“He’s A Great Leader… “
August 15th, 2018
Has hope for America.
My, how things have changed.
Some three years ago, no one outside of possibly Marcus Mariota’s agent worked harder behind the scenes to see to it America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, never stepped foot in Tampa outside of being an opposing quarterback than former Bucs coach Tony Dungy.
Now the same man, who Joe refers to as “Father Dungy,” seems to have a far different view of Jameis. And like a disappointed father, Dungy is hopeful Jameis can put his off-field nonsense behind him.
Dungy had a personal relationship with Mariota, who entered the same draft as Jameis in 2015. Dungy’s son Eric played for the same Oregon team that Mariota quarterbacked. And Dungy lobbied the Bucs hard, at every turn, at every chance, to stay far away from Jameis and instead draft Mariota.
Dungy made public appearances after public appearances, spoke to anyone with a pen, a notebook or a microphone and begged the Bucs to draft Mariota. He leaned hard on his old friend and former assistant Lovie Smith to not fall in love with Jameis’ engaging personality and rocket arm.
But the Bucs rebuffed Dungy and drafted Jameis.
Fast forward three years and Dungy stood yesterday, after his press conference for his induction into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor, on the stage of the auditorium at One Buc Palace and spoke with faith that Jameis can put past off-field nonsense behind him and lead the Bucs to victories.
You just knew Dungy, during one of the proudest moments of his life, was going to be asked about Jameis. Dungy, interestingly, changed his tune about Jameis’ attributes after the Bucs drafted him and after he met Jameis.
Dungy seems to have faith in the Bucs’ signal-caller and cited his own father’s advice would be wise for Jameis to heed.
“What are you going to do now to make the situation better?” Dungy said. “I think that’s where we are and that’s where Jameis is. We can look back on it and debate about why it happened and all the negatives but it is where we are. And what does he have to do now to be that leader on and off the field that the Buccaneers need? He has to figure that out and he has to mature to [take] this negative situation and turn it into a positive.
“I saw some things on the field [Tuesday] that led me to believe that is what he is trying to do. Now he has to carry that off the field as well. It can be a positive.
“For Jameis, he has to be a great leader all the time. He’s a great leader on the field. He’s a great leader in the locker room. He’s a great leader when he is here. And now he has to take it on his shoulders to lead off the field and away from the building as well.”
The general nature of what Dungy had to say is absolutely accurate. But the leader stuff Joe has to hit the brakes on.
Look, no one in the Tampa Bay area not on radio has defended Jameis more than Joe and Joe will continue to do so. That doesn’t mean Joe is a shill for the guy and has his head buried in the sand like some ostrich.
Leaders don’t spark melees on a sideline by jerking with an opposing player.
Leaders don’t keep their teammates and employer in the dark when they potentially run afoul of league personal conduct rules, which directly impacts a team.
Leaders don’t go mental when a call doesn’t go their way at the end of a game and truck a team executive while trying to rush a referee.
Leaders don’t headbutt an opponent on an important drive in a critical game on prime time national TV and get flagged for it, which potentially costs his team precious points.
Leaders don’t do dumb stunts in an Uber that may just cost their team wins and just as important cost good men their jobs if not their careers.
Jameis, based on a variety of events, is not a leader. Yet.
Jameis is a tireless worker trying to perfect his craft. Just yesterday Joe saw Jameis 30 minutes after practice inside the Bucs’ indoor hut working with receivers. This is a regular occurrence.
Just because a guy works hard doesn’t mean he is a leader. Hard work should be the minimal prerequisite for a young man making millions.
Jameis is a caring person who has devoted countless hours of work and thousands of dollars in efforts to try to make the local community a better place. Jameis volunteering his time (and money?) last September to serve citizens of St. Petersburg who were stranded without power for days in the wake of Hurricane Irma hot meals is a perfect example.
Jameis is the best quarterback this team has had not named “Steve Young.” He has a lot of attributes that are admirable. Let’s hold off on the “great leader” talk for now, shall we?
August 15th, 2018 at 5:26 am
At least until he proves all of the self righteous hollier than though perfect do gooders wrong and leads us to many many championships and wins many Walter Peyton man of the year awards which he WILL do. GO PROVE THEM ALL WRONG Jameis!
