Raheem Will “Shoot You Straight”
September 22nd, 2011
Maybe no Buccaneers players bitch and moan about Raheem Morris. Or maybe none is foolish enough to do it within earshot of Josh Freeman.
Regardless, Freeman painted an extraordinary picture of teamwide devotion to Raheem Morris during the The Josh Freeman Show last night on WDAE-AM 620.
“It’s crazy, you know. We talk in the locker room. Guys talk about all different things. Guys got complaints. But I can honestly say I’ve never heard anybody say anything negative about Coach Raheem. Never,” Freeman said.
“A lot of people don’t see the whole picture. I mean, people hear about Raheem, how the players love him, and they automatically think this guy’s a pushover, a player’s coach. But that’s not Raheem at all. You know, Raheem keeps it real 100 percent of the time. If you’re messing up, Raheem’s going to let you know. And he’ll let you know in a big way, a way that kind of humbles you.
“That’s what I think guys really respect about him. They respect that he’s going to shoot you straight. He’s going to be completely honest. And you might not like what you’re hearing but he’s not going to tell you something something just for the sake of telling you.”
It’s awesome that the players love Raheem. But they’re going to have to start performing mentally and physically for 60 minutes every week, otherwise Raheem won’t be around to love in 2013.
Joe’s just doing his best to “shoot you straight.”
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:07 am
“Raheem”? Does anyone remember the 90’s turn around squad calling Tony Dungy “Tony”? Or the superbowl team calling John Gruden “John”? There does seem to be a sense of familiartity there that can lower the respect or accountability level.
I’d love to hear these guys refer to him as “Coach Morris”. Or even just “Coach”.
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:10 am
I dont buy the 60 minute talk, Win Games and people are happy. Then the step becomes Win in the Playoffs and people will be happy. Eventually it becomes win the SuperBowl and people will be Happy.
Objective#1 Get to the playoffs, As soon as that happens It will be win in the playoffs or maybe not be around the next season.
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:36 am
I must say that I actually do get the whole “play 60 minutes” talk…. That is likely the main reason why the Bucs went 10-6 last year and still the stands have many empty seats…. A person who pays all that money, spends all that time at the game and goes through all that trouble isn’t doing it to watch a team that sucks the entire length of the 1st half, slowly improves through the 3rd quarter and often has to come back from behind… That just isn’t quality football and certainly for many, not worth coming out to watch….
The Bucs have made it to the playoffs before at home and the fans still did not fill the stands to support the team…. In my opinion it is because those fans did not believe the Bucs could win the game and they didn’t…
As far as Freeman’s comments about Rah, That is all fine and good that Rah is a great guy…. That Freeman likes him and wants to stick up for him BUT not everyone is great at everything…. Rah maybe a great motivational speaker but that may possibly be his limit as a leader…. He may not pan out as a HC and be replaced soon… Owners, players and even fans can take only so much of being a mediocre team (meaning beating losing teams only and not able to even beat other mediocre teams – .500 and above).
At this point, as a fan, I’m Hoping for the Best but expecting the worst!
September 22nd, 2011 at 11:04 am
“shoot you straight”? Talib must have not been listening!
September 22nd, 2011 at 11:34 am
@joe i completely agree with your last 2 sentences.. im the biggest believer of coach rah and i sure as hell hope he sticks around and CONTINUES to improve.. if we dont make the playoffs this year or next? time for a new coach…. one thing i feel so terrible about is the lack of more rings that are missing on the fingers of sapp lynch brooks and co. we gave dungy so many chances and it ALMOST came back to bite us in the ass, i mean how many times do you have to lose in the playoffs, thank god gruden put some patches on the teams offense that carried us through the playoffs in 02… WITH THE DEFENSE WE HAD WE SHOULD HAVE WON MULTIPLE RINGS…. im not taking shots at dungy but just pointing out the negatives of leaving a coach hired for a few seasons too long, by the way having arguably the best qb of all time (manning) and only winning one ring there? it baffles me people think dungy was a good HEAD COACH, maybe a really good defensive coordinator but even then he isnt pumping anyone up with emotioanl speeches…. with all that said.. i sure as hell hope raheem can get us over a hump every season
September 22nd, 2011 at 12:17 pm
All the negativity for a young 10-6 team…..It get’s old! Shut up and enjoy the game and support your team!
September 22nd, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Just what I started last year: to all the Raheem haters, you can not go by what the media says and what he says in interviews. It is all about behind the scenes. Players love coaches that are straight with them and push them. I never hear players giving love to a pushover coach like Wade Davis. He may be good at D but as a head coach, players don’t respect a guy deemd as a pushover or figure head. Raheem is neither.
September 22nd, 2011 at 2:49 pm
Joe talking about Raheem being on the hot seat 2 years from now? haha dude let this season take some short of shape.
September 22nd, 2011 at 2:49 pm
sort*
September 22nd, 2011 at 3:14 pm
2013? No please. If they miss the playoffs again I can’t handle any more Rah-diculousness.
September 22nd, 2011 at 3:29 pm
Thomas are you one of those people in the South that wear white clothes? and have secret meetings….if you know what I mean? Otherwise I can’t understand the hate!
September 22nd, 2011 at 4:47 pm
@Shmuckaneer,
Don’t take this the wrong way, but have you been watching professional sports for the last 20 years? Little to no players call their coaches coach at the professional level. Hell, Michael Jordan never called Phil Jackson coach, he always called him Phil (as did the rest of the team). Tom Brady calls Bellicheat “Bill”. And yes, the players did call Dungy “Tony” and Gruden “Jon”. Typically the only players that may say coach are the rookies. I get where you are coming from, but it’s just not the way it is. It’s kind of like Thomas calling his manager at Burger King “Mr. King”. Most likely he calls him by his first name. It’s not a sign of disrespect or familiarity.
September 22nd, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Thomas has got his Matt Ryan jersey washed, ironed, and ready to go for Sunday. He’ll be the guy waiting for the Falcons at Raymond James with a big poster of Matty Ice ready to get autographed.
September 22nd, 2011 at 6:43 pm
@Shmuckaner
Sapp used to refer to Dungy as “Tony”.
September 23rd, 2011 at 10:00 am
NYC BUC, it isn’t a matter of bias. It is simply a matter of experience, of which Morris has little, if any at all. Head Coaches are tutored and train for years to be head Coaches. Morris was asst secondary coach, then named DC, then HC in a matter of 2 weeks. He simply isn’t ready to be a Head Coach in the NFL. If you owned a Billion Dollar Corporation, would you promote the mail room clerk to CEO without training him? No, you wouldn’t. This is year 3 of the “learning on the job” experiment. Hopefully, the Glazers have learned from the lack of ticket sales that going cheap costs them more money in the long run. When they hire a legitimate HC the fans will come back. But not while Raheem Morris is HC.
September 23rd, 2011 at 12:38 pm
That’s pretty good that an “inexperienced” head coach can lead his team to 10-6. Maybe more teams should hire inexperienced coaches. I’m sure Rahhem is up late crying because he doesn’t meet the job requirements of someone hiding behind a desk.