Tom Brady Has Devin White’s Back
November 5th, 2022
Rallying the troops.
It is obvious Bucs linebacker Devin White wants everyone to turn the page on one of the game’s greatest calling him out (on different platforms).
Joe gets it. Who wants to have bad things written about you or spoken about? The best way to prevent that is to not do bad things.
Ah, the rigors of making seven figures a year in a high-visibility gig for which taxpayers build you an office.
So when Bucs legend Warren Sapp noticed — in a tie game — White giving far less than 100 percent hustle, Sapp took to Instagram and unloaded on White and said White should have the “C” on his chest ripped off and replaced as a team captain.
Then Sapp went on Ian Beckles’ “In the Trenches” podcast and torched White some more.
Last week in the locker room, it was a bad vibe, at least on Wednesday. It was the first media availability since the loss to the Crows and the first since Sapp scolded White.
As Joe documented, several Bucs Pro Bowlers couldn’t dress and bolt out the back door of the locker room quick enough when the local pen and mic club was let in. One was White.
The Bucs linebacker was approached by reporters, who wanted his reaction on Sapp’s words. White passed and instead got out of dodge as if he were late for a dentist appointment.
Thursday, White stood in front of the Bucs’ backdrop in the locker room, which signaled his media availability was choreographed by the team. Rarely do players use the Bucs’ red backdrop. They speak at their lockers, usually.
If the team organizes a player to speak to the media, he stands in front of the backdrop. There, White basically said he had no comment about Sapp’s charges and was respectful of Sapp and his history with the team and his football resume. Smart move, Mr. White.
White apparently believed his standup to field comments about Sapp’s loafing allegation was enough and that the subject should be put to bed. But when a Bucs beat reporter accurately quoted White on Twitter, it clearly got under White’s skin.
Soon after, Tom Brady retweeted White’s missive and Brady basically told White he and the team have his back.
Well now. If it takes players getting irked about being quoted accurately to motivate them and galvanize the Bucs to maybe jolt the team back to life and into a winning streak, Joe is here for that.
And besides, who doesn’t like a dustup between a player and a member of the Fourth Estate? Those are always fun.
If this is what it takes to jump-start the Bucs, Joe hopes Sapp calls out and unloads on half the team.
Some 19 years after he last played for the Bucs, Sapp may still be impacting the team. In a good way!
November 5th, 2022 at 12:05 am
If this negative response to his play irks him more than his play, then we have a problem. I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but he probably should have clarified that, because it kinda seems like a toss-up.
November 5th, 2022 at 12:10 am
You meant 19 years. Otherwise Sapp would have played to Bradys age as a D linemen lol. I actually feel a change coming this week but not letting expectations get to high.. Go Bucs!
November 5th, 2022 at 12:42 am
be good if Sapp can get in the Glazers ear about firing leftwich & bowles
November 5th, 2022 at 1:12 am
That’s nice. So does every running back in the NFL. And tight end. That’s all they get is his back. So done with Diva.
November 5th, 2022 at 1:29 am
I wish we were talking about one play. We’re not. We’re talking hundreds of plays the last few games. Is he still trash talking during the games like he’s on steroids? Hope Tom takes over the defense, soon.
November 5th, 2022 at 1:39 am
Also, please don’t let our DC call a prevent defense against Cooper Kulp the first quarter, so Tom Brady won’t see the ball the first half, like previous games.
November 5th, 2022 at 1:55 am
Rams are already game-planning around Bowles and Leftys predictable and mindless schemes
November 5th, 2022 at 2:01 am
Bowles: If I only had a heart! (To fire up his team and gain some respect to the point where players actually fear getting cut)
Lefty: If I only had brain!
Glazers: What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! (To fire Bowles and Lefty)
November 5th, 2022 at 2:03 am
Sad really. Bucs are a downer this year. No fun at all.
November 5th, 2022 at 2:10 am
I’m the Bucs defense and I’m gassed…
Bucs on third-and-7+ include 0-for-10 when targeting Chris Godwin. Only two catches, no first downs. Only Bucs player with more than one such conversion all season is Cade Otton, who’s 2-for-3.
November 5th, 2022 at 3:03 am
Degrading a person publicly rarely has a positive effect.
White’s issue is that he try’s to do too much, and runs himself out of position.
Now, he’s got something to prove, and he feels like everyone is watching him.
He’s gonna be overrunning plays all day.
He’s still a kid. He needs to calm down, and play under control.
Calling him out for loafing was ok. Continue attacking him is just gonna undermine his confidence,
November 5th, 2022 at 3:32 am
Joe … ‘And besides, who doesn’t like a dustup between a player and a member of the Fourth Estate? Those are always fun.’