August 15th, 2018 at 5:49 am
Can you write at least one more article citing why Jameis is not a leader. I mean, please. One more. I didn’t get it the first 50 times you wrote about it. Thanks.
August 15th, 2018 at 6:15 am
Kind of like when your son says sorry for what he did then does it again…. if he was truly sorry he wouldn’t have done it again! (in my opinion) Dungy’s thoughts on what should happen in JW’s life are spot on! We will see if he wants to be a man or continue to be a million dollar moron
August 15th, 2018 at 6:20 am
@Joe … “Let’s hold off on the “great leader” talk for now, shall we?” A little confused Joe. Is that a hit on Jameis or yet another rebuff of Father Dungy? OK, or both?
Tony’s right: You are where you are. His father’s advice to him (““What are you going to do now to make the situation better?” ) is spot on. Jameis AND the Bucs’ hierarchy needs to pay attention to that. Jameis’ stature as a team leader has most assuredly been damaged by the incidences of bad behavior that you pointed out in your skewering of Jameis. I’m convinced that he can turn it around with solid actions on AND off the field, but the real question is, “Will he?” That answer can only come from Jameis himself. Only time will tell.
August 15th, 2018 at 6:38 am
You can see in his eyes he has been humbled. Hopefully he just doesn’t forget as time passes. He needs to make sure and remember what he has been through, what he learned and how it felt.
August 15th, 2018 at 7:14 am
Joe: you left out the statement that JW needs to mature. But that does not surprise me/us.
August 15th, 2018 at 7:16 am
@bucemup: you can actually see in his eyes that he got caught and as time passes he will pull the same immature garbage.
August 15th, 2018 at 7:16 am
Jameis can overcome this, but he will need to help and advice from family and friends. Everybody makes mistakes when they are young, but the advice you get from your parents can change your life. Nobody wants to see you succeed more than than them. I hope Jameis reaches out for the support from some of the quality people around him.
August 15th, 2018 at 7:20 am
Contrary to popular belief, leaders are not born; they’re made…Jameis can be a great leader, but as coach Dungy stated it has to carry-over off the field as well…A wise man once told me “it’s not what you do when everyone is looking, it’s what you do when no one is looking that really matters”…
I do believe this situation has humbled him…Everyone sees the work he puts in at the facilities to get better…now he has put in the same effort off the field if he really wants to “turn this negative into a positive”…I’m hoping that becoming a husband and a father helps give him the balance and maturity he needs to become the man and the QB the city of Tampa needs him to be…
August 15th, 2018 at 7:31 am
“Im Jaboos#1 fan here at JBF and i warned you sheep of his childish immaturity actions
JW3 is not a leader and presently his emotions is a detriment to his craft and grow. Hopefully and i believe as he gets older and more resonsible as a man off the field, he will gain more common sense, reason and maturity
His entitled upbringing mixed with his extreme immaturity created this toxic behaviour
Like Kobe has stated, JW3 prime years and as the #1 rated QB in the NFL will be later than norm and more in his 29-31 years of age”
Kobe Faker
August 15th, 2018 at 7:41 am
I’d go with Dungy take on this one, if he says he sees something then it’s there, yes he’s make stupid mistakes on the field but being a leader doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes it’s a mentality plain and simple. It’s a bucs life that he was allowed to be as a rookie. They treated him as the Savior because we sucked for so long
Now they are asking him to lead from the rear or in a different way, hate to say it but GMC was right and lovie should have asked this of Winston as a rookie and he may have developed differently
August 15th, 2018 at 7:43 am
“The most NFL ready QB”….to start the season with a brokered 3 game suspension…hanging his team mates,fans and front office out to dry….The Fat Lady has not sung yet in this soap opera
August 15th, 2018 at 7:49 am
Everyone has their own definition of leader……there are leaders throughout history who many think lead badly….but they were still leaders.
Jameis can make mistakes and still be a leader….but only if his teammates believe he is worthy. It frankly doesn’t matter what you or I think or what Joe thinks….it matters what they think.
August 15th, 2018 at 9:00 am
I agree with you on the leader aspect. Part of me thinks the caring person bit is just a front to try and balance out some of his horrible deeds. “ I do a lot in the community etc”
August 15th, 2018 at 9:07 am
Bucs should’ve listened to Dungy. But then again the way this organization is being run they wouldn’t have built a team around Marcus either.
