The Out Of Body Experience
November 16th, 2017
Surreal watching Bucs on TV.
Maybe Joe is just a media geek, or this is interesting stuff.
Of course, last week Mike Evans had to sit out the Jets game and watch the Bucs play on TV due to his suspension for coming to the aid of his quarterback, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, in the near-melee in the Superdome two Sundays ago.
So handed what amounted to a bye week, Evans went back home to Texas to watch the game. He spoke about this yesterday and Joe thought it was interesting, especially what he thought of the TV announcers, in this case Kevin Harlan and former NFL MVP quarterback Rich Gannon, who worked the game for CBS.
“It was tough,” Evans said of not being at the Den of Depression. “It was weird watching the game and watching my teammates. It didn’t even feel like I was in the NFL because my team was playing in a regular-season game and I’m watching on TV. It was kind of weird.
“You can see things different from the TV’s perspective. The commentators are very hard on players; I noticed that. I haven’t watched a game in a long time.”
Evans later used the word “awkward” to describe the experience. Joe pressed Evans to see where he enjoyed the game, and Evans said he was on the couch like a typical fan.
Evans wasn’t impressed by Gannon and this surprised Joe a bit. Gannon is an ex-Chucky quarterback who thrived in the NFL, played in a Super Bowl and if you listen to him, he sounds like he is a man in the know.
Obviously, Gannon has access to home teams’ practices each week of games he is broadcasting and has exclusive sitdowns with coaches and key players for each team of the game he broadcasts.
But Evans wasn’t overly blown away by Gannon’s knowledge.
“He was alright,” Evans said. “He was a little bit off but he did okay for the most part.”
(Oddly enough, yesterday winning Bucs coach Dirk Koetter mentioned he has a hard time watching football on TV because he has to rely on the broadcasters for information and that it drives him batty he cannot see the secondary on broadcast angles.)
This just tells Joe how football, in this case, the NFL, evolves so quickly.
Gannon last played in 2004. That was just four years before Chucky was jettisoned by Team Glazer from the Bucs — the franchise has yet to recover.
The fact Evans didn’t think Gannon was spot-on, is that a sign for the folks who pine for Chucky to return to the Bucs. Should that give them pause?
November 16th, 2017 at 10:19 am
I don’t really think Mike Evans feelings on Rich Gannon’s color commentary are an indicator of Jon Gruden’s future success or lack thereof in this league.
The fact his little brother and his old GM have established credibility in Washington where every single coach/GM under Snyder have failed would be a better indicator that Gruden’s stuff might still work.
Oh, and that McVey kid in LA, guess who gave him his first NFL coaching job.
If the game has passed 55 year old Gruden by, how must 57 year old Dirk feel?
November 16th, 2017 at 10:21 am
That’s one hell of a reach there, Joe……
November 16th, 2017 at 10:21 am
Interesting take by Koetter. Everytime I watch a NFL game I’m screaming at the TV “Zoom out!!” I can’t stand it. Joe, could you fix this please?
November 16th, 2017 at 10:29 am
@Joe – I think you might want to craft that thought a different way in another article, if you think it carries some weight. As it’s presented here, I’m having a hard time following your logic. It sounds like others are as well. Not saying there’s no merit, I’m just not picking up what you’re putting down.
November 16th, 2017 at 10:41 am
Ha!
Joe has talked to football folks (coaches/suits) who just go bananas about the PFF tribe’s ratings of offensive linemen. Part of their reason is that on broadcast angles, they say it is terribly unfair to even try to judge an offensive linemen that way because it doesn’t a complete picture to what they are doing.
Joe’s not talking about one or two folks that told him this, we’re talking many NFL (and college) folks.
So, what you are referring to, and from what Koetter said yesterday, maybe it is also unfair for the tribe to grade secondary play as well from broadcast angles?
November 16th, 2017 at 10:49 am
Joes I love the site but the fact that Gannon isn’t the best broadcaster means we should pause on Gruden return comments has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read from you guys. Cmon lol
November 16th, 2017 at 10:50 am
Learn how to control your emotions and you can play with the adults and won’t have to go to timeout.
November 16th, 2017 at 10:51 am
It’s also unfair to grade q.b. Decicison making
November 16th, 2017 at 10:51 am
Being in the playoffs and challenging for Super Bowls is overrated.
Let’s stay with our current program.
