Unlikely Blount Returns
May 5th, 2017
Just a memory.
Joe has been getting a lot of Twitter questions of late asking if the Bucs are going to bring back LeGarrette Blount.
The hurdling, unemployed running back played three seasons for the Bucs and led the NFL in touchdowns (18) last year with the Belicheats.
There are two reasons why Blount is unlikely to return. Joe will share a couple stories about the first reason.
Joe remembers in the last season under commander Greg Schiano, if the Bucs won but Blount didn’t get what he perceived as his fair share of touches, the dude couldn’t run off the field quick enough. He wouldn’t even shower. Guy bolted out of the locker room, sometimes even before it was opened to the pen and mic club. He raced out of the stadium as if there was an Ebola virus.
If the Bucs lost and Blount carried the rock, he was a happy camper and took his time coming off the field as he had a good time talking to guys on the opposing sideline.
Joe remembers bringing this up to a high-ranking Bucs suit after Blount was traded to the Belicheats, and the executive quickly pointed a finger right at Joe’s face and said, “And THAT’S one reason why he’s no longer here.”
Earlier this year at the NFL combine, Joe shared this story with a Steelers beat writer. Bucs fans seem to easily forget that one of the best organizations in all of sports also booted Blount out the door. Why? Joe was told the exact same stunts he pulled with the Bucs he tried with Mike Tomlin and the Steelers, and Tomlin wouldn’t tolerate it.
Blount didn’t help himself when he got busted for weed with Le’Veon Bell.
Quite a few folks at One Buc Palace remember Blount’s Bucs days and the memories are too fresh.
Second, Blount is 30. The current administration of the Bucs is loathe to sign a running back — no matter his name — who is 30 or older. Data on running backs 30 or older is damning and the current front office has little desire to play high stakes poker with a rotten hand.
Now, if Blount were willing to take a deal where he would get part-time cash for part-time work, there could be a chance Blount would return, but Joe would place the odds at south of 10 percent.
Given Blount’s history, his age, and the current crowded backfield for the Bucs, Joe has a hard time believing Blount will ever suit up here again.
May 5th, 2017 at 6:38 am
Dont want him….
May 5th, 2017 at 6:51 am
Of all the ….well Joe didn’t say he was stupid ….I don’t think he would want to come back….The only big back we needed was @Brandon THE MITIGATING FACTOR JOE MIXON!’
May 5th, 2017 at 6:59 am
But we didnt get Mixon so move on lol
May 5th, 2017 at 7:04 am
And yes, I dont see the reason to sign Blount. I dont understand why fans want him. I dont understand it when fans say “we have the worst group of RBs in the league”. How many RBs do they want us to have, 7?
The draft is over which means there isnt much more speculation to make. They didnt even bring in an undrafted RB. The RBs we have now is all we will have.
May 5th, 2017 at 7:09 am
The last time I checked Jim Brown was still walking. Perhaps we should bring him in for a tryout.
Seriously, I don’t think our RB corps is in that bad of shape. Yes, we were poor last year but Martin has run better behind worse lines than we will have this year. We have new receiving weapons that will open up our offense and drafted a new RB. We will surprise in the running game this year.
May 5th, 2017 at 7:27 am
Different staff. And being on Patriots, do you really think he got away with that stuff?
Really, who could blame him back then? He felt he was good enough to start and it wasn’t happening.
May 5th, 2017 at 7:32 am
What I really want back is those uniforms!! Jameis would look so much better in that
May 5th, 2017 at 7:39 am
I can blame him. At no point in his career has he been good enough to act like an entitled tool. I might tolerate that act from AP in his prime or Barry Sanders.
May 5th, 2017 at 7:39 am
Get over it hog, lol. He never going to be a buc and we don’t need him or Blount. What Joe’s won’t accept is our rb situation, is fine. Not great but doable. I think as the season wears on even the Joes are going to accept that.
May 5th, 2017 at 7:54 am
At that point in his career he was trying to play catch up on contracts. He lost millions because of the punch heard around the football world. I’m sure after his time with the Pats and maturing as he aged, he will be a better teammate. He saw the GOAT earn far less than he’s worth so they can continue to win. Not saying he will end up here, but he will be a different teammate now than he was when he first entered the league
May 5th, 2017 at 7:56 am
That uniform is sweet!!!
May 5th, 2017 at 8:00 am
@Bobby A
How many RBs scored more TDs than him last year?
