Joe’s loyal readers know he’s footballholic. During football season, it’s nothing for Joe to inhale 27 hours of football in a week.

One reason Joe was so enamoured with Lavonte David coming out of Nebraska was that Joe watched quite a few Nebraska games on drunken, beer-swilling fall Saturdays.

Anyone who has watched Nebraska in recent years knows that Cornhuskers coach Bo Pelini is nothing if not intense. He once seemed about to body slam quarterback Taylor Martinez on the sidelines for some unknown infraction (a move that was so over the top by Pelini, he got called to the principal’s office and was dressed down by Tom Osborne and ordered to chill out.)

David, a coveted linebacker that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik traded up to acquire in the second round, suggested Tuesday that one reason he thinks he is having a smooth transition to the NFL is that Bucs coach Greg Schiano and Pelini are like-minded.

“They are similar,” David said. “They expect the very best from you. They are detailed. Both are similar but both are competitive and both are encouraging.”

David worked out yesterday with the first team defense as the weakside linebacker, but after practice David tried to downplay the significance, saying he was previously practicing with the second team and that he has been floating around to other linebacker positions.

“Trying to learn all [linebacker] positions,” David said. “Every defense I have played is aggressive but the difference is the play calls. You just have to execute. It’s an advantage for me to know all [the linebacker] positions in case my name is called.”

Joe just has a hunch that if David makes the starting lineup this September, you won’t see Schiano poking his index finger in David’s chest very often.