“You Practice Like Tom Brady Is Working”
June 30th, 2020
A truly awesome analyst you may never have heard of, former Redskins Super Bowl tight end Rick “Doc” Walker, went on quite a rant today.
The call-it-straight media personality in the D.C. region landed on Sirius XM NFL Radio and put his foot down when asked about the Redskins’ prospects under new head coach Ron Rivera.
Walker said he’ll know what the team is once he sees it practice in pads, and Joe stood up and applauded when Walker firmly said he believes nothing that comes out of Redskins headquarters because he’s heard all kinds of BS through the years.
His eyes don’t lie, Walker said, and that’s how he evaluates. (It got Joe thinking about how so many in Tampa media swallow what comes out of One Buc Palace like it’s gospel).
Walker talked about the soft nature of football practices in recent times and then rolled into his admiration for Tom Brady.
“I’m not a shell guy, these panties and garter belts they wear in practice. To me, you practice like Tom Brady is working,” Walker said. “Every time you see Tom Brady in the offseason what does he have on? Pads. Pads. The game is a contact sport. You play it in pads.”
Hard practices and scrimmages against other teams are vital, Walker explained, and he added, “Everybody who tells you they didn’t hate practice is lying, or they didn’t win.”
This really got Joe’s head in Bucs-culture-changing mode.
How much can Brady accomplish in that area? The answer lies in how bad things really are — or are not — at One Buc Palace.
Joe also wonders what Brady’s new teammates think when they see him practicing in pads at the Tampa private school where some offensive players are gathering. Has anyone else ordered pads and a helmet on Amazon?
Walker, as Joe wrote, is a gem. He talked about the Redskins running a “fake 3-4” defense that was lacking “a rhinoceros at nose tackle.” The way he described how the Washington defense must transform, it felt like he was begging for Todd Bowles’ system with Vita Vea.
June 30th, 2020 at 1:22 pm
That’s right……PLAY HARDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!
ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH……………..I EAT NAILS FOR BREAKFAST!!!!!!!!
June 30th, 2020 at 1:48 pm
Oh man, I like this guy!
Thanks for sharing Joe.
June 30th, 2020 at 2:04 pm
Walker sounds like a cool dude and I wish that he were on our airwaves. I agree to some extent about the practicing, but the days of Ray Perkins 3 a days are long over and not neccessary. Guys like Lavonte David should be preserved for the regular season. Let the young guys go full tilt and master their craft at as close to game conditions as they can get.
For me anyway, the biggest reason for losing interest is not a watered down product (too many teams), player protests (I don’t agree, but our county is still free for now), or player salaries (make all ya can dudes). The biggest issue for me is all of the sissya$$ rules and dumba$$ penalties that painfully make the games drag on. Most qb records are tainted nowadays due to how defenses are forced to lay off receivers and quarterbacks. If Drew Brees is regularly getting 5k yards under these rules, what would Marino get? 7k? 10k? I’m not close to done with football yet, but the arrow is certainly pointed down. Sorry for the rant, I was bored. đŸ˜œ
June 30th, 2020 at 2:14 pm
Thankfully we no longer have Irk Koetter running the softest practices in Bucs history.
June 30th, 2020 at 2:22 pm
I’ve listened to Doc on CBS Westwood Radio, usually the 4:30 games. Great announcer, always has some good insight.
June 30th, 2020 at 2:27 pm
Love Doc, used to be on the same station as Tony Kornheiser years ago.
June 30th, 2020 at 2:30 pm
I like this guy!
Thanks for sharing Joe.
June 30th, 2020 at 2:33 pm
Sounds like a straight shooter with his takeaways.
June 30th, 2020 at 2:45 pm
Waiting for el buco unrealisto to comment…
June 30th, 2020 at 2:55 pm
“Pound the Rock”………sounds like hard work…..got us there….
June 30th, 2020 at 4:34 pm
Doc Walker is a spitting image of Deebo from Friday.
June 30th, 2020 at 5:54 pm
doc walker is great and used to listen to him all the time on the sporst radio
June 30th, 2020 at 5:55 pm
Amazing a positive comment about Brady!
June 30th, 2020 at 8:39 pm
In a time of p@ssies…. it’s refreshing to know that people like this man still exist.
July 1st, 2020 at 4:45 am
(>”)> We Love Sheep <("<)
No the day of long preseason games will probably end. I look to see teams that begin regular season games with a larger roster and must whittle down to the normal total by week 4 – 6.
Allowing for larger teams will find more diamonds in the rough and protect teams better from devastating positional injuries and potential sickness.
GO BUCS!!!
July 1st, 2020 at 3:39 pm
I live here in the DMV and I love Doc! I wish we had a former player like that reporting on the Bucs.