Great/Sad Draft Story About Chucky
April 25th, 2024
“This is just f@#$ing bullsh!t! I never wanted that chickensh!t weirdo from Cal.”
Well, it seemed Chucky had a love/hate relationship with Packers quarterbacks.
Famed sports journalist, columnist and author Ian O’Connor, who wrote a biography of former Packers and current Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, shared a 2005 draft-day-eve moment when Chucky still ran the football operations of the Bucs (and Bruce Almighty was his henchman).
It seems Chucky told Rodgers if he was still on the board when the Bucs picked, his new home would be Tampa.
Chucky lied.
Joe will let O’Connor fill in the blanks.
Who knows how Bucs history would have changed if that happened? But first, to think the Bucs would have had as much success as the Packers enjoyed with Rodgers, you’d have to do some mental gymnastics.
Rodgers have had to be developed under Chucky. Let’s be real: Chucky has never developed a rookie quarterback. And given how Rodgers is, well, a unique individual, would he have melted down under the heat of Chucky’s fire? Would Rodgers have blown up (in a bad way) at Chucky’s combustion?
Then, remember Chucky was absolutely horrible at the draft. Quick, name a special player Chucky drafted. Joe can think of one: Davin Joseph.
OK, you could argue Jeremy Zuttah. And yeah, Joe guesses you could say Cosey Coleman. He was a nice player. Of course, Chucky had Bill Muir as an offensive coordinator/offensive line coach and Muir was one of the best.
So even if Rodgers was drafted by the Bucs, he first would have had to have been developed. Second, he would have had to carry teams since Chucky sucked so badly at the draft.
But yeah, Rodgers > Jeff Garcia.
What could have been? Maybe.
(O’Connor’s biography of Rodgers, “Out of the Darkness,” is scheduled for release Aug. 20.)
(Hat tip: @bucscanucks.)
April 25th, 2024 at 2:06 pm
Hmmm…KAaron would have been pressed into service on day one. With the Pack he has time to ripen. Still…
April 25th, 2024 at 2:08 pm
Good article.
April 25th, 2024 at 2:12 pm
I liked Chucky as a coach but he was horrible on draft day. Not only with us the Raiders also.
April 25th, 2024 at 2:18 pm
Needed someone like Gruden calling plays BUT someone like Licht (and his personnel dept) working the draft. That would have been something. 2 decades of mostly mediocre drafting killed the Bucs after that first Superbowl.
April 25th, 2024 at 2:18 pm
Yea agreed. There are too many moving parts to predict what kind of QB would have been under Gruden. Think AR would have had a nervous break down playing for Chucky. “C’mon Aaron…get your ass in gear! Let’s see some juice!”
April 25th, 2024 at 2:21 pm
There was another about a tift between McKay and Gruden over a pick Gruden thought was going to be the name on the card and Rich had another name.
I suspect that their personality clashes went back to the old days when Rich was the coach’s son and Jon a assistant coaches son , just a hunch.
April 25th, 2024 at 2:25 pm
Chucky got a raw deal from the NFl. And everybody knows it. I wonder what the status of his lawsuit is?
April 25th, 2024 at 2:30 pm
I think the only reason we didn’t take Rodgers was the Tampa coaching staff was assigned to coach the East squad in the senior bowl that year because of there poor finish. At the Bowl game and week of practice, Chucky fell in love with Caddy (hard to blame him). Caddy is a great dude and a tireless worker, thus the shift from Rodgers. No Sr Bowl, no Caddy and its different. Lets not forget though, it took Rodgers 2 years to get to nfl ready and also…. The Bucs and Rodgers have the same # of Super Bowls since Rodgers entered the league. Barrett Rudd and Alex Smith shined that week too!
April 25th, 2024 at 2:44 pm
Gruden era was full of draft bust and mismanagement
April 25th, 2024 at 2:55 pm
Holy crap
April 25th, 2024 at 3:00 pm
I will always like the 2002 Gruden. This can never be changed in my mind. He got us to the promise land. He put together an offense that finished the job! I don’t need to mention our 2002 defense that goes without saying.
Thank you Coach!
April 25th, 2024 at 3:24 pm
Gruden took us over the top but his drafts were less that stellar. Aaron is a nut job but he is a great QB.
April 25th, 2024 at 3:39 pm
Ouch. That one hurts. Loved me some Caddy in year one though. Sure thought we had a future hall of famer there and not just his cleats.
April 25th, 2024 at 4:36 pm
Chucky has George Allen’s mindset of “Win Now” and that rookies are not ready to win now, they both preferred Vets.
The problem is that Chucky not only sucked at the draft unlike Allen who was great at finding the right Vets…Chucky didn’t have Allen’s eye for talent there either.
April 25th, 2024 at 4:39 pm
Chucky took Dungy’s team to the Super Bowl and then ran it into the ground.
In retrospect, should the Bucs have kept Tony and just found a better OC? Revisionist history but I lean towards, yes. Glad we won. It was an amazing year but the following 20-year sentence was a heavy price to pay.
April 25th, 2024 at 4:49 pm
I mean, Cadillac was also a pretty darn good player that they drafted…
Unfortunately the ran him into the ground. But yes, AR would have been a better pick, IF we had a coaching staff to develop him.
Him and Chucky would have never worked.
April 25th, 2024 at 5:14 pm
Easy there SlyPirate Jon Gruden brought in 22 new players in his first year-so Gruden changed out 40% of the team, hard to say it was all Dungys’ team.
April 25th, 2024 at 5:23 pm
Chucky got a raw deal. The Bucs gave away 2 1st and 2 nd round draft picks for Gruden. That could of restocked the team with young talent. He had to go with veterans since he had no picks.
April 25th, 2024 at 6:10 pm
The greatest feeling a true NFL fan could have is having his team WIN THE SUPER BOWL! Although winning it at home with the GOAT is priceless!
April 25th, 2024 at 6:14 pm
Mike Johnson— EVERYONE?? knows it??
April 25th, 2024 at 6:27 pm
Gruden sucked as a coach and as a GM.
To listen to him on TV talk all the time about “man, if only the Bucs would have drafted me a QB I wouldn’t be in the booth,” is as fake as it gets, considering he was the one who got Rich McKay so he could put his stooge, Bruce Allen in charge, and take a team that should have been a dynasty and turned it into a one and done.
D-bag.
April 25th, 2024 at 6:43 pm
Gru is basically a career .500 coach who won a ring thanks to an all-time defense. Overrated.
April 25th, 2024 at 7:33 pm
I liked Gruden, but yes, he was not a good evaluator of talent. He basically gave up and drafted for special teams after the second round. Drafting Karen Rodgers was basically a gift from the football gods to the Packers for the infamous 1989 class featuring Tony Mandarich and two QBs, Jeff Graham and Anthony Dilwig. How many teams have ever drafted QBs in consecutive rounds?
April 25th, 2024 at 9:03 pm
Let’s be honest, watching the first 4 games after that draft… Cadillac looked amazing. Chuckie ran the wheels off of that kid. He could have been amazing.
That said, Aaron Rodgers and Frank Gore in the second? With 20/20 hindsight?
April 26th, 2024 at 8:42 am
Chucky got us over whatever mental defect kept us out of the SB for a few years before him. Dungy built a great defense and they won the SB. Bowles defense won us the second 1
April 29th, 2024 at 6:41 am
Rogers has never had the mental toughness needed to be a QB under someone like Chucky. He has been more of a choke artist to me. His first year after Favre he got busted in the chops here in Tampa on a sack and folded like a cheap tent.
Go Bucs!