Brian Billick Wants Piece Of Winston
February 17th, 2015
Super Bowl-winning coach Brian Billick said he wouldn’t want to be “conned” by Jameis Winston.
Yeah, the crazy fun starts in the heart of the Midwest — in a sick way for NFL suits and potential draft picks — at the NFL Scouting Combine in frozen Indianapolis this week.
(As you read this story, Joe is likely enroute to the Crossroads of America.)
It’s the weird time when team executives try to throw off players during interviews, players who have been well-coached in what to say.
This ambush tactic is a chance to see players react in uncomfortable situations.
It seems Super Bowl-winning coach Brian Billick is well-versed in these interrogations. Speaking to Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune, Billick explained how he would try to sift through the shield and find the real Jameis Winston.
“If I’m sitting down with him, I’m telling him, ‘Look, I’m 60 years old, and I know what your agent says you need to say and all the prep you’ve done, but I need to cut through the bull because I don’t need to be conned,’” Billick said.
“And I don’t need to talk to Jameis Winston the football player, because I can look at the tape and see how dynamic he is. So, what I want to do is talk to the knucklehead that’s done some of the things he’s done. I want to talk to the guy who jumped up on the cafeteria table and find out what he was thinking then. I want to talk to the guy who walked out of the store with the crab legs and find out what the thought process was there.”
Billick is a true magician. He had a knack for developing quarterbacks and was instrumental in crafting the NFL careers of Tony Banks, Kyle Boller, Jeff Blake, Chris Redman, and yes, Trent Dilfer.
Joe really wonders what factor a player’s reaction to these gotcha questions really is in evaluations. Joe heard a story — no names because Joe was told this off the record — how a player combine interview dropped the f-bomb on a team’s head coach.
That player was eventually drafted by that same head cach and is currently still on said team’s roster.
Joe remembers the report of how former Bucs suit and current Dolphins general manager Dennis Hickey, then the right-hand man of Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik, once asked Myron Rolle if he was a traitor to his Florida State football team for studying at Oxford.
Then there was the time Hickey’s predecessor at Miami, Jeff Ireland, asked Dez Bryant how if felt to have a whore for a mother.
February 17th, 2015 at 9:09 am
All he needs to do is read the news stories ….Jameis’s track record and “the real Jameis”….is a matter of public record
February 17th, 2015 at 9:13 am
So, what I want to do is talk to the knucklehead that’s done some of the things he’s done.
——————————————
Face of the franchise? Even after the colossal Freeman failure?
February 17th, 2015 at 9:13 am
Who is doing the picking on the Bucs, Lovie? If so, what do you think he is going to pick?
I think what Bill Billick was/is doing is seeing how fast they could think to answer off the wall questions.
February 17th, 2015 at 9:21 am
OB, concensus pick, Glazer’s have final say. The way it should be.
It’s a no win for Lovie, if the guy works out as expected it’s a no brainer pick. The reality is most first round picks don’t.
February 17th, 2015 at 9:23 am
Any of the QB’s he “coached up ” strike fear in your heart ??????
February 17th, 2015 at 9:25 am
I have to say, if Jeff Ireland asked me a question like that, I would have punched him in the face regardless of the consequences.
There are some things that should be off limits.
February 17th, 2015 at 9:26 am
Billick is right. You have to cut through the bull with a player that has a past like Winston. It doesn’t mean you’ll get an honest, no bs answer though. Winston and everyone around him have been telling everyone all along how great of a person he is. He obviously has an interest in being portrayed as a good person but he certainly didn’t act that way In college. Regardless of what he or anyone else says, he’ll be a gamble. It’s a big risk to use the first pick on him. Even if he proves himself off the field, he still has to prove himself on it.
February 17th, 2015 at 9:27 am
@RayRay1
That one not mentioned. Tom Brady.
February 17th, 2015 at 9:27 am
Wait…I take that back, wrong coach lol.
February 17th, 2015 at 9:28 am
Yeah, I would want an F. Lee Bailey-type of guy grilling Winston and getting him totally out of his comfort level in a tiny room…..better still, I’d want detective Hank Voight giving him the interview in a small dingy room…..Winston might pee his pants……..
February 17th, 2015 at 9:30 am
FYI: Hank Voight is the “take no prisoners” cop on Chicago PD
February 17th, 2015 at 9:30 am
I really don’t see much point in asking dumb questions. Getting a reaction isn’t that important.
Of course, I read people pretty well when face to face. I would ask questions or outline scenarios, ask about a support system, that sort of thing.
February 17th, 2015 at 9:31 am
Just put a plate of crab legs in the room with a “Do not touch” sign. Odds are, they’d be gone when he left.
February 17th, 2015 at 10:05 am
I’m guessing that no matter what Winston’s answers are if the Glazers do take a hands on approach to the draft they’ll probably push for Winston if for no other reason than trying to appease/attract the FSU fanbase. I still think the main reason the Glazers canned Schiano a year too early and hand picked former glory years Bucs assistant coach Lovie was to pump up fan enthusiasm “coincidentally” at the same time they were releasing a new logo (merchandise sales!). Hopefully if they do “suggest” Lovie pick Winston in hopes off hooking the FSU fanbase it works out better than the Lovie Smith hire has thus far.
February 17th, 2015 at 10:13 am
JoeJoes Fungi Nails Says:
February 17th, 2015 at 9:09 am
All he needs to do is read the news stories ….Jameis’s track record and “the real Jameis”….is a matter of public record.
