Blount On GMC’s Lobbying: “Great Idea”
January 30th, 2018
Former Bucs RB LeGarrette Blount is interviewed by NFL Network’s Deion Sanders during Super Bowl Opening Night Monday.
Bucs fans are a depressed lot these days.
They are more than down in the dumps over the 5-11 season after having so many high hopes following a winning 9-7 campaign in 2016, only the second time the Bucs have had a winning record since Chucky was jettisoned a decade ago.
The other double-digit winning season of the post-Chucky era was in 2010. Then the Bucs had what appeared to be three young cornerstones at key positions.
At defensive end was Michael Bennett. At corner was a talented but borderline crazy person in Aqib Talib. And at running back, LeGarrette Blount, who ran for 1,007 yards and scored six touchdowns.
Yet the Bucs braintrust was moved to disband these three. In one of the dumbest moves the franchise has ever made, the Bucs let Bennett go for no good reason. (Of course, the team later made up for it by signing Mike Jenkins to replace Darrelle Revis.)
Then Blount and Talib wore out their welcome with the Bucs and they were traded. Since, the three have each won a Super Bowl ring and each has played in two Super Bowl games — Blount will play in his third on Sunday while the Bucs have yet to make the playoffs since the 2007 season.
For various reasons, these three were thought to be bad eggs with the Bucs, but these same guys helped lead their respective future teams to Super Bowl wins.
It’s enough for a Bucs fan to slam his head through the drywall.
So last night during the Eagles media session at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., as part of Super Bowl Opening Night, Joe ran into Blount, now an Eagles running back. Joe always got along with Blount and mentioned to Blount that Bucs stud defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is openly begging Tampa Bay management to go get Bennett, who may be a salary cap casualty, and Talib, who the Broncos are dangling for a trade, in order to beef up the roster and win some damn games.
Blount wholeheartedly agreed with GMC that if the Bucs want to turn around the franchise, then that would be a fantastic start to bring back two former Bucs standouts who still have gas left in the tank.
“Talib, he is the best corner in the league so probably that is a great idea,” Blount told Joe. “Bennett is one of the better d-linemen in the league. So, you know, obviously, that is a great idea.
“So [GMC], he is doing the right marketing.”
There you have it. This is coming from a guy who knows something about winning. Knows something about getting to the playoffs. Knows something about getting to the Super Bowl. Knows something about winning the Super Bowl.
Let’s make the Bucs great again. A good beginning is bringing in a couple of vets who are still producing, still winning.
Unless, of course, fans are content losing with Ryan Smith and Ryan Russell at corner and defensive end, respectively.
January 30th, 2018 at 8:06 am
Whatever it takes. If they have to bring in Fred Biletnikoff so be it.
January 30th, 2018 at 8:22 am
Perhaps it would be better if Tmax did the lobbying…he presents such a positive image of our Bucs.
January 30th, 2018 at 8:26 am
Wow!!!!! The legend of the 2010 season still grows!!!!!! michael bennett a corner stone that year, or was barely played?????? which one of his 13 tackles and 1 sack was a cornerstone in the 13 games played with only 2 starts??????
Here is a clue sheep!!!!!! Coach Schiano was the only coach that started bennett for a season!!!!!! So do the math!!!!!!!!!!
Another fact is that the Bucs had the 25th hardest schedule that season!!!!! But 2016 was a fluke!!!!!!!!!!
Fix the “real” problems, the “trenches”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 30th, 2018 at 8:26 am
The obsession with Talib and Bennett is real folks. You’d almost think they are the only two players left in the league
January 30th, 2018 at 8:35 am
Too bad richie incognito never got this much love from the joes or he would have dramatically helped the porous OL, but licht got sweezy and drafted a kicker so the bucs are close
January 30th, 2018 at 8:38 am
michael bennett was such a cornerstone that the very next year they drafted 2 DE with the two top picks?????? And we all know that talk show dominik was a “draft for need” guy if there ever was one in the NFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When will Joe admit that this has been a FULL rebuild since talk show host dominik disaster!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 draft picks and 1 undrafted free agent are left from 4 season ago!!!!!!!!!!!!
The truth will set you free!!!!!!!!!
Fix the “real” problems, the “trenches”!!!!!!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 30th, 2018 at 8:52 am
all these cast offs do well when put in tier1 organization.
criminals behave well while in a 1/2 way house etc…..
but once they don’t have that leadership they will fail.
i like blount, just time to move on. i don’t know many people who would rejoin the folks that fired them and come on board with a warm, fuzzy good intentions vibe. more like going back to your ex gf that left you for another. good for revenge f, but you won’t keep her long.
