Joe is not banking on Angelo Crowell in 2009. The new Bucs linebacker is not healthy.

Joe enjoyed reading another hopeful, positive story today about the Bucs’ new banged up linebacker Angelo Crowell.

This one was in the Tampa Tribune. 

It’s a nice, feel-good piece by eye-RAH Kaufman about why Raheem the Dream and Joe Barry like Crowell.

What drives Joe nuts is the relatively casual mentions of Crowell’s injured knee that led him to miss the 2008 season and kept him off the field during the 2009 Bucs first workouts last week.

From Joe’s chair, Crowell’s rare knee surgery and long recovery is the big story, although it has yet to be delved into by the local media, Tribune, Times, etc.  

Plus there’s the fact that Crowell also missed several games with a torn tricep and later a broken leg in his brief NFL career. Though he’s probably healthier than Sgt. Winslow, which isn’t saying much.

From the Bills official Web site after Crowell signed with the Bucs:

Knowing the serious nature of Angelo Crowell’s knee injury, his surgery and lengthy rehabilitation process, we speculated that he’d have to sign a one-year ‘prove it’ type contract no matter what NFL team he signed with. Looks like that’s just what happened.

Crowell, who signed with Tampa late last month, signed a one-year deal with the Bucs worth $2M in base salary. Now that’s still more than he made in his final year in Buffalo last season so kudos to his agent, especially in light of the circumstances.

But with none of that base salary guaranteed Crowell is going to have to prove every day in the offseason practices and minicamps as well as training camp that he can get the job done.

The Buffalo News wrote about Crowell’s injury last year.

Crowell’s surgery was performed by famed Alabama orthopedist Dr. James Andrews. Crowell had originally planned to have a minor arthroscopic surgery, which would have allowed him return within four to six weeks, but he questioned whether he could have played up to his usual standards.

After going on IR, Crowell said Andrews advised a more extensive procedure “that’s going to give me more longevity in the league instead of a quick fix.

“It was not a microfracture where they drill holes, but they just went in there and sanded it down to create that blood flow,”

Joe is rooting for Crowell like every other Bucs fan but doesn’t think there should be high expectations for him in 2009, regardless of The Dream’s confidence in the Bucs’ doctors.

The guy is seