Jason Licht Channels Joe Namath
July 24th, 2014
Right now for Bucs fans, thinking of the offensive line is enough to induce chugging bottles of Mylanta. It makes Joe thirsty, too, but not for a chalky indigestion elixir.
The Bucs, as of 6 p.m. last night, fully expected hobbled guard Carl Nicks to show up today. He didn’t; he has an excused absence to tend to a family issue. Nicks, as we all know by now, has a bum foot, specifically a bum toe, and has played sparingly since coming to the Bucs in 2012.
If he can’t play, on paper, the guard play looks grim. But don’t tell that to Jason Licht. The Bucs general manager went all Joe Namath yesterday talking to the Tampa Bay pen and mic club.
No, Licht did not have a sultry babe hanging on his arm with a bourbon and water in his other hand. And, no, he wasn’t wearing a full-length fur coat. No, Licht all but promised an unknown star will arise from the current roster of offensive linemen to shine this season even if Nicks can’t play, not unlike Namath’s proclamation the Jets would win the Super Bowl in 1968.
“There are a lot of players on this team besides Carl Nicks,” Licht said. “I am excited about the guard situation, the guard competition. That will be a fun one to watch for training camp. I don’t want to eliminate a name. We have Jamon Meredith. We have Kadeem Edwards who has been doing a lot of great things for us, [also] Patrick Omameh. There will be competition there. Someone will surprise us, I guarantee it.”
Joe has to admit he likes a general manager brimming with confidence. Still, Joe is confident Bucs fans won’t rest easy at night, no matter what Licht proclaims, until that unknown future stud arises and puts opposing defensive lineman on their backs, and them covers them with Mrs. Butterworths.
For the full Licht press conference, click the orange button below. courtesy of Joe’s good friends at WDAE-AM 620.
July 24th, 2014 at 3:12 pm
Mmmmm, pancakes.
July 24th, 2014 at 3:16 pm
“Someone will surprise us, I guarantee it.”
I get the context of his comment, but I don’t think we really want to hope for good play out of an O/lineman to come as a surprise? I would think a GM expects it if this is the group of players he has put his stamp of approval on.
July 24th, 2014 at 3:20 pm
The only reason nicks is still around is because of his contract. I am sure there is some kind of loophole that if he shows up to all the Mandatory functions and attempts to participate in practice, he gets some kinda of bonus. He is not going to play another down, lets take our losses and move on.
July 24th, 2014 at 3:30 pm
I suspect lawyers are lurking in the shadows of misinforation clouding the publics view of the truth.
July 24th, 2014 at 4:04 pm
JC this Nicks BS is gonna be the death of me. Even ESPN is saying the Bucs success is predicated on Nicks return which is like saying that if my uncle had tits he’d be my aunt.
July 24th, 2014 at 5:00 pm
I’m sure the Bucs, Lovie, and Licht know what to expect from Nicks. And I’m sure the team know what they have on the offensive line. Reading comments from people that don’t coach and get worried about it is a waste of time. Until I see it on the field I’ll leave my judgement in check. Others should do the same.
July 24th, 2014 at 5:12 pm
roll tide Joe willie!!!!!!!!
July 24th, 2014 at 5:12 pm
Nicks is going to retire in the next week or so. At the very least he will start off on the PUP list…which for him, is a precursor to retiring.
July 24th, 2014 at 5:37 pm
Brandon, if he retired the Bucs would celebrate. He won’t, or shouldn’t. So long as he keeps showing up his cash this year is guaranteed. No reason for him to fail to do that. In his situation, I’d keep milking it too. His injuries happened because of football, might as well get what he can, while he can. He’s done though.
July 24th, 2014 at 5:53 pm
I like the breathe of fresh air on the O-Line. Hell, I’m not even sure what kind of blocking scheme we plan on running. Tedford and his coaching staff are the x factor here… How quickly can they get these guys to learn and gel? If they can align most of their ducks by the beginning of the season our O-line and the rest of the offense could surprise.
July 24th, 2014 at 6:16 pm
Just want to say thank you Joe(s) for getting us all thru the “withdrawal stages” of offseason. Definitely had some ‘jonesing’ moments. Love all your work, from the bottom 20 list to the many articles we had today for the opening of TC. Now that we made it to TC, the euphoria even has me feeling like sending out some love to the MGM…. nnnnaaaaaawwww!