January 30th, 2018 at 9:02 am
Nope.
The less NFL Ive been watching, the less I need to watch
Ive spent too many years of my life, following the Bucs. Most years- they didnt care about the fans or winning games. They just were a money grab
IF this team starts spending Money- to put a competative product on the field, -And IF they have players I feel good about supporting- then Ill invest some time in the team. Probably no more tickets or merchandise.
If they follow up lousy decisions, with Players who are lousy people, – then they
Keep losing their fan base.
My friends and I were just fine skipping the NFL this season
January 30th, 2018 at 9:12 am
Didn’t we hear last year about how Jackson and Sweezy were going to make Bucs unstoppable on offense?
Build through the draft! DLine and Oline prioritized!
January 30th, 2018 at 9:34 am
IMO all the brain cells we ore expending over Bennett and Talib would be better focused on reality than past regrets. These guys have developed into consummate Pros and if they do move to other teams they will be ones who will return them to Super Bowls not the Buc’s. I’m a longtime Buc fan and no one wants to win more than me, but we have to focus on the future and getting better by upgrading our schemes and continuing to improve our talent. I think we have some good pieces on board, they just need to develop a winning philosophy, Add a few more pieces and I think we might become more consistent and stop losing games we should have won. I know this sounds redundant but it is a tried and proven rout to success. I think we are way to predictable and need to change-up our defensive scheme and let our QB continue to develop. Forget the past and the mistakes we left behind.
January 30th, 2018 at 9:41 am
Pats never pay for past production, but future production, and know when it is time to part ways with said players. If the Buccs think that these aging players can produce anywhere close to the levels they once were at then great….but I wouldn’t pay a free agent based on their past success myself.
January 30th, 2018 at 9:44 am
Come on Joe
That was a standard answer usually pro players give. What Blount going say “no that’s a bad idea?”. No pro player would ever say that. It’s always a yes
January 30th, 2018 at 9:47 am
I can any ask any pro player in front of media and ask them ” what do think about Ray Lewis coming out of retirement to play Qb for the Browns?”. I bet 100 percent of the time the players would say that’s is great idea that’s what answer they give.
January 30th, 2018 at 9:54 am
^^ @ Lamarcus i get where you are coming from but not all NFL players are like the patriot players who are robots during media sessions. Some do say how they really feel. You cant be serious with yourself if you think Talib and Bennett would not help this team. Pretty Much the guys saying this wont make our team better would rather march out next year with Ryan Smith at CB and Robert Ayers/Will Gholston at DE.. lets be real its time for an upgrade!! Who cares if they kneel for anthem or aren’t choir boys! We need some attitude and toughness on this football team.
January 30th, 2018 at 9:56 am
Marketing? Wanting to be a great franchise? Sorry this is not in the Bucs DNA. Glazers just want to be profitable. They don’t truly want to be great. Don’t hold your breathe on these Bucs. You just might run out of air!!
January 30th, 2018 at 9:57 am
Never understood letting Blount leave. Maybe we can get him back.
January 30th, 2018 at 10:03 am
I get the concept of building through the draft but it’s simply not enough. If you draft extremely well you can certainly develop a great core for your team.
But do the math. You get seven picks…on average 3-4 will be busts..so in good years like we’ve had with Licht you get four guys. Over a ten year old period that’s 40 guys…not nearly enough to stock an NFL team.
And so you need to hit on two other sources…UDFA’s…we’ve actually done pretty well there..Brate…Barber…Hump etc….and FA’s…that’s exactly why this team is thin on talent. Grimes…Ayers?…don’t have enough space to list all of our FA busts.
So draft picks become golden…this means if we got Talib and Bennett and re-sign Grimes it relieves our draft pressure. We pick Nelson the OL improves…we add the DE’s and DT’s we all lust after.
Basically signing Talib and Bennett is like adding two draft picks this year…except we know Talib and Bennett can still play….IF their heads are in the right place.
January 30th, 2018 at 10:04 am
Sorry bad writing..I meant Grimes and Ayers as the only two FA’s I can think of offhand who have success.
January 30th, 2018 at 10:14 am
Good point Robert.
And how high is Blount in that pic?
Day-yum!
January 30th, 2018 at 10:29 am
Blount is a FA after this game. Played this year for barely above the minimum. Blount made less than Quizz made in 2017.