May 5th, 2017 at 8:05 am
I don’t personally care if we get him or not. I just want a good, hard hitting short yardage back. We’ve been stopped at 3rd and 2 or 3 far too many times. I would think it would be obvious to the coaching staff and Licht by now.
ONLY having fast, dancing RBs will not bring sustained success.
We need balance too.
May 5th, 2017 at 8:06 am
I do think Sweezy will at least, if healthy, be a good run blocker. Pass blocker? We’ll see.
May 5th, 2017 at 8:14 am
Man Joe didn’t know it went that deep now I know. He even punched a player on the Titans. How can a thug be a pri madonna, all this me me me! He was real unhappy when we drafted Dougie. Well what does he need now? He already has 2 rings. More than likely he burned up all his money buying dumb things.
May 5th, 2017 at 8:15 am
They need to bring back the 1997-2013 unis as SOON as contractually possible. SO much better….plus think of all the #3s you’d sell, hell, #3 is the only one who could get me to buy one of these current XFLish unis and I’d buy another #3 if they went back to what’s good….
May 5th, 2017 at 8:19 am
“Crowded backfield”. Of what? Bodies don’t equal talent.
And the Patriots did ok with Blount as the bell cow. To me this is a collassal admission by some Bucs officials that they didn’t and couldn’t build a winning culture. The Bucs underplayed him for “reasons”…why would he be happy when a guy that talented is watched his “winning organization” lose over and over again.
But because of all that, he actually doesn’t have a whole lot of miles on him. I was always a Blount over Martin guy, and watching Blount hug Brady (again) after another SB win while Martin abandons his team at the heart of the season showed me I may’ve been right.
May 5th, 2017 at 8:31 am
I think from Licht’s view, if AP was a no, then Blount is too. He must be content with this RB situation. Go Bucs!
May 5th, 2017 at 8:40 am
LOL, guys still talking about the unis. I am sure there was the same talk when we moved on from creamsicle orange. I like the new unis better. The old pewter pant with visible sweat stains had run their course.
As far as the RB situation, I think it is perfectly acceptable to look into ways to improve a position where there may be a need for an upgrade. I hadn’t heard all of that stuff about Blount. If it is true then he is not the kind of guy we need in the locker room. The culture has changed and we don’t need a punk like that in their messing things up.
May 5th, 2017 at 8:50 am
Mike James was released by the niners
We need a big back on 3rd and short
Koetter is more comfortable running than passing at 3rd and short
May 5th, 2017 at 8:53 am
“TouchDownTampaBay Says:
May 5th, 2017 at 8:40 am
LOL, guys still talking about the unis. I am sure there was the same talk when we moved on from creamsicle orange”
You’re kidding, right? When we moved from the orange, EVERYONE loved the new unis. To say anything otherwise is revisionist history.
Now, after 10 or so years of pewter, was there some nostalgia for the orange? Sure, but, it’s not the same as what’s happening now.
Does is make a difference ultimately? No, But, it’s was never the same as this latest change.
May 5th, 2017 at 8:53 am
The dude “had” some mental issues which is why he was not drafted and why he was kicked out of school and why as a Florida high school star no state school including the walking the edge era of leavitt, didnt want him, so he went to the pacific coast to another shady program and did well until he landed in boise, but he may have grown up and matured because the guy can play and the bucs need a between the tackles runner. I still think the bucs call up cincy and send a 3rd round pick for jeremy hill
May 5th, 2017 at 8:54 am
The current uniofrms are gawd awlful UGLY
May 5th, 2017 at 9:11 am
Pass protection by RB is crucial in Head Coach Koetter’s Offense,, so that is a huge NO for blount!!!!!!
May 5th, 2017 at 9:11 am
Dustthy
Good analysis of Blount’s career. Dude had amazing talent…too bad as you point out he has mental issues.
He does have a great name…Blount…as in blunt force…or as in let’s fire up a Blunt! LMAO I’m sure he’s fired up his share of namesakes.
But I hear ya Dusthty at bringing him in. He’s lost all his leverage. He’s fundamentally a punk who acts out if the opportunity presents itself. I think he knows he’s no longer valuable enough to act out or he’s finished.
My questions are more about his body at this point. He used to be a hard runner whose earned a lot of his bacon in bruising short yard situations.
I’m wondering if the beating has taken it’s toll yet and whether he still running as hard.