Winning sucks
November 16th, 2017 at 10:55 am
I mean how can you judge a QB if you don’t know who’s open
November 16th, 2017 at 10:57 am
so if evans said gannon was great, would you be leading the hire gruden charge?….C’MON MAN!!!….GO BUCS!!!
November 16th, 2017 at 11:04 am
Somehow this seems like Gerald McCoy’s fault…
November 16th, 2017 at 11:05 am
At least Gannon doesn’t repeatedly hurt his team by failure to control his temper, getting personal fouls and suspension.
I would agree the game can and does evolve, but Rich Gannon has probably forgotten more about football than Mike Evans knows at all. That said, to validate the theory we’d need to see what guys like Peyton Manning think about Gannon…apples to apples.
November 16th, 2017 at 11:10 am
Mike Evans: Act/react now, then realize you’re not very bright when forced to deal with the consequences of the act/react now, think later….
November 16th, 2017 at 11:20 am
This is a long standing issue. Players are humans…they do not warm up to those who criticize them or their teammates. I get that and understand Mike’s frustration.
But ME13 has a HUGE conflict of interest…these guys are his friends and teammates…I do not believe ME13…or virtually any player…can be objective about peers. There have been some wonderful exceptions of announcers who just let it fly…but I’m struggling to think of who that is in the NFL. Johnny Miller in golf was a prime example of a former player who just didn’t care what other golfers thought. He would state his opinion and not sugar coat it.
Chucky on the other hand is the ultimate suck up on TV. I barely pay attention anymore to his opinions because they are always overinflated. He occasionally will point out bad play when it’s grossly obvious but overall he loves NFL players.
Again as someone who had to go on TV and report on athletic teams and coaches I can’t say I was always objective. The coaches and players become your friends and you have to face them after you blast them. This is one of the biggest challenges for the Joes…they know these people….like most of them…but overall I find the Joes do a very fair job of identifying any biases they may feel when they like a guy. In fact I have to be honest with myself and realize that Joe is far better than I was at keeping friendships at arms length.
November 16th, 2017 at 11:32 am
The hell does Gannon have to do with Chucky. Gannon has never coached a team, commentary means it’s an extremely educated guess but still a guess because they don’t know the teams all that well. That includes Chucky if you’ve watched him on draft day he’s over the top about every player just about and you get the TV answers from them not the real off the record talk journalist get
November 16th, 2017 at 11:45 am
Uuummm…
November 16th, 2017 at 12:02 pm
Answer to Joes question(s) is
NO.
November 16th, 2017 at 12:23 pm
I would encourage everyone to watch the game tonight if you want to see the future of NFL broadcasting as this will be a big test to see fan reaction. They are purposely going to be messing with the angles. The skycam will be the lead cam angle instead of the side camera angle.
In RE Evans suspension, DJAX was benched by Reid in 2011 and points to that moment of learning to be more mature. I hope DJAX gave him some advice on how to handle best.
For my non-believers who need to fact check me:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000874349/article/nbc-to-utilize-skycam-for-titanssteelers-tnf-game
November 16th, 2017 at 12:49 pm
What does Gannon have to do with Chucky? If we bring Chucky back with his taste in old over the hill vets Gannon might be our next starting QB if #3’s arm doesn’t heal. LMAO
November 16th, 2017 at 2:01 pm
Joe Says:
No. The fact that Gruden and his handpicked GM were the worst drafting combination in team history should give them pause. The fact that, after the SB season, Gruden’s overall record is below .500, should give them pause. The fact that none of his players trusted him and found him to be insincere should give them pause. Is that enough?
November 16th, 2017 at 2:25 pm
A little shine has come off Evan’s star if you ask me. He was poised for an All-Pro season if not a lucrative contract extension. Now…who knows?! He still has a knack for first downs and great footwork…but he does seem to go down a lot once he catches the ball…oftentimes before contact.
November 16th, 2017 at 4:45 pm
bucs_365 Says:
November 16th, 2017 at 2:01 pm
No. The fact that Gruden and his handpicked GM were the worst drafting combination in team history should give them pause. The fact that, after the SB season, Gruden’s overall record is below .500, should give them pause.
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BINGO
November 17th, 2017 at 4:11 am
Say what u want about chucky but he brought a superbowl here. Ill say that again. He brought a lombardi trophy to tampa. Dude is a legend here. If dirk tanks and looks lost by years end then i say hell if chucky wants to come back bring him back.
November 17th, 2017 at 9:31 am
yeahhbooy