May Bucs fans everywhere have a great and winning 2014 football season!!!
July 24th, 2014 at 6:26 pm
You are welcome Harry!
July 24th, 2014 at 7:27 pm
Even if Nicks DOES come back, I’m not sure he’d be a great fit. A very powerful man, but fast and nimble he is not. In this system, there’s surely going to be a lot of pulling with the guards, not exactly Nick’s forte (even at his best).
I still hope he can squeeze another year or two out of his career, because his straight on run blocking is something to watch, a pure mauler that can certainly open some holes for the Muscle Hampster!
July 24th, 2014 at 8:10 pm
Despite Carl being absent today, I still fully expect him to play this season. Its not so much anything he’s done to make me believe that, its more about what the bucs have done. Think about it, if the bucs thought Nicks would be a no go this season, do you really think they would have further depleted the line by trading away Zuttah? or how about waiting till the fifth round to finally draft a guard? heck no they wouldn’t, but they made those decision fully aware of Nicks’ intentions this season.
July 24th, 2014 at 8:41 pm
There’s also these quotes from the Licht by the tribune-
[These same quotes came from the audio Joe posted above. smh — Joe]
So it looks like he’s been working out and is cleared to do football activities. I think he plays this season, but wont necessarily be the elite player he once was. Then again, all he needs is to be better than his back ups Cousins and Omameh to break the starting lineup. That shouldn’t be to difficult for him.
July 24th, 2014 at 9:09 pm
I agree with Andrew 1. I believe this staff ‘expects’ Nicks to play. I just hope it’s not the same kind of expectation the last Buccaneer staff had about Bowers replacing Bennett.
There will ‘probably’ be some guards released as the regular season gets close, but that is something that you can *not* count on.
July 24th, 2014 at 9:16 pm
Jesus I couldn’t even read the article now with the ad bar at the bottom and 97 more on the sides. I gather Joe you have to make your paper but the ad bar at the bottom that you can’t close is a bit much don’t you think. You’re bigger than corporate greed keep it that way! I’m stoked for training camp and can’t wait to see that nasty D get after it! If Mason Foster takes another step. Watch out!
Jiminy Christmas, All you have to do is X out or click cancel. It’s don all the time all over the internet. –Joe
July 24th, 2014 at 9:48 pm
@ Hawk
Very true, I completely forgot about the Bowers in favor of Bennett gaffe, and hopefully that situation doesn’t play itself with Nicks. But I’m much more confident in L&L judgement than Shciano’s or Dom’s. And like you said the bucs could always decide to pick up a cap casualty veteran, but probably weren’t pinning their hopes on that player. Still…picking someone up wouldn’t be a bad idea.
July 24th, 2014 at 10:09 pm
Matt:
The bar has an X on the right side. Joe gets the same bar.
July 24th, 2014 at 10:42 pm
@ Joe
Lmao, I realized after I posted my comment that there was an audio clip above the Joe Namath clip. Would have deleted it, but I had no way of doing that. Feel free to delete the whole thing.
July 24th, 2014 at 11:22 pm
Matt G Says:
July 24th, 2014 at 9:16 pm
(Joe) You’re bigger than corporate greed keep it that way!
-Clearly not.
July 24th, 2014 at 11:41 pm
The internet is becoming so smart it’s scary I was reading a bucs article on some random sight. It started with the 50 most untradable players and ended on a article about Lavonte David’s first quarter against falcons. Then at the bottom of the page was a story about how Kim kardashian is going to make 85 million off her stupid app. I clicked to read story and now that app pops up every time I click on a story at joe bucs fan. This is some through the wormhole stuff with Morgan freeman. The internet is getting to smart. Before we know it there will be articles about the bucs on espn and nfl.com. About how were the team to beat go bucs 12 years in the making playoff victory this year
July 24th, 2014 at 11:55 pm
Let’s not count Nix out when he is dealing with a family situation. We know he chose to stay at the Buc’s complex to try and be as ready for camp as he could. That choice may not have set well with his family. He passed his physical to play football, too, demonstrating how hard he has worked to get back. Nix is no free loader. Hope he gets his family problem behind him. He wants to get back or he would not have put in all that work!
July 25th, 2014 at 1:47 am
Who cares lol, logically it makes the comment more relevant to the article at hand if they are indeed in the audio…
Your a funny guy, smh.
July 25th, 2014 at 5:39 am
@ Andrew you poor deluded bastard.