Raheem Morris Wants NFL Team In London
October 20th, 2011
Wednesday afternoon, live from London, Bucs coach Raheem Morris made his weekly appearance on “The Blitz,” heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio co-hosted by popular sports radio personality Adam Schein and former Super Bowl quarterback Rich Gannon. Naturally, Joe transcribed the interview for his readers. What, you would expect less?
Adam Schein: Here he is, the head coach of our Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the great Raheem Morris. How are you coach?
Raheem Morris: I’m doing great. I’m not sure about being “the great Raheem Morris,” but I will take it.
Rich Gannon: On the trip to London, I know that is not easy to do. The last time you went much lighter. This time you are packing heavy for the week. Why change?
Morris: I wanted to get my guys acclimated to London, get them some rest. I don’t want them to get caught up in the schedule. Today is the first practice we’ve had on the pitch. They had a great time out there. We wanted to take them out of their comfort zone and get the team to deal with changes.
Schein: You like this concept?
Morris: I really do. It’s good for our team. It gives me a nice trial run to do this at some point in the future. It’s the best feeling in the world. It gives us the training camp feeling right before our bye week. It’s good for the team. It’s good to have them in a school environment. When they get to Wembley [Stadium], they’ll get to be like gladiators.
Gannon: Being in London, the fans, they get really excited about the extra points and the field goals, they love it – I’m not kidding.
Morris: You are right. They get fired up over the kicking game. That’s part of their game; their football.
Schein: Raheem, what you said is great. It’s a Super Bowl-like atmosphere, there is team-bonding. I get that. I think though, you lose a home game and that is unfortunate. Is there a downside to playing in London?
Morris: Yeah, our fans lose a home game but they are able to see us on TV. But anytime you get a chance to promote the NFL, it is good in that it is bigger than us. If I am allowed to promote and grow the game, it’s great.
Gannon: Coach, how important was it to get back on track after the San Francisco game, the way you did it, no LeGarrette Blount, no Gerald McCoy? You had to do it with Earnest Graham.
Morris: It’s the next man up mentality. The guys that filled in, Earnest Graham, Frank Okam, Da’Quan Bowers, they played hard and they played bad and they played smart and consistent. I liked it.
Schein: Raheem, I thought your team rallied against the Saints, I thought they persevered. How about Josh Freeman? He did an excellent job all four quarters. He was on point; he was dynamic. It was his best performance of the season.
Morris: It’s funny that he is still 23 and is still getting better. He will continue to get better. He learned from each experience. He puts in the work and puts in the effort and I’m loving how he is getting better and better. I hope it’s not his best game.
Gannon: You never want to see a coach get hurt. Your guy Jimmy Lake got hurt and then in the same game Sean Payton got hurt. It was ugly.
Morris: You don’t ever want to see a coach get hurt but Jimmy Lake is toughing it out over here.
Schein: How were you able to get Drew Brees to turn it over time after time? I thought that was excellent. Your defense was clutch.
Morris: Stats are for losers. You know he will throw for 300 or maybe 400 yards. But you have to cash in your opportunities to get turnovers and that’s what we did, every time. We had a good game against Brees. It was turnovers. Opportunity and technique met.
Gannon: Looking at the Bears, they are physical, like your team. But they are torn on offense. Mike Martz wants to put the ball in Jay Cutler’s hands. Lovie wants the ball in Matt Forte’s hands.
Morris: You can stop right there. Forte is doing everything for them. He’s a tough player. Mike has a great background, you know, Greatest Show on Turf? Mike is able to transform an offense but sometimes they have Forte take over the game. In some situations we don’t know what they will do. They can be hot.
Schein: Raheem, tell me, be honest, you are not going to kick to Devin Hester.
Morris: You never want to do that. We did a good job of keeping the ball away from Darren Sproles. But Hester, he is dynamic, he is hot and he is ready to roll.
Gannon: Your buddy, Rod Marinelli, he’s doing a good job. Why are they so tough to run against?
Morris: It’s their mentality, it’s their core belief. They will use a seven-man box to stop the run. If they do, it’s a long day. It’s their core belief, not so much technique.
Schein: Raheem, did you see any improvement with your wide receivers?
Morris: I did, I challenged them. Whenever they caught the ball they let me know about it and they fed off the energy. They have to play with emotion.
Gannon: Coach, talk about logistics and playing this game so far away from home and setting up shop. This has to be difficult.
Morris: No doubt it’s difficult but my staff has done a great job. They set this up completely. Our offices are here. They have formed a training camp-like atmosphere.
Schein: Will we have a team in London or a Super Bowl in London?
Morris: I don’t know but I hope so because if that is the case, that means the league is growing and there are more jobs. I am always looking for growth of the game and the NFL.