Maybe fun for the ‘members of the Fourth Estate’ Joe who can quite easily cover up their screwups & don’t have to truly be accountable for their actions. Not so much for the players whose mistakes are on parade & filmed every game. Most often ‘dustups’ as you call them are counterproductive. I agree with Capt Tim, ‘Continue attacking him is just gonna undermine his confidence’.
I’ve seen any number of articles here & elsewhere about certain players ‘taking plays off’. You all have said that about Suh in the past as I recall. Yet those are players who play the preponderance of the defensive or offensive snaps. Devin White for instance has played nearly 93% of all the def snaps we’ve had in the past 4 years. This year it’s 100%. And he, like LVD, really does go sideline-to-sideline on most plays. I don’t care what condition you’re in, that’s almost impossible to do for 60-70 (or more) plays each game (Ravens offense had the ball for 76 snaps). And especially while you’re being blocked by 300 lb OLinemen who’d love nothing more in life than to make you part of the earth.
Give the young man a break. He’s very talented, but obviously needs to learn that ‘members of the Fourth Estate’ are only his ‘friends’ while we’re winning. Hopefully with Hicks back, White can get back to playing the role that he should be playing instead of compensating for Licht’s blunders.
Not sure where you’re getting lack of accountability for anyone involved. White is a star player, a captain and a guy who tells the world how much he wants to be great and will be great. There’s no excuse for loafing. Players are taught from Day 1 of pee wee ball to play to the whistle, bust their ass for 5 or 6 seconds, then huddle up and do it again. Hustling is part of the game. If every player takes a play off, then Joe promises you’ll be watching a bad team. –Joe
November 5th, 2022 at 3:50 am
Amen, Defence Rules
November 5th, 2022 at 4:05 am
These children need to turn off their phones, stop caring about what people say, and prove that they are worthy of their salaries and swag. Play disciplined and well for four straight quarters. Then do it again. And again.
Then the criticism might stop.
Then again, with this coach, every player is compromised.
November 5th, 2022 at 5:08 am
I agree DR, D White is on the field all the time. But when you nake commemts like being bored out there like Devin has, you set yourself up for critique. And when it is a proven player like Sapp, 2 different all decade teams and HOF makes comments about your game as a defensive player, their is creedence to it. And White got real about it, which is good to see. I like Devin but he will be scrutinized all the more now. Hopefully he can man up, and handle this mentally and play well. At least we shall see.
GO BUCS!!!
November 5th, 2022 at 5:48 am
Sapp was right about 45. But it is a little ironic that the guy who took the 98 season off is calling out a loafer.
November 5th, 2022 at 5:50 am
Like a few have said, the “bored” comment he made is really what’s making this an issue.
November 5th, 2022 at 6:01 am
A lot of players takes a few plays off but you have to know which ones. Watch corners and receivers on the opposite side of a play. Both guys usually grab each other and do nothing much. Other positions have fewer opportunities. MLB probably has none.
IMO White is built to be an MLB physically but not mentally. It’s not just the loafing. He makes bad choices. Saw some film review this week that pointed that out as well. He can fix it but he has to want to.
November 5th, 2022 at 6:30 am
Defense Rules – Appreciate your intelligent and thoughtful comments as you always have for us. But this time, in this situation, your take misses the mark. Your point is generally correct, except when it involves someone who is accountable to no one. The utter failure of coaching and leadership leaves us – Johhny Q – as the final backstop for accountability. Calling out b.s. when your bosses are too delusional or timid to do it is a good thing. Maybe we’ve finally found a way to get through to these guys. The fact that he got pissed about it is a really really good sign.
November 5th, 2022 at 6:35 am
Leave it to DR to be the voice of reason and back it up with a statistic to prove
his point. Bad free agent decisions and injuries to key players such as Winfield, Davis, and Barrett have made the defense a shell of its former self. Sure it was a bad look on Thursday night in the second half. The whole defense got worn out by the Raven running game and way too much time on the field. I am no fan of
Thursday night football because the players don’t have enough time to recover from Sunday. Why don’t they move these games to Friday or Saturday and let banged up players heal.
November 5th, 2022 at 6:47 am
DungyDance … White’s actual quote was this:
“When you’re beating a team, kind of imposing your will on them, it can get boring, and you can get less aggressive,” linebacker Devin White said of surrendering two touchdowns late. “We’re just trying to stay aggressive.”
His choice of the word ‘boring’ was really poor IMO, but it’s obvious that he was equating that word with ‘you can get less aggressive’ (his words that followed). At the time, 4th qtr, we were leading 21-0 and the Falcons had punted 5 times and missed a FG or their first 6 drives of the game. Several of our 2nd-stringers were on the field (look at who made the tackles).
Do teams get ‘less aggressive’ in situations like that? I think most do. Thus the prevent defense? Trying to get the other team to run out the clock for you? However, the 2022 Bucs aren’t good enough to ever become ‘less aggressive’. White using the word ‘bored’ gave the ‘Fourth Estate’ all the ammunition they needed.
