In a direct contradiction to Tampa Tribune NFL writer eye-RAH! Kaufman’s comments earlier, Ronde Barber told the St. Pete Times that the Bucs players weren’t working behind the scenes to get Jim Bates fired.

Barber said Bucs players did not lobby Morris to replace Bates or change the defensive scheme.

“I don’t think any players, save a few, knew about this until today,” Barber said. “There wasn’t any player input, it wasn’t a mass revolt against Jim Bates. That’s conjecture and fun to write, but completely false.”

Kaufman said in a radio interview this morning that a “militia unit formed, and that got it done,” referring to some players talking to Raheem The Dream about making a change.

Joe’s not taking sides, but Joe finds it hard to believe Barber and other players weren’t voicing their displeasure to Raheem The Dream. After all, the head coach is a big time player’s coach, and takes great pride in his communication with players.

Whether Raheem The Dream based any of his decision on player input, one could wildly speculate about that all day.