Gannon: Have you seen the sights?
Morris: Not yet. We have been grinding away. Maybe later in the week I will get out and eat and do some touring. You guys are my motivation. I love talking to you.
October 20th, 2011 at 8:18 am
LOL, Headline is a little misleading, but it did it’s job and sucked me in to read the entire interview. Morris is justed interested in the NFL growing. He would be just as for Mexico or Canada joining the league. He also is talking on the company line.
October 20th, 2011 at 8:34 am
Baloney! Morris specifically stated in his own words he “hopes” a team is based in London. It’s right there for all to read!
That’s like saying a headline Monday morning of “Bucs Beat Saints” is misleading.
October 20th, 2011 at 8:44 am
Joe, they asked him if there would be a team in London or a Super Bowl in London and Morris said, “I don’t know, but I hope so.” I think you kind of sensationalized the headline a little.
October 20th, 2011 at 8:46 am
Joe, nothing is wrong with the title, it did it’s job which was to intise the reader.
October 20th, 2011 at 8:52 am
As long as the Buccaneers stay in Tampa and as long we have had our turn playing a “home” game in London for a while. I’m open to a road game there but this is ridiculous and it’s not right. It’s clearly a disadvantage to play a “home” game on the road………..one hell of a LONG road.
October 20th, 2011 at 8:53 am
Good Lord, talk about twisting words! Yeah, Morris said he hopes a team is there, what the hell do you think that means, he doesn’t want a team there??? Then you are suggeting Morris himself is lying.
One REAL EASY way to get launched from this site is to suggest Joe’s conning people.
October 20th, 2011 at 9:10 am
Hey Joe
Speaking of baloney, can I have some beef baloney, thick sliced and skillet fried, please?
October 20th, 2011 at 9:15 am
Joe, I never meant to say you were making anyting up. You are correct that he said he hopes a team is in London. I never said the headline was false, just slightly misleading. Many jouirnalist do this, and there is nothing wrong with it. One could just skim the headlines and think Morris want the Bucs in London, heck, maybe he does, but I read the article, came to my own conclusions, and enjoyed the interview. No need to get fired up my man. Your headline grabbed my attention and I read the article, that is what I call effective.
October 20th, 2011 at 9:17 am
@OAR…I have not had a fried baloney sandwich in years! I prefer the Boar’s Head Garlic Baloney.
October 20th, 2011 at 9:27 am
McBuc:
Someone else did suggest Joe was conning readers. 🙁
Joe doesn’t get fired up about too many things, Bucs football and Rachel Watson aside. But when someone claims Joe is misleading or outright lying, Joe takes that very seriously and personally. Joe would never, ever do that to interview subjects or his readers, which he values.
October 20th, 2011 at 9:28 am
OAR:
Joe’s hungry now. 🙁
October 20th, 2011 at 9:59 am
Baloney is good, and can’t we all just get along lol.
October 20th, 2011 at 9:59 am
A good lawyer would complicate the matter by asserting that the question was ” will we have a team in London OR a Super Bowl in London?” Are you, the reader, sure to an absolute certainty, that he was responding to the question about the team or the question about the Super Bowl? There is at best ambiguity and therefore room for reasonable doubt. Aren’t lawyer’s wonderful? lol. This is a non-issue guys, there are more substantial matters to disagree on!
October 20th, 2011 at 10:00 am
How long till Schein drops a “Stats are for losers!” bomb during cosmic schein? I’m hoping it’s this week!!!
October 20th, 2011 at 10:17 am
I don’t know how anyone can listen to Coach Rah and not be fired up. I get fired up just reading a transcript.
October 20th, 2011 at 10:30 am
@ RemyBuc – I was thinking the same thing. I LOVE me some Raheem. That man is awesome. We have had some great coaches since the Bucs were saved from purgatory by the Glazers. Dungy, Gruden (regardless of anything those first three or four years were gold – he was a rock star and we all loved out Super Bowl winning coach) and now Raheem. The Glazers sure know how to hire head coaches. Now if people would get off their back about spending and just enjoy the results on the field we’d be in business. Who cares what they spend when they win? I know I don’t. Just win baby… I like the Bucs playing in London. It adds a little excitement to a normal game. I just wish we’d give up an away game instead. But perhaps next time. Getting these young Bucs exposure is never bad. Be proud Tampa Bay. We got ourselves a legitimate football team. And it’s about to go World Wide. Who cares about America’s team (The Cowgirls) Welcome to the WORLD’S team – The Tampa Bay Bucs!
October 20th, 2011 at 10:34 am
McBuc
That is some good Boar’s Head!
October 20th, 2011 at 10:48 am
Ok, forgive me ahead of time for my lack of knowledge here.