BTW speaking of running hard…nobody is going to accuse McNichols of being able to go “beast mode” but he is a hard runner. Check out the link yesterday and watch what happens when he and the defender reach the sideline and it’s time to go OT. Not McNichols…he lowers his head and bulls for a few more yards.
But what excited me was not even the extra yards….some backs run and you can tell they are avoiding contact and protecting themselves….Sims comes to mind…others run hard and do not shy away from contact but do not necessarily deliver it…McNichols looks like one of those backs who actually ENJOYS the contact and when the run is over and it’s time to cash out he’d rather get in a lick.
May 5th, 2017 at 10:00 am
The rarely used red top-white pants jersey combo was our all time best, fwiw.
Legarette Blount has been a more productive running back 3 out of 4 seasons since the Bucs made the misguided decision to move on from him.
Legarette Blount was good enough to win a Super Bowl carrying more than 70% of the load in the Patriots backfield, but we can’t sign him because he can’t protect the QB? How many times did a missed Blount block get Brady lit up in the past 3 years?
Blount was right to be pissed at the entire Doug Martin situation. Burn a 1st rounder unnecessarily replacing Blount, burn a 1st and a 3rd on Revis filling the hole you created by unnecessarily dumping Talib, and in both cases the expensive replacement was worse than the “problem” he replaced. Hell, Talib is on his way to freaking Canton and people around here still act like he was the team’s biggest problem when he was here.
This type of “franchise building” is why our last GM went 28-52.
If you can fill a need – and short yardage/depth at RB is the biggest need – for a reasonable price, you should not hesitate to bring in the guy who filled that role for the Super Bowl Champions.
We should have signed Anquan Bolden before last year — same with Blount now.
May 5th, 2017 at 10:18 am
Only a moron keeps repeating himself over and over again
May 5th, 2017 at 10:20 am
I think the helmets are an upgrade. I like the different shade of pewter, bigger logo and chrome masks. The main problem with the unis are the alarm clock numbers. I may be in the minority though. I like both Seattle’s newer unis as well as ours.
May 5th, 2017 at 10:42 am
why would we want a back thqt scores TD’s that makes no sense when we can have a non scoring, unreliable, POS who has only had a few good games in 5 years nah who needs touchdowns when we can have a gerbil.
Blount scored 18 touchdowns last year that bum POS martin has 22 for his entire crappy career that the fanboys only remember the handful of good games and conveniently forget that he threw up on himself more than he looked good.
May 5th, 2017 at 10:49 am
We need to sign Deangleo Williams to a 1 year deal.
We have no idea how Doug Martin will perform this season and Williams is a proven back. The Steelers just didn’t need him even when he put up ridiculous numbers. It be good to get some new veteran expirance back there.
May 5th, 2017 at 11:32 am
Haha I have a bucs Blount jersey bring him back!
May 5th, 2017 at 11:47 am
BigHogHaynes Says:
May 5th, 2017 at 6:51 am
Of all the ….well Joe didn’t say he was stupid ….I don’t think he would want to come back….The only big back we needed was @Brandon THE MITIGATING FACTOR JOE MIXON!’
—————
Anybody care to tell me why this dude is obsessed with me? Hey, at least he spelled “mitigating” correctly for a change. Good job, kid.
May 5th, 2017 at 11:49 am
I can understand how we haven’t signed him but really have no clue how any other team hasn’t. He must be asking for waay too much cus he’s been a good RB up until the end of last season.
May 5th, 2017 at 12:34 pm
Buc’s suits 0 rings, Blunt two, i guess they showed him.
May 5th, 2017 at 12:46 pm
@Joeypoppems…I believe we will need a bigger running back in order to have the success that we will need with the play-action part of our game plan! I do realize that we didn’t pick MIXON, my hope is that it doesn’t bite us in the Ass!
May 5th, 2017 at 1:48 pm
Yea, Im with you on the bigger back. I just dont think it will be Blount.
May 5th, 2017 at 1:52 pm
Joe, he probably ran out of the stadium like there was a MRSA infection.
Poor Lawrence Tynes. Feel bad for the guy. He still would have been our kicker had this unfortunate infection not happen. The guy was solid.
May 5th, 2017 at 2:01 pm
Blount would be nice as a..change of pace back. He can tire out a Defense.
I’d take a chance on him. But the Bucs won’t. He’ll land somewheres…..
May 5th, 2017 at 5:37 pm
alamba78
the only reason to feel sorry for Tynes is because of who he is married to…