Surprised Joe isn’t pushing to bring back Blunt as well. Roy Miller is available. So are EJ Biggers and Preston Parker… LOL
That 2010 team was the biggest fraud of a “winning team” I have ever seen in my life.
January 30th, 2018 at 10:35 am
Building through the draft and free agent signings are not mutually exclusive concepts.
We need to do both. The pats surely do.
And we have before. I remember Ike Hilliard helped us when he was here. Especially on third down.
Don’t understand the trepidation.
January 30th, 2018 at 10:38 am
And maybe we can draft a legit defensive lineman???
January 30th, 2018 at 10:57 am
To quote Seinfeld, there seems to be an inordinate amount of exclamation points. 2 draft picks and 1 undrafted free agent are left from 4 season ago, so I put on my sweatshirt! Get rid of the exclamation points, I hate exclamation points.
January 30th, 2018 at 11:14 am
Why again is Bennett going to be a cap casualty?
January 30th, 2018 at 11:18 am
We need to be talking of a possible trade for Bennett and Talib being a cap casualty. Both of those are WAY more likely than a Bennett cut and a Talib trade.
January 30th, 2018 at 11:20 am
im happy for blount….had a chance to meet him in person and man, he’s a cool down to earth dude…..happy to see his career take off after his incident in college and his rocky start here in tampa….he’s matured into a great man and im proud of him….he’s kept his nose clean, made lots of $$$ and can now be considered a winner….hats off to you son!!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!
January 30th, 2018 at 11:25 am
pickgrin says: That 2010 team was the biggest fraud of a “winning team” I have ever seen in my life.
I disagree….the 2016 team takes the cake…..2016 was a bigger fluke than 2010….
2010-10-6
2011-4-12
2016-9-7
2017-5-11
GO BUCS!!!!
January 30th, 2018 at 11:28 am
Its the FANS OF DEPRESSION that keep this franchise in the basement. (Sorry Lovie)
Most of yall hated Sapp, said Brooks was to small and claimes Lynch was dirty. Thats why they all got ran along with Chucky.
Yall hated winning so much after years of being depressed that not only was it not cool to be successful but you spit in the face of INSPIRATION and greatness.
You took it so far as to pass on you loosing culture and depressed fandom to the next generation.
Lets be clear here. The difference between teams in the NFL is not that much between every coach player gm and owner.
The Major difference is the fans.
We willed our team to its only SB run. Than we willed them right back to the pit of misery!!!
Stop being a Fan of DEPRESSION!!!
and be
Be a Fan of INSPIRATION!!!!
Dilly Dilly
January 30th, 2018 at 11:31 am
@realist
your running out of excuses!!!!!!!….2016 was a fluke!!!!!!…..2017 was proof!!!!….
you keep saying “fix the trenches”….can this staff “fix the trenches” in 1 offseason because that’s all they have….no playoffs = no job for this staff…..accountability will set you free!!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!!!
January 30th, 2018 at 11:37 am
Wrong on the “keeping his nose clean” as he was thrown off the Steelers for being a bad influence on Le”veon Bell by your boy, tomlin!!!!!!! We should all thank the real hero of Tampa Bay, Coach Schiano for finding and getting rid of the Thugs that ruled that locker-room that rah and talk show dominik allowed!!!!!! and He did a fine job just like the Glazer’s told him to do to clean house!!!!!!!!!
Fix the “real” problems, the “trenches”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 30th, 2018 at 11:38 am
So Blount the thug with no morals is in 2 consecutive Sb with 2 different teams. TAMPA HOLDS THIS L FOREVER.
January 30th, 2018 at 12:08 pm
I think the Bucs biggest problem is not the coaches and not the players its the friggin ownership. Sell the team to someone who cares.
January 30th, 2018 at 12:22 pm
I’ll just say this. Talib is potentially trade bait for a reason. Bennet is a potential cap casualty for a reason. If they could still play wouldnt their teams want to keep them?
We all thought TJ Ward was a great signing at the time because he was a pro bowler on the market at a position of need. Look how that turned out.
Dont get your hopes up on these guys people.
January 30th, 2018 at 12:26 pm
I think you got that backwards….bell and Bryant were the bad influences…..bell and Bryant were smoking it out daily…..
Bell
2015- 3 games susp.
2016- 3 games susp.
Bryant-
2015- 4games susp.
2016- 16 games susp.
