Darlings To Dumpsters And Back
June 18th, 2018
BY IRA KAUFMAN
Respect.
Aretha Franklin sang about it, Rodney Dangerfield joked about it and the 2018 Buccaneers can’t seem to find any.
If respect is earned, not given, the Bucs have a ton of work to do this fall. Not only have they fallen off the national radar as a team, but their premier players have been taking hits as well.
Collateral damage.
NFL Network has already released 80 entrants on its Top 100 players list and nary a Buc has heard his name called. A year ago, coming off a 97 season that raised expectations and ticket prices, Tampa Bay placed three players within the Top 60 — Mike Evans (29), Gerald McCoy (52) and Jameis Winston (57).
The voting is presumably done by NFL rank-and-file, but there are legitimate questions about how many players return ballots. The system might be flawed, but the results clearly suggest a prevailing perception that Dirk Koetter’s roster lacks star power.
That’s what a 5-11 slate will do for your reputation in league circles.
“It goes back to us not being what everybody expected us to be last year,” says Lavonte David. “We’ve got a lot of things to fix, so hopefully it won’t be that way next year.”
The Top 20 players are still out there, eager for their moment, but let’s be realistic. Evans, McCoy and Winston aren’t going to make that elite list.
You know it and they know it.
McCoy Snub Telling
That Bucs trio is not about to join Antonio Brown, Aaron Donald and Drew Brees near the top and quite frankly, they don’t deserve to. Still, to think of a Top 100 list without McCoy tells you all you need to know about how far this franchise’s reputation has plunged in one year.
Although there are exceptions, players on successful teams boast a huge advantage when it comes to voting for Pro Bowls and Top 100 lists. For Exhibit A, I present to you the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Last summer, coming off a 3-13 season, the Jags were blanked on the Top 100 ballot. Zero, nada.
Calais Campbell made it, but he had just signed with Jacksonville as a free agent and was voted in for his disruptive work with the Cardinals.
A year later, after the Jags went 10-6 and almost advanced to the Super Bowl, they already have four representatives on the Top 100. And there’s more to come as Campbell and Jalen Ramsey have yet to be named.
That’s the football equivalent of going from zero to 60 inside the 10-yard sticks.
W-driven
Let’s look at Mr. David for a moment. He was named a first-team All-Pro linebacker by NFL media members in 2013, yet failed to make the Pro Bowl that season.
Again, lack of respect.
“It is what it is,” he says of his quest for recognition. “To be honest, some of it has to do with winning. We haven’t been winning a lot of football games, we haven’t been on a big stage as much. To turn all that around, we’ve got to win a lot of football games. That’s what I’m trying to focus on.”
Respect will come when that flashy new scoreboard tilts repeatedly in Tampa Bay’s favor.
“I know what I’m capable of,” says David. “Let me keep flying under the radar and let me keep putting up the numbers I put up. All I do is go out Sundays and play my hardest.”
Playing hard is good. Winning is better.
Ira Kaufman is the most revered sports personality and writer in town. He has hung his hat at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters since July 2016. Tampa Bay’s only Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, Ira busts out columns here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and his award winning podcasts fire Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can also hear Ira on SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio Wednesdays during football season, and see him now on Mondays at 10:30 p.m. on Spectrum Sports 360 (aka BayNews 9). Ira also is part of the FOX-13 Tailgate Sunday show and enjoys beet salads, Riesling, Chiefs victories and needling Joe.
June 18th, 2018 at 12:11 pm
well one thing is for sure, you guys don’t get the job done this year, they going to clean house and start all over again, pretty cut and dry
June 18th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
Here’s one for 87…….miss u buddy!!!
Respect yourself, respect yourself
If you don’t respect yourself
Ain’t nobody gonna give a good cahoot, na na na na
Respect yourself, respect yourself
June 18th, 2018 at 12:49 pm
“Winning is all anyone gives a sh!t about in this league” – Dirk Koetter
Make it so – or it will be time to GO…..
June 18th, 2018 at 1:16 pm
But hey at least the glaziers have a new sports bar in the Stadium. Tbh that $50 per plate Buffett wasn’t turning enough profit and isn’t that what they’re really here for?