August 15th, 2018 at 9:16 am
I hope it works out with Jameis. It’s been too long for us fans to wait for a legit contending football team.
This is his year. He either has it or he doesn’t. If it works out, great. If not, we need to move on.
August 15th, 2018 at 9:35 am
I thought you expressed it very well Joe
August 15th, 2018 at 9:37 am
and you left out the Swaggy incident where Jameis (and many others) should have gotten in Swaggy’s face way before December (like training camp…)
August 15th, 2018 at 9:49 am
Dungy is spot on as usual.
August 15th, 2018 at 10:03 am
Joe
I agree with the discipline but he remains a leader to me. I’m not blind either. Jw is just not a “perfect” leader. I know I’m not expecting JW to be general in a war. Nor a leader of a losing team as has he been either. I expect a football player to play football so I can be entertained. And if he can’t play I want the next man up. Period. Jw not a leader than so be it. I want a W. We want Ws. Alphabet soup u know, take the Ws out and eat those. You know Wins.
August 15th, 2018 at 10:14 am
Part of this debate revolves around the position #3 plays. QB’s are expected to be the team leaders at least on offense…they are in charge when the O is on the field.
It’s normal to hope that the QB earns a captainancy and that the entire team looks up to him. It goes with the position.
But not always…Jeff George…great talent not much leadership….JFRO was hardly an inspiring leader…but most QB’s are the guys that are the leaders at least when the offense is on the field.
August 15th, 2018 at 10:44 am
THREE YEARS have past….surely something will come out soon, that he did in those three years…….surely….right? Nope.
Joe believes there’s an 80 percent shot Jameis Winston is the QB for the Bucs in 2019. I believe 95% shot!
August 15th, 2018 at 10:48 am
Tony was being Polite.. Because Tony is polite…
Nothing more, nothing less.
August 15th, 2018 at 11:29 am
Take me to your fearless flawless leader who surely is not a man. And don’t call me Shirley.
August 15th, 2018 at 11:33 am
Think back to the Dungy years. The players were (even Sapp) first class people who would be the last to grope an Uber driver. Why? Because they were “Tony’s Boys” who would not want to disappoint a man they respected. The Glazers should have listened to Tony when he lobbied for Mariota.
August 15th, 2018 at 11:55 am
Tap the brakes. There are legions of stories about Sapp (you should do a Google search on what his life has been like in recent years). Word is that Sapp and the immortal Chidi Chidi Bang Bang (no angel himself) got into a throwdown in the locker room over a stunt Sapp pulled the previous evening at a bar.
Let’s not get carried away and con ourselves into thinking that Dungy had a roster full of seminarians.
August 15th, 2018 at 12:08 pm
I was also in support of drafting Mariota over Winston but I also knew that regardless of which one the the Bucs chose I would accept their decision. I put all my backing behind Jameis. Tony is a Buc fan through and through and even though he endorsed Mariota he too accepted the choice of Jameis. I believe Jameis will put this “hassle” behind him and be a better leader moving forward. If anyone is still hoping that Jameis fails on the field then they are expecting the Bucs to lose. What fan wants their team to lose?
August 15th, 2018 at 1:01 pm
Joe
You are correct..Warren did a lot of not good things AFTER his NFL career was OVER. Largely because he is a cheap bastard..lol
But I don’t remember him ever getting suspended for conduct during his years here. Imagine what he might have been like if Tony wasn’t his coach.
August 15th, 2018 at 1:12 pm
People act like the Uber incident happened last week. It didn’t. It’s two and a half years. It’s over and done. Nothing major since. Let it go. Move on and focus on beating the Saints. Jameis is still our best option from week 4 on. Support him. Support the team or go support some other team, but stop bashing him like he’s a repeat offender. He’s not.
August 15th, 2018 at 1:31 pm
It seems like the buc sheep think its back to normal when the regular season starts concerning JW
Kobe doesnt think so. Im thinking alot of no shows at RJS and alot of booing
The pros (vegas) predicts another losing season and the blame will be on JW….
“Alot of Bucs fans will never ever forgive and accept JW”
Kobe Faker
August 15th, 2018 at 2:55 pm
The same thought Kobe Faker had Joe has had: Jameis will come through later than some want him to.