows what great defense is about, and was part of the last winner we had here. He was always on his assignments, on point, and effective. Not a BSer and not a big ego..
Dilly Dilly indeed.
October 17th, 2017 at 11:54 am
tmaxcon Says:
October 17th, 2017 at 11:40 am
SHELTON QUARLES for GM!!!!!!
stop living in the past… the bucs need proven coaches and front office people NOT nostalgic figure heads from an underachieving team and era. bucs have already made the ultimate LIVING IN THE PAST mistake with lazy pathetic bad character lovie smith and the family plan hire..
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
If I’m not mistaken, Love took his son and alot of his old staff up to Illinois.
I’d actually would bring back Lovie as a LB coach and Raheem as a DB coach…….but that’s the extent of it. Then hire joe Barry as a DC.
Yeah, old poopy nostalgic dreams…..but heck, it can’t get any worse than what we saw last Sunday.
October 17th, 2017 at 11:54 am
jark buc
i never question his skills just the pointed OUT THE FACT he was apart of a ONE DIMENSIONAL TEAM that underachieved under a one dimensional stubborn and ignorant head coach with a career losin record in the playoffs… that is undisputed facts my friend… being a good or great player hardly makes one a good gm or businessman… far more great players have failed at front office positions than have succeeded my fine friend… look it up
living in the past is flat out stupid!!!!!!
October 17th, 2017 at 11:59 am
Where’s the Sage’s Podcast?
We need it!
October 17th, 2017 at 12:03 pm
Ok “my friend”. I believe he won a Super Bowl, so I believe he achieved. Could he do any worse than the train wreck the Bucs are now? Methinks no. Outside of a tar and feather job on GMC what are your suggestions, or are you just here to shovel $hit all day
October 17th, 2017 at 12:08 pm
the only way to fix the bucs is to eradicate the losing culture…. Until the Leader of the Losing Culture and undisputed FACE of the BASEMENT YEARS takes his soft arse to another locker room the bucs will continue to suffer blowouts because the defense was flat or worn out from playing with dolls. Until the Captain of the Defense SETS the TONE for the GAME we will continue to witness garbage… gmc and lvd are good players but NOT captains and NOT leaders it’s time for the young bucs to assume control from the career losers who have NEVER been able to grasp the concept of winning.
October 17th, 2017 at 12:15 pm
They better play a lot better this Sunday! I’m at the game sporting my bucs gear and buffalo fans can be relentless. Need the bucs to try and show up for once this season on the road
October 17th, 2017 at 12:15 pm
C eh N eh D eh Says:
October 17th, 2017 at 10:42 am
Ha…Bucs have been curb stomped at least once every year since Gruden left…A list of games that rank as some of the worst in Bucs history…It’s very mind boggling how it continues….I’m in shock with the Zona game…Thought this was over with…Non existent pass rush is probably the common denominator but horrible corner play is amongst those losses as well…A stout defense will cure this…The focus for Licht should be on getting a dominant D back to Tampa and drafting with that in mind…Dreams of the 79, 99 or Super Bowl defense here…It’s what Tampa Bay Buccaneer football was about in the beginning and should always be about…A TOP NOTCH DEFENSE!!!
Hmmmm…..1979, 1999.
20 years apart.
Maybe it’s like hurricane cycles.
If so , I guess we’re good in 2019.
October 17th, 2017 at 12:18 pm
Currently, according to Pro Football Focus, Demar Dotson is the #1 rated offensive tackle (87.1), Ali Marpet is the #14 center (71.3), and Evan Smith is the #17 guard (78.6). Three-fifths of the offensive line is currently grading out inside the Top-20 at their position in the entire NFL.
October 17th, 2017 at 12:21 pm
Memo to the Glazers, bring back Jon Gruden at the end of the year and lift the curse you put on this team when he was unjustly fired.
October 17th, 2017 at 12:21 pm
So the Defense is the only problem with this team? It would seem your take on things is one dimensional, stubborn and/ or ignorant. Or maybe it’s your self proclaimed genius that burdens simple logic.. In any case, neither you nor I will fix this team…only the Glazer knows.
October 17th, 2017 at 12:31 pm
JMarkBuc
twice this year the defense laid down quicker than a cheap date and spotted teams double digit leads. hell yeah the defense is the main issue. jameis needs work but how can he progress when his soft arse defense is spotting teams 14 and 31 points because they were flat… until the undisputed locker room cancer and career loser gmc is out of the locker room this team is doomed….
October 17th, 2017 at 12:36 pm
Look I have always been about defense, nothing better than a dominating D, one dimensional as that may be. Everybody knows offense sells tix, defense wins championships.
Jameis is going to have an all pro career…as a Baptist preacher in Alabama. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t win football games
October 17th, 2017 at 12:39 pm
Of course, as a Bucs Fan of many years, I want us to win.
But I must say, IMHO JBF is a lot more interesting place, when we are losing.
Again, I don’t want us to lose, but it sure is entertaining reading everyone’s “Theories” about why we are losing, and how we can get better.
