The Cody Mauch-Brian Burns Hassle
December 3rd, 2023
Enforcer.
Score Round 1 in favor of Cody Mauch.
Mauch, the Bucs’ rookie right guard, found himself getting blasted by stud Stinking Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns. And it was Burns who paid the ultimate price.
The Bucs had just taken a 14-10 lead on the Stinking Panthers late in the third quarter when, after the conversion, Burns and Mauch got into some sort of hassle. Joe couldn’t quite see what Mauch did or said. But Joe did see Burns walk up to Mauch and haul off and clock Mauch in the grill with a right hook.
Instead of retaliating and sparking a brawl, Mauch started looking for a ref and mimicked a referee throwing a flag. You know, like Keyshawn Johnson used to do?
The zebras obliged and didn’t just throw a flag on Burns for unnecessary roughness, but also tossed Burns.
So in a one-score game with the Bucs’ season hanging by a thread, Carolina saw its two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher taken off the field. Joe had to find out from Mauch what the hassle was all about.
Mauch was sort of tight-lipped other than his gap-toothed smile. Per Mauch, Burns was getting out of hand a little and Mauch said he was protecting a teammate(s). He wouldn’t say who.
Whatever Mauch did, or said, it clearly got Burns’ attention and he lashed out at Mauch.
“He was getting a little bit chippy,” Mauch said laughing. “It was after the PAT and he came after the guys a little bit. And, I don’t know, he got a little heated and threw a punch.”
Perhaps Burns was miffed because the Bucs had just about completely taken him out of the game. Burns had a grand total of one tackle. That’s it. No quarterback hits, no sacks, nothing but a tackle.
The Bucs’ offensive line nearly turned Burns invisible. So he may have been frustrated and whatever Mauch said/did to Burns lit a match.
Mauch swore he wasn’t trying to provoke Burns.
“No! He was just getting too chippy,” Mauch said.
Joe wasn’t convinced. So Joe asked Mauch again if he said or did something that enraged Burns.
“No, it wasn’t anything too crazy I don’t think.”
And with that, Mauch flashed his front-teeth-missing grin and buried his head in a towel.
Message delivered.
December 3rd, 2023 at 8:54 pm
Mebbe he just got fed up with illegal hits/holds .Good on him!
December 3rd, 2023 at 9:00 pm
Actions have consequences
December 3rd, 2023 at 9:00 pm
I’m liking Mauch. He’s got some nastiness to him, but he delivers it with a smile. A smart guy. He’s going to coerce a few more flags like that one in his career.
December 3rd, 2023 at 9:02 pm
The more I watch Mauch, the more I see that Litch found a good one! For him to hold up and grow the way he has in his rookie year has been impressive to me.Another year building strength and he will be a beast. Plays to the whistle like another red head did! No quit in this kid!
December 3rd, 2023 at 9:16 pm
I’m sure Jensen shed a tear watching that
December 3rd, 2023 at 9:43 pm
I wanna hear what “Georgie” Burns gotta say about what caused him to sucker punch him like that. I can kinda guess what he might say
December 3rd, 2023 at 10:21 pm
This was brewing between the td and the pat between burns and goedeke. They were chirping back and forth pretty bad during the review.
December 3rd, 2023 at 11:08 pm
Great story Joe!!!
More of this please!!!
December 3rd, 2023 at 11:10 pm
Lol. Season hanging by a thread? That was week 4. The wheels have come off since. They’ll win just enough games to mess up the draft. Bad coached team
December 4th, 2023 at 12:29 am
On Twitter it’s being reported…
“Brian Burns said a Tampa Bay offensive player said something he shouldn’t have said early in the game, which upset Burns. It was not the same guy Burns later punched.”
I’m pretty sure one of the Bucs players didn’t acknowledge the pronouns they selected for today, probably called him ‘bro’, which is ultra offense to a she/her.
December 4th, 2023 at 5:01 am
mauch the agitator…
that’s growth !
December 4th, 2023 at 6:16 am
Looks like this guy is going to be a good one!
and with Goedeke’s improved play the right side of the line is set for a few years.
December 4th, 2023 at 6:43 am
Burns was p’od by FSU getting snubbed, so he really wasn’t into playing today
December 4th, 2023 at 8:32 am
We should Sign Burns in the Offseason on a cheap deal since he has not had a great year.
December 4th, 2023 at 11:46 am
Even seasoned vets know that if they retaliate, it’s usually the retaliation that the refs see and penalize, but they do it anyway in the heat of the moment, costing their team.
For a rookie to be so aware (especially a feisty kid like Mauch) to just grin and “throw a flag” to help the refs, is awesome. In an emotional game like football, with playoffs hanging in the balance, far too often do you see even the best veterans hurt their team.
Mauch’s grin after the sucker punch basically said “How does your hand feel bro after punching my helmet? Hahaha” and the flag motion said “Bye bye. I win”.
I love it! I wish he was mic’ed up for every game like he was in that one pre-season game. He loves to chirp / instigate and he is apparently smart enough to use it to his and the team’s advantage. Sapp was like that. He would egg guys on and just wait for them get pissed and cost their team with stupid penalties.
December 4th, 2023 at 1:53 pm
Darin Says:
December 3rd, 2023 at 11:10 pm
Lol. Season hanging by a thread? That was week 4. The wheels have come off since. They’ll win just enough games to mess up the draft. Bad coached team
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Uh, the team was 3-1 after week 4. That’s hardly hanging by a thread.
The wheels fell off at some point after that when we lost 6 our of our last 8…
December 4th, 2023 at 2:38 pm
According to Bowles it wasn’t Mauch who said something it was another Bucs player but he wouldn’t go into it.
December 5th, 2023 at 6:06 am
Love it!
Shades of Jensen! Gotta love Mauch!
Go Bucs!