Blount
2015- 1 game susp
evidence suggest bell and Bryant were the bad influences……
why thank schiano?….we should be throwing rocks at him for not developing such a great talent….much like this current staff…..
and why are you calling him a “thug”…..because he made a mistake in college (a punch that was well deserved) and a mistake hanging around the wrong crowd…..
news flash….
thugs aren’t employed by a billion dollar company…..
thugs don’t wear uniforms at their work place…..
thugs don’t have a college education….
thugs aren’t activist in the community…..
thugs don’t organize youth camp for unprivileged kids…..
thugs don’t donate their hard earned money to charities……
but I guess “some” thugs are black…have tattoos and have dreads…..
fix the real problem…..YOUR RACIAL VIEWS…….and your lack of football knowledge……
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
January 30th, 2018 at 12:45 pm
thugs aren’t employed by a billion dollar company….. ( you are way off on this one!!!! or just naive)!!
thugs don’t wear uniforms at their work place…..
(sure they do!!!!!how do you think some of the dirty work gets done?????)
thugs don’t have a college education…. ( Some athletic graduates don’t have a college education, but still have a degree, And we know some degree’s that were bought and paid for!!!!!!!!!
thugs aren’t activist in the community….. ( sure they are, especially when it is court appointed, like the mandatory 50hrs blount did instead of jail time!!!!!!!!!!)
thugs don’t organize youth camp for unprivileged kids….. ( sure they do, they are called gangs!!!!!!!!) seriously though, lookup charity events aaron hernandez did and gave too!!!!!!!
thugs don’t donate their hard earned money to charities……( sure they do, and some of it is a front for their image, or hush money!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!
January 30th, 2018 at 12:52 pm
jokes aside 813beachbucboi, you can have your head in the sand if you want to!!!!! But some in the know, knew what happened in that garage when bount was in Tampa, and he is very lucky to be playing football after that!!!!!!!!!
But he had to go!!!!!!!!!! and seeing how he has signed with 5 teams in his nfl career, We are not the only one’s that feel that way!!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!
January 30th, 2018 at 1:17 pm
I agree with 813….thug is overused and it is almost universally a racist pejorative.
There has been no bigger thug in this league than Richie Incognito yet we still have plenty of folks here who wished we had him….he perfectly fits the definition of thug.
Blount has the most appropriate name in the NFL….let’s fire up a blunt shall we.
If weed consumption means you are a thug then I’m a 70 year old thug. LMAO
Although I’ve never fired up a “blunt”. Seems like a huge waste of good weed to smoke it in cigar form…but I guess if you’re a multimillionaire it doesn’t matter. But how much crap do you want in your lungs? Good weed…an efficient bong…and a bowl or two should do the trick…Coincidence is not the same as causation but I’ve made it to 70 in pretty good shape….I cannot remember the last time I even smoked a J…who wants all that paper crap in your lungs and I like the effects of the water filtration and cooling.
But I try to not be judgemental about folks who enjoy relaxing aided by weed.
January 30th, 2018 at 1:29 pm
@StPeteBucsFan
Is it?????? if it is, and I tend to believe the word of StPeteBucsFan, so I apologize if other take that words meaning wrongly!!!!! Please know that I meant and will refer to them as criminals!!!!!!!!
and it is not about the weed!!!!! Though I have a huge problem if you are using or under the influence while operating a car!!!!!!!!!! As that endangers others!!!!!!!!!!!! Please, StPeteBucsfan drive and arrive home clean, then do what ever you want once you have ran your errands!!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!
January 30th, 2018 at 2:12 pm
813bucboi: so well said, I would have never been able to put it together that way!!! To GMC93…none of the old Bucs will be asked to play here again! Your Team failed you Mr GMC and for that I apologize!! TAKE A KNEE…KEEP AMERICA FREE…let’s not MAKE AMERICA WHITE AGAIN… TRUMPMAXCON STAY ON THE BLACK!
January 30th, 2018 at 2:37 pm
@Realist
Agree with your take about driving impaired. Great to have a wife who doesn’t indulge.
Would add though that alcohol and texting while driving are far more dangerous than weed.
The people on the highway who scare the beejesus out of me are the morons who text while driving. I’m sure nobody here does that.
January 30th, 2018 at 3:09 pm
The Buc Realist: Criminals…really, well we gonna thank God for second chances! I know I used a couple!
January 30th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
@stpete
agreed…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
January 30th, 2018 at 4:10 pm
Lol Greg Schiano said his d line was better than ours so turns out he was right, guess we’ll be talking to Ohio State draft prospects. Kinda over this franchise and it’s bed decisions because all teams have their dumb personnel moves just some more than others
January 30th, 2018 at 6:48 pm
Thugs win championships!!!