Saints Gathering Draws Most Players
May 3rd, 2011
"That's nice, Drew. But we're going to bury you this year."
Of course, Joe hates the Saints and can’t wait for Adrian Clayborn to shatter Drew Brees’ face mask.
But Joe keeps track of all things Bucs-related, and in the world of lockout journalism, Saints players launching organized workouts in a big way is Bucs news. NFL.com reported a majority of Saints are attending the camp at Tulane University and caught Brees talking big.
“We have everything here we would have at our training facility. Guys were here in bigger numbers than even I expected,” Brees said.
He added: “The more organized you can be as a team, the more you can communicate during May, June, July, the better. None of us know how long (the lockout) is going to go on. This gives us the best position to be successful once the season does start.
“It helps when you have veteran guys like (safety Darren) Sharper, (linebacker Jonathan) Vilma, Stinchcomb showing up.”
Now Joe knows Josh Freeman worked out at USF recently with what Tampa Tribune beat writer Anwar Richardson reported were skill position players.
But this Saints stuff with 37 guys showing up and private trainers, and covered by NFL.com, is enough to start Joe wondering when Freeman will round up the rest of the team and do something similar.
Get’em out there Josh.
May 3rd, 2011 at 1:50 pm
+1
May 3rd, 2011 at 1:53 pm
I agree. Get out there, meet your new teammates and start working your butt off now.
May 3rd, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Cut Jeff Faine!
May 3rd, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Yep realist…They have a bunch of vets leading the chharge, and we have Faine sayying he is not going to go, and that he does not think others will either. I am a bit surprised Joe did not mention that in his article. Joe has expressed his thoughts on Faine’s remarks in the past…a few times…and Joe is 100% right!
May 3rd, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Typos…sorry about that…
May 3rd, 2011 at 2:18 pm
The drew brees led practice at tulane without coaches will be more organized and sophisticated than a rah rah led sandlot scrimmage.
May 3rd, 2011 at 2:28 pm
McBuc:
Joe has written about this many times. By his actions and words, union-first Jeff Faine seems more interested in his Orlando haberdashery than he does in the Bucs making the playoffs.
May 3rd, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Jeff Faine is a top paid Center that plays/produces in the bottom tier. IMO he didn’t live up to his billing while here.
A real PRO would be waiting in the parking lot of OBP. Chompin’ at the bit to get out on the practice field/weight room/video room.
Where are all these CAPTIANS/LEADERS at?
ThomAS$ 2.2, you my friend, are a dip spit.
ANY “BUC fan” knocking Dom and Rah jus don’t know how good you have it. You should be proud that you have a HC and GM that give 100%.
May 3rd, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Exactly Joe, I found it interesting you did not give it one more jab, but I guess that would be kicking a dead horse…or however that saying goes. The last few days have been great on the site, it almost feels like football season…I figure it is going to slow down now though…too bad.
May 3rd, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Thanks McBuc!
May 3rd, 2011 at 3:32 pm
Isn’t it true that Faine has always avoided camps in the off season, preferring his own methods?
Regardless, blaming Faine for people not showing up is dumb. Each player is responsible for his own actions. Faine may have had reason to say that everyone would not show up at workouts.
Faine is probably hurting himself by not showing up though, because if Zuttah does he’ll get more time as center and Freeman will start to feel more comfortable with Zuttah.
May 3rd, 2011 at 3:34 pm
BTW, Joe…I was reading an article on another popular Bucs fan website and they mentioned the breeze story and did not give credit to where the source was…claiming instead that they “have learned” about it.
Yet another reason you rock, Joe.
May 3rd, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Joe-
Had a quick question that crossed my mind. With the lockout still in place and how if the lockout was off rookies can’t participate in OTA’s until a certain time…
If the lockout is still going and Josh sets up workouts, could our rookies attend these sessions?
May 3rd, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Pete…I would not c all it dumb. Each player is responsible for their own actions; however, leadership is a key role in how many act. I guess it is dumb to give credit to those vets that showed up for the Breeze practice? You can tell how well the managment of a wait staff is by the service you recieve…you can tell how well the management of a store by the service that you receive. Teams of athletes are no different than teams of employees. Every starts at the top and fllows down. If the management is good it roles down hill. On a sports team the capt are like team leaders, if they are slackers the others may think it is alright to slack off as well. There are always the ones that work hard no matter what, and you will always find people that will slack no matter what. If you think these young men do not look at the actions of a vet, high paid, team capt, well…I am not sure what to say to yyou. You are normally sane, so maybe happy hour started early and you forgot to invite me!
May 3rd, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Jared:
Of course! Workouts are no different than guys getting together in a bar. The NFL has zero jurisdiction over them. They are not sanctioned, not held at NFL facilities, etc.
May 3rd, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Well, someone needs to put a bird in someones ear so our rooks can get a headstart while this lockout is in place. Would be awesome if they can digest some of the off/def before official OTA’s start. And of course, I’m sure they can get some playbook copies made while they’re at it.
May 3rd, 2011 at 6:31 pm
The rookies haven’t even signed contracts yet. The odds of their agents letting them do anything that would risk injury before the ink on their contracts is dry is unlikely. Read playbooks yeah. Participate in football drills and scrimmages on the field. I doubt it. I also don’t wouldn’t expect guys who are free agents when the lockout ends to participate either.
May 3rd, 2011 at 9:05 pm
Cut Faine if you want this from the bucs.
May 3rd, 2011 at 9:45 pm
I think what brees did is commendable. From everything I have heard about freeman rounding up the troops, i would have bet{or have been led to believe) that tampa would have been the first to organize this. They should have been the first, now they will just be the second team to do it (hopefully 😉 )
May 3rd, 2011 at 10:27 pm
“The drew brees led practice at tulane without coaches will be more organized and sophisticated than a rah rah led sandlot scrimmage.”
———–
And you would know this because ………………..?
May 4th, 2011 at 7:41 am
That’s a very good point.
My response would be…give them lots of credit. Tons of it. But don’t hold it against Faine for doing what he does every year. I know these are strange circumstances…and the few vets we have that show up should be heralded because they are the trus leaders on the team.
All I care about is that Faine gets the job done when he’s healthy, and he’s more healthy than not (barely lately).
True, he should have kept his mouth shut. But at the same time, you probably have Freeman and Barber telling people they really should show up.
Another aspect is this…I would hate to loose a player like Mike Williams for a season because of an unsactioned (or any other) workout. And I’m sure the players feel the same. While I value the benefit of at least getting together and “walking through” plays and working out, I also don’t blame the players if they don’t want to take the risk.
It’s and individual decision. Period. Each has to weigh the risk vs reward of it on his own merits.
I personally would prefer all the players work out…but it’s not going to happen. Even if the lockout ended tomorrow, Faine would not show up until training camp. That’s just how he is.
May 4th, 2011 at 8:28 am
Good point, but Faine should not be a capt.