It’s funny to me though that in that same JBF article, Joe wrote this:
‘Hey, Joe gets that Falcons football can get boring, especially when Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Pitts are out injured as they were yesterday. The Bucs were leading by 21 points entering the fourth quarter. Joe was eager to wrap the damn game up and grab a Bromosa and a couple of gems from Burger Monger. But Joe wasn’t on the field earning hundreds of thousands of dollars to play a game for 60 minutes.’
By his own words, Joe was ‘eager to wrap the damn game up’.
Sounds like Joe was more ‘bored’ than White was.
You do realize how ludicrous it is to compare a fan to a player?–Joe
November 5th, 2022 at 7:06 am
DR – fair enough….in that situation. But this one is different.
November 5th, 2022 at 7:32 am
Sunday planning to watch game at home while loafing and trying to not be bored.
November 5th, 2022 at 7:39 am
Move on. You’ve beat this horse to death. Fans and media have the luxury of hindsight . Easy to critique someone afterwards. Media doesn’t know squat. They just try to trigger people.
November 5th, 2022 at 8:42 am
Number 1 it was more than 1 play. I don’t know why White, Brady, Bowles, and whomever else is trying to down play this as if it were just one play. It was the entire game. You can’t put that on tape wearing a “C” on your chest. You just can’t. Devin White may be to inconsistent of a player to be a team captain to begin with. If you are gonna be a captain you have to do your job right first. How are you gonna tell me to pick it up when you are the worst player on the field against the Ravens. Say what you want. I been a fan of this team before any of these kats showed up. That’s what qualifies me to say Devin White quit vs the Ravens. I have seen players quit on this team before. He had that same energy about him last Thursday.
November 5th, 2022 at 8:48 am
I will sit down and watch tape with anyone who tells me Devin White didn’t quit or that Tom Brady didn’t miss 10 throws and or reads in that game with no pressure in his face.
November 5th, 2022 at 9:44 am
While we hold a young man’s feet to the flames for accountability, where are the grown ass men that own the team, run the team, and is the signal caller for this team taking accountability?
November 5th, 2022 at 10:49 am
Have you ever played the sport or any physical sport that gets your heart raising? White has 535 snaps already this year. We’re lucky he is not seriously injured when you talking about hustling is a part of the game.
November 5th, 2022 at 12:07 pm
Criticism of players has always been a thing and will always be a thing. Leading by example is a real thing in team sports so when a captain is loafing then refuses to take it on the chin it’s just a bad look think Devin could have handle the situation better just from the beginning and owned up to it and everyone would have moved on but he didn’t so we still are talking about it. We are in an era where everything one says and does is viewed under a microscope just what it is adapt and move forward. Let’s turn this around bucs go bucs!!!
November 5th, 2022 at 1:13 pm
Pretty crazy how this organization tip-toes around Sapp but had no problem ripping Gruden’s name from the Ring of Honor
November 5th, 2022 at 3:46 pm
I think we win tomorrow!!!!!
November 5th, 2022 at 4:14 pm
Classy move by Brady to back his teammate publicly
November 5th, 2022 at 11:33 pm
Since all of y’all know so much about football and have all these negative comments, get your butts out there on Sundays since you ALL know more than Brady, White, Bowles, and Leftwich.
November 8th, 2022 at 4:28 am
The loaf play deserved a call out…Period. But that’s not what really bugs me about D Whites overall play. He is a grand stander and because of this he runs himself “sideline to sideline” out of position to make the plays he should make routinely, and puts teammates under unnecessary pressure…LVD.. Also celebration after giving up a first down? Really? Wish Sapp had called him out on that!
November 8th, 2022 at 4:31 am
The “fourth estate” Used to be an honorable thing Joe. Today …Not so much…
November 8th, 2022 at 4:37 am
SOEbuc Says:
November 5th, 2022 at 10:49 am
Have you ever played the sport or any physical sport that gets your heart raising? White has 535 snaps already this year. We’re lucky he is not seriously injured when you talking about hustling is a part of the game.
Yes Yes and Yes
November 8th, 2022 at 4:58 am
“Not sure where you’re getting lack of accountability for anyone involved. White is a star player, a captain and a guy who tells the world how much he wants to be great and will be great. There’s no excuse for loafing. Players are taught from Day 1 of pee wee ball to play to the whistle, bust their ass for 5 or 6 seconds, then huddle up and do it again. Hustling is part of the game. If every player takes a play off, then Joe promises you’ll be watching a bad team. –Joe”
I will add this. Having played the game for 8 years, I have seen guys half ass it in games and in practice and although I have no “stats”. Those guys seemed to be the guys who wound up “injured”.
Also Joe. Teammates hold each other accountable as well as coaches. Don’t see much of that going on with D White.