Playoffs? Playoffs? You talking about playoffs?
June 18th, 2018 at 1:45 pm
Sad to say but there was not single Buc who could be recognized as a top 100 player from the way they played last year.
#blamejameis
June 18th, 2018 at 2:23 pm
I miss 87 too. Hope he is alright.
June 18th, 2018 at 3:05 pm
“Why do you think they will clean house?”
Licht Bulb is the Glazer’s boy and he isnt going nowhere even with drafting bunch of backups in this years draft
No one in all Buc world wants Klueless anywhere near JW3 as HC or any position than your Kobe however…
BUT if Klueless wins 6 or 7 wins…
KLUELESS KOETTER WILL BE BACK IN 2019
SHEEP, READ THIS CAREFULLY
THE 32 OWNERS ARE CONTENT
DO OR DIE?…LOL
Yes they all want to win BUT there is only 1 winner and ITS ALL GOOD. Its not do or die for the Glazers
THE TV/CABLE CONTRACT, over 200k guaranteed yearly revenue for each owner
HAS CHANGED THE GAME…THIS IS THE NEW NFL NORMAL
LICHTBULB and KLUELESS KOETTER aka DUMB and DUMBER
“Aint goin nowhere”
Kobe Faker
June 18th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
^over 200 million for each 32 owners and will be even higher
June 18th, 2018 at 3:43 pm
So true Sage.
June 18th, 2018 at 3:44 pm
Lavante David will be lucky to be on the team after this season. He is nowhere near being worth $10m per year not to mention he is aging out soon. If we have a good season, trading him would be a smart move.
Acquire some picks. Free up a lot of cap space.
June 18th, 2018 at 4:18 pm
maybe the defensive players have lost respect for smitty….maybe that’s why LVD is “teaching” the defense….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
June 18th, 2018 at 4:21 pm
Well said Sage, well said.
What did happen to 87?
June 18th, 2018 at 5:00 pm
87 got banned
June 18th, 2018 at 5:16 pm
DB55,
No he didn’t. Not this time at least.
I seem to remember him getting frustrated over the continual bashing of Jameis and he just said that he was out.
Or something like that.
There was an 87 sighting a few months ago but then gone again.
Like Big Foot.
June 18th, 2018 at 5:23 pm
Yeah I do remember seeing him post a few months back too. He definitely did come back after his time in the cooler.
Haven’t seen nosbos since like week 5 last year either…
June 18th, 2018 at 5:44 pm
87 should come back. Maybe he will show up when Jaboo does which I think will be this year. I miss his spot on remarks. He was always right on the money. Maybe this is the year….Go Bucs!!
June 18th, 2018 at 6:20 pm
^ Eh, I dunno about all that….
If we win the SB this year, then he will have been right. (And we’ll all be fkn stoked!)
Otherwise, not so much.
June 18th, 2018 at 7:20 pm
87 actually said that whatever team drafted Jameis would be in the Super Bowl in year 3.
Maybe he was bummed that his prediction did not come true.
June 18th, 2018 at 7:28 pm
Perhaps 87’s family had an intervention for him…..he was totally addicted to posting…..taking a great deal of time….I could certainly understand some concerns over that from family.
I get accused of addiction on occasion myself. I answer that by saying that it’s compulsion, not addiction.
June 18th, 2018 at 7:47 pm
I post here because I am a Buc fan and everyone I know except for a very few HATE the Bucs. It’s a lonely world in this swamp wearing my alligator skin and all. This is my intervention. Just try being married to a Patriot fan born in Boston. JoeBucsFan is my ONLY friends 🙁
June 18th, 2018 at 7:55 pm
Lol Trench. I am a Gator married to a Seminole fan so I get it totally.
Not sure what happened to 87 but he came back after his ban.
NOS got married and it is consuming his posting. That and Joe continually moderating his posts have caused him to shy away. I think he will be back when the season starts. I still get texts from him and text him.
I came back after being banned too but to this day you still cant type my original username.