————————————
Yes, because news stories have never been known to be slanted one way or the other…because Trayvon Martin is a poor little innocent kid, because Reverend Al is a great leader, because all cops go out every night with the hopes to kill a black man, and most of all, everything Brian Williams reports is gospel.
For the love of all that is holy, can you please demonstrate the ability to think independently and have one freaking original thought? Seriously, some sheeple!
February 17th, 2015 at 10:26 am
Just like the “johnny drunk” of yester year we now have a jameis orgy…smh
February 17th, 2015 at 10:28 am
BuccaneerBonzai Says:
February 17th, 2015 at 9:25 am
I have to say, if Jeff Ireland asked me a question like that, I would have punched him in the face regardless of the consequences.
There are some things that should be off limits.
………………………………………
I would have too, hence showing that I didn’t deserve to be a Pro Athelete. They have to be prepared for questions like that all the time.
February 17th, 2015 at 11:08 am
I have found in life that when interviewing people and you want/need to know the real instead of the canned them, you have to come out of left field, asking about their Mothers is not in any field.
I have thrown resumes at the person and said anyone could write this BS tell me about you to see how fast and well they reacted.
The QB has to think and act fast under pressure and if you don’t find that out before and he can’t, you are doomed.
Top players in any university are treated like kings but they are going to be your rookies and they will not be treated like kings until they prove themself so you also need to know can they take this.
There is no perfect answer except for hindsight but you can drill down and find out.
Both Mariota and Winston need this to happen to them to see what they are and what they will be.
February 17th, 2015 at 11:09 am
He made him name as a supposed offensive guru at Minnesota. He had Moss, Carter, Smith at RB and Culpepper at QB chucking it up to Moss like Stafford does for Johnson. He never came close to assembling anything even remotely close to that record breaking offense in Baltimore and was let go.
February 17th, 2015 at 11:27 am
This is all grandstanding. The last thing these teams care about is a college student repeating an internet meme and a crab leg hookup
February 17th, 2015 at 11:37 am
Of course they are going to grill him! They need to see his reactions firsthand! If he’s uncomfortable and lieing it will show. When millions are at stake, you don’t worry about hurting his feelings!
February 17th, 2015 at 12:00 pm
I would listen to whatever Billick has to say. Geez, the man was smart enough to win the Superbowl with Trent (I can’t hit the broadside of a barn) Dilfer
February 17th, 2015 at 12:04 pm
JaMarcus,err, I mean Jameis Winston’s people have hired me to school him on how to get through the interview process and how to be a true professional in the NFL
February 17th, 2015 at 12:12 pm
Winston is Freeman 2.0 except more talented.
He is a diva. Hes been coddled his whole life.
He is a physical freak without morals. Just Josh Freeman.
Please dont draft ths guy!
I dont care how physically talented he is!
February 17th, 2015 at 12:27 pm
Teacherman777
I think his on field tools and talent are highly overreated
February 17th, 2015 at 12:30 pm
*overrated* ^^^
February 17th, 2015 at 3:23 pm
What crime or how much stupidity must a college kid show before NFL teams deem him unworthy of a high draft pick, if any at all?
February 17th, 2015 at 3:30 pm
Maybe so BuccaneerBonzai, but don’t you think a wise CB would try to get Bryant off his game by saying the same thing to him during a game.
If not, then you are really naive.
February 17th, 2015 at 4:39 pm
BuccaneerBonzai Says:
February 17th, 2015 at 9:25 am
Jeff Ireland….There are some things that should be off limits.
ddneast – I understand your point – but still agree with Bonzai. Saying something like that to a young man in what is basically a job interview is not acceptable. If I was the team owner and caught wind of that – there would be consequences
February 17th, 2015 at 5:06 pm
Joe, the list of QB’s Billick developed was supposed to be a joke right??
February 17th, 2015 at 5:37 pm
Friend don’t let friends draft Winston. Just say no to Winston.
February 17th, 2015 at 10:40 pm
If you don’t think NFL coaches and owners are concerned about this – or you think the (mostly) sympathetic local media attempts at minimizing this have been effective – you’re wrong.
It’s the elephant in the room…especially the standing on a table thing…
Equally, they’re going to be all over Marriota’s “nice guy” leader image…there are millions on the line…no question is out of bounds.
February 17th, 2015 at 10:54 pm
…although Ireland’s question was SO over the line, I believe he was forced to apologize for asking that question…at risk of his job.
February 17th, 2015 at 11:42 pm
Man, I wish I could be totally comfortable with us drafting Winston, because I love him as a player.
But something isn’t right with the dude.
Like Mike Mayock said:
“I think the bigger concern is whether this guy can be the face of your franchise. He was the face of the Florida State franchise, and that didn’t stop him from making bad decisions.”
Jameis only started two seasons at FSU, and made a transgression off the field every few months. Sure, he’s smart enough to avoid trouble between now and the draft, but then what?
People with personality disorders are good at conning people. They can fake empathy, and pretend that they are genuinely concerned about their own lapses in judgment and are going to make a concerted effort to tighten up. And they can pull it together long enough for people to trust them again, and then BOOM.
I said in some other comment to some other post that I did a lot worse than Jameis when I was his age, but that I was drunk or high every time. If Jameis doesn’t have substance abuse issues, how do you explain his behavior? Does he have deeper psychological issues?
As a Bucs fan, I’ll just have to trust their organizational judgment. Because, after all, they have never let us down in the past.