October 17th, 2017 at 12:52 pm
Chris, agreed. He Bucs have been my one and only team since I was 13 yrs old, and want nothing more than for us to win. There aren’t all that many theories. The talent level in the Nfl is relatively equal team to team. To me it all boils down to coaching and motivation. We don’t appear to have much of either. That’s my theory.
I’ve always wondered what would have happened if Tony had been given one more year. He and Rich McKay had this thing moving in the right direction, I mean even Belichick was envious of our D. Alas, that ship has sailed and we will never know. We sold our soul for Jon Gruden and a Super Bowl, and now we pay the price. So it’s a chicken and egg thing..a Bucs Life
October 17th, 2017 at 12:58 pm
The 1999 Bucs had one hell of a defense. Arguably better than the 2002 version – but even if not – easily one of the top 20 defenses the NFL has ever fielded.
You think we have LBer talent now? The starters that year were Brooks at WLB – Nickerson at MLB and Quarles at SLB. And all 3 played at an all pro level that year.
Ronde, Donnie Abraham, Brian Kelly, Lynch and (the good) Dexter Jackson on the back end. (drool)
Ahonatu, Culpepper, Sapp and Steve White up front with Booger, Tyoka Jackson and Marcus Jones subbing.
Now THAT is some talent. Enough talent to carry a perpetually anemic offense all the way to the NFC Championship game where they held one of the greatest offenses in the history of the league to 5 points for 56 minutes.
Why the history reminder?
Because that Bucs defense on its way to coming withing a hairs width of the Super Bowl (yes Warner’s pass to Proehl was THAT perfect) – were slaughtered in week 15 out on the west coast by the Gruden led Raiders – 45-0.
This is the type of thing Evan Smith is talking about – “you can’t explain it… you can’t quantify it…I can’t put my thumb on it…Stuff happens”
Our 2017 defense is MUCH better than what they put on tape 2 days ago and we will see a night and day difference this coming week in Buffalo. Betcha.
October 17th, 2017 at 1:03 pm
Pick grin
Agree whole heatedly, Those D’s we’re exceptional, generational. Tony and Rich had an outstanding scouting dept as well, it was like Camelot . Hope you are right again for this week….
October 17th, 2017 at 1:05 pm
stop living in the past… the bucs need proven coaches and front office people NOT nostalgic figure heads from an underachieving team and era.
tell Denver that….Elway ‘s going pretty good….GO BUCS!!!
October 17th, 2017 at 1:18 pm
813bucboi
For every elway there are 20 failures and no one is going to confuse any ex bucs with Elaway…. simple as that
October 17th, 2017 at 1:57 pm
Out of all the terrible teams in Buc History, and there have been many, how are the teams from that era ( winning teams, Super Bowl Winner) underachievers??
Bath salts are dangerous tmaxcon…seek help
October 17th, 2017 at 2:23 pm
jmarkbuc
you just have low standards. that defense should have won two superbowls minimum…. the ignorant one dimensional dungy and his inability to comprehend offense cost sapp, brooks and lynch etc at least one ring. look i am really happy for you that your standards are so low that you can be satisfied with such mediocrity. maybe you have the elusive peace of mind and it came at the expense of high standards.
October 17th, 2017 at 3:04 pm
Tony Dungy set the high standard. In three years. From national joke to SB contender. Didn’t get over the hump but would have.
Would the Steelers have fired a coach like that? They stay the course, hire for the long haul, and are perennial contenders for it.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda won more SB’s? Most Fans I know were eternally grateful to have a Real bad ass football team,a defense that frightened opponents, and a head coach with Morals. A GM with family ties to the Bucs, looking to vindicate. And a great stadium , awesome uniforms. Most of all a rabid fan base that wanted it so badly. We Believed. It was the best five years any Bucs fan has ever had
And we would have won more SB’s too, between then and now.
That standard hasn’t been seen here in along time.
October 17th, 2017 at 4:32 pm
tmaxcon Says:
October 17th, 2017 at 1:18 pm
813bucboi
For every elway there are 20 failures and no one is going to confuse any ex bucs with Elaway…. simple as that
its not like he’s been out of the game sitting on his couch….
ex player….superbowl champ…..Scout/Director Of Pro Scouting….Director of Football Operations
looks like a pretty good resume to me….his next step should be GM and why not with the team he won a ring with….im tired on getting front office people that have never played a down in the league….
get some people in here that have played the game and know what it takes to win….GO BUCS!!!!
October 17th, 2017 at 6:04 pm
One time? Like what? Once a month? Two of these already this year. A few of them last year. Certainly on any Thursday night Jameis drops a doobie. No more talk guys. Get yo azzez out and play and win.
October 17th, 2017 at 11:19 pm
I’d be satisfied just to see them play a competitive game for 4 quarters at this point…..and if they win…GREAT…….but at least give us some entertainment value!!!!!!!!
October 18th, 2017 at 12:31 am
This team is a huge underachieving bunch of softies. Koetter sound like he is trying to emulate Raheem Morris.
Nice role model,there Dirk.