June 18th, 2018 at 8:07 pm
Also I think this is Bogus! MSN posted an article today about Jameis being investigated by the NFL for the Uber incident! WTF? Why now? What is their purpose? Here is the entire article:
tom brady giseleBrady says Gisele has asked him ‘what more’ he wants out of NFL career
a football player holding a baseball bat© Dylan Buell / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston remains under investigation from the NFL regarding a November 2017 incident involving a 26-year-old female Uber driver.
The woman told police that Winston had groped her in the car she was driving, but the quarterback denied the allegations and told reporters in April that he wouldn’t speculate about the league’s process while under investigation.
Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby, who said he was in the car with Winston, also released a statement in November claiming that Winston didn’t have any contact with the driver. Darby and Winston were teammates at Florida State.
“This remains under review,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
Winston was not charged in conjunction with the incident.
June 18th, 2018 at 8:08 pm
Don’t worry about Buc1987!!!!!! My boy is now the “eye in the sky’ too keep the sheep herded with the Truth!!!!!!!!!!! While he is in deep cover behind enemy lines, passing on vital information!!!!!!! Buc1987 is never far away!!!! He could be right beside you and you would not know!!!!! Behave Sheep!!!!!!!
Its time for a Buc1987 flash back from his last know location!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Buc1987 Says:
April 1st, 2018 at 11:03 pm
Yeah!
I’ m still here beech’s.
87’s reading all your stuff daily.
No time to daily post but I read JBF daily.
Never doubt. Go Bucs!!!!!!
Lol I miss you guys!!!!!! ”
GO Buc1987!!!!!!
And as Always, GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 18th, 2018 at 8:10 pm
Those of us who have been banned are truly in a special club…..it wasn’t fun being in the cooler and I somewhat moderated my posts…..there are two areas where I will continue to challenge Joe….and he permits it because he proudly stands by his opinion.
One…..He seems to avoid expressing any criticism of Mark Dominick…..
Two…..He insists on multiple occasions that he would rather draft a Punter than a DB because of his belief that Buc coaches can’t develop a DB…..I maintain that is an absurd position to take……can you imagine drafting a punter instead of Denzel Ward?…..I am still somewhat surprised that many JBF posters don’t call him out on that….but….I will be here to remind him when 2 or 3 of our young DBs develop into productive players.
June 18th, 2018 at 8:19 pm
@Tampabaybucfan
You were banned???? I have never been banned, or even moderated like some around here??? I thought the old timers had full carte blanche?????
And Joe and many sheep have said many ridiculous things this past offseason that has been documented, Don’t Worry on that front!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 18th, 2018 at 8:49 pm
What Realist?! You didn’t know that I have been banned?
Oh. Thats right, you were talking to TBBF
June 18th, 2018 at 9:22 pm
Yes…..I was banned……I won’t describe the details fearing that would get me banned again……It wasn’t for very long and thankfully many, including 87, lobbied Joe to allow me to come back…..
June 18th, 2018 at 9:31 pm
I definitely lobbied for your return TBBF.
June 18th, 2018 at 9:39 pm
“I am a paid poster of JBF”
Kobe Faker
June 18th, 2018 at 9:53 pm
Yes you did SB……
I was worried for a while that your support would do me more harm than good….cause you were on thin ice yourself…..but all worked out.
We seem to usually be on the same side of issues….there are a few others….constantly wading through some real BS….and extreme negativism .
The negativism gets to me sometimes….I’ve been a fan since the very beginning and I certainly have been disappointed many, many times….but I’ll never turn against my team….just not in my DNA.
June 18th, 2018 at 10:05 pm
Kobe Faker Says:
“I am a paid poster of JBF”
—————
LOL. Tree fiddy!
June 18th, 2018 at 10:23 pm
Thin Ice is where I live TBBF! Best to you and yours this summer bud!
June 18th, 2018 at 10:47 pm
You too, SB…..
Not even 9 pm for you……I’m turning in….rough day tomorrow in my retirement trying to decide whether to fish, golf or do yard work….I think I’ll skip the yard work.
June 18th, 2018 at 10:48 pm
^^^^^^ Totally skip the yardwork. And the decision on Golf vs. Fishing totally depends on the fishing conditions.