I have to say that from just reading all the talk this past week, I am made nervous by what I’m hearing. Why is the focus on us whenever the talk turns to a team in London (if only in the sense that we are the ones always talking about it)? It sounds to me like the Glazers are trying to soften us up to the idea. And after we’re softened…. then what?
I’m not saying any of this is a fact – it’s just what I hear that makes me nervous. Can anyone say for sure that moving the Bucs to Europe is not on the table in the minds of our owners? Reassure me – this is giving me nightmares.
October 20th, 2011 at 11:10 am
@Maccabee — A better lawyer would assert that the headline says Raheem wants an NFL team in London and the why is not important as it relates to whether that’s for a Super Bowl or for a home base. 😉
Either way, Raheem wants a team in London
October 20th, 2011 at 11:12 am
Upland:
Joe agrees with you. This talk of the Bucs moving to London is, to use a favorite British word, “rubbish.”
Team Glazer has a sweetheart lease with The CITS, the Bucs home stadium. It’s a cash cow for them in terms of the team gets a massive cut in just about any drop of money spent there, (concessions, parking, et al) even for events held there that have nothing to do with the Bucs.
Plus, the Bucs opened a state-of-the-art facility to house the team, house team offices, practice fields, workout facility, etc., just a few years ago. The team spent millions at the height of the real estate boom for the site. The team bought and then tore down a shopping mall for its home.
There are quite a few teams that have made rumblings about moving, Jacksonville, Minnesota, St. Louis, Oakland, San Diego to name a few, and the common denominator is that those teams have a rotten lease or its lease is up, or they play in junk stadiums. None of these factors is the case with Team Glazer.
The people trying to float the idea that the Bucs will move to London either have no idea what sweetheart deal the team has on the stadium, or simply are trying to connect dots that do not exist.
Joe’s confident the thought of moving the team to London has crossed the minds of Team Glazer… and about 20 other NFL owners. Teams are always looking at options. But there currently is zero financial incentive for the team to make such a move, provided the NFL would allow a team in London.
If a team moves to London, that means every NFL team will have to travel across the ocean to play, and not every team is infatuated with doing that for several reasons.
It blows Joe away that other NFL owners also own soccer teams in England, and rarely if ever is that brought up. But the Bucs own a soccer team there and it is the root of all evil and as a result, the team will move.
Joe has yet to read one word about how Stan Kroenke owns a British soccer team and as a result he’s moving the Rams to London. Look, the Rams’ lease is up and their stadium is average at best. If any team would move to London, it would be the Rams. But nnnnooo, you never read a scant sentence about that. it’s always the Bucs.
October 20th, 2011 at 11:24 am
Joe, don’t get your panties all in a bundle dude…I didn’t say you were conning anybody, I said you sensationalized the headline i.e. you made it seem as the the whole article was about Raheem promoting an NFL team in London. It was one small blip when Morris answered a question from a reporter. I had to read it twice to even find it but I didn’t say it wasn’t there. Perhaps you need to look up the word “sensationalized” in the dictionary… “To cast and present in a manner intended to arouse strong interest.”
Are you telling me you didn’t use the headline to ‘arouse a strong interest.” ??
October 20th, 2011 at 11:34 am
Bobby:
Journalism 101 students learn on the first day — if they didn’t already know — a headline is to attract readers. Duh. Raheem touched on about 12 different subjects here. By far Joe thought the most interesting element was an NFL coach saying on the record he hoped an NFL team would call London home.
What, Joe was supposed to write a headline, “Adam Schein Thinks Raheem is Great?”
Your inference was the entire article was about a team in London when Joe made it perfectly clear in the lead paragraph this was a transcription of an interview.
There is not one iota of evidence that this was misleading in any way.
Come on, dude.
October 20th, 2011 at 11:41 am
How in the hell would a team based in London be able to compete in the NFL given all the logistical issues? Sometimes you have 2, and even 3 games in a row on the road. Are they going to fly back and forth every time? This international crap that the NFL, NBA, and NHL are doing is BS!
October 20th, 2011 at 11:52 am
Joe was just doing what most reporters & editors do, which is to create an attention-grabbing headline based on the content of the article. Yes, it was just a blip at the very end of the article but this is par for the course in modern journalism. Whether or not you like it is another topic altogether. It was a bit of a teaser headline but I personally don’t see anything wrong with it.
October 20th, 2011 at 11:57 am
@Joe –
Thanks for the response – and I was not aware of the lease, which makes me feel a lot better. I think what perhaps makes some people apprehensive is just the sense (and it is just a sense) that the Glazers are not fundamentally loyal to Tampa. I’m not saying I agree – I have no idea either way – but I’ve noticed that sentiment underlying a lot of comments elsewhere on the matter.
Nonetheless, your point should clear it up. Whether or not the Glazers give a fark about Tampa, money talks, and their lease, apparently, talks very much indeed.
Also, @lightningbuc, that was my thinking too. I cannot understand how the logistics of a London-based team would work. A Canada-based team? Sure. But freakin’ Europe? No way. Even if it were a good idea, which it is not, it’s simply impossible without a Star Trek-like “beam” form of transport.
I just wish whoever is promoting talk about this (Goodell?) would stop. It makes everyone at homebase over here feel unappreciated and devalued as fans. That’s just optics, but again it explains a lot of the anxiety.
October 20th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
What Raheem says here doesn’t really matter. The issue is whether the Nfl sees international expansion as a growth opportunity. The marketing suits at the NFL know how to use Venn diagrams to identify market share and target areas of opportunity. It would not surprise me at all if we see NFL expansion teams in 2 or more of the 3 cities before the end of the decade – London, Toronto, and/or Mexico City. We live in a global marketplace, If there is money to be made, the NFL will not look the other way!
October 20th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
@Joe…Your response to upland should be a featured editorial by you. You said it perfect. Sorry for the bag of worms on the title of this piece.
October 20th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
OK Joe. Wasn’t trying to stir up any crap. Not sure how an NFL team could be based in London and survive, considering travel cost and the fact that London has football weather 2 days a year but it ain’t my call. I don’t think international NFL is necessarily a good idea. It would really limit the amount of fans that could travel to away games. Plus, who wants to play a team called “The Rude Parisians” or “The London Fogs” ??
October 20th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
C’mon people, everyone knows it is going to be Jacksonville moving somewhere, not Tampa.
October 20th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
For all the people misusing the word(not Joe)
Baloney: 1. foolish talk; nonsense; an exasperated declaration of disagreement
Bolgna: A seasoned smoked sausage made of mixed meats, such as beef, pork, and veal; A city in northern Italy.
Get it right, people!
October 20th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Mauha Deeb,
You get it right you Jackoff!……… It’s Bologna not Bolgna…. Man you sure think you know everything, you need to wake up! You’re not as smart as you think you are.
We had a dispute in the past were you acted like Wideouts run free in the Defensive back field in THE NFL….you’re an idiot. Stop trying to tell people on here they aren’t smart, especially when you are wrong half the time.
October 21st, 2011 at 8:36 am
Deeb
I know the difference! Hearing(even reading) that word made me think of the meat!
BTW There’s something called a homonym. Feel free to look it up!
October 21st, 2011 at 8:51 am
LOL, I thought OAR and I were having a little “word play” fun. No big deal Deeb, I just cannot wait for kickoff! I also hope my Bulls pull their heads out of their bums (working on my British words for the game). Cheers!
October 21st, 2011 at 8:55 am
To be honest, I have to sing the commercial to remember the meat spelling…
October 21st, 2011 at 9:11 am
McBuc
LOL! Blimey, me too!!
October 21st, 2011 at 10:38 am
I am going to pick up some Smethwick’s and have fish and chips with this lovely game. BRILLIANT!
October 21st, 2011 at 11:59 am
And I certianly WON’T be smoking a fag!
October 21st, 2011 at 3:07 pm
@Sambizle I never said they run free. THey do run free. Case in point perfectly, Benn last week. I never said they always do as you imply. I do know a lot and a lot more than you, sir.
Wow. That really pissed some of you off. No need to get angry.
October 21st, 2011 at 3:14 pm
OAR…Good one…Deeb, no worries mate, not mad at all. I am ready to watch some football instead of wasting time here at the office.
October 22nd, 2011 at 10:39 pm
Deep Crap,
WHAT words did I use that implies I said, you said, they always run free? Ur making up stuff. I use the word acted not always. And no chance u know more about any sport than me.
Then in back to back sentences you say the opposite, “they run don’t free,” “they run free,” ur proving ur an idiot again!
Back to our original argument you were saying Olsen couldn’t call plays and yet the last 2 weeks the Radio and TV guys said Free has been throwing Late all season. U and me can fight all day but, Dave Moore knows way more than both of us and he agreed with me it was Free playing bad not Olsen’s plays. “CASE IN POINT” ur phrase. The Detroit game (I believe) the running plays that were called in the 1st half Blount wasn’t patient enough to wait for the holes or the cut back lanes. Several of his 7 runs he ran straight into the line and the cut back was open. Watch the last game where EG is taking his time letting the holes develop. The plays are there LB was just not seeing them in the first couple weeks. EG however that is his strong suit Vision, Balance (I think his best asset) and patience.
October 22nd, 2011 at 10:40 pm
***** error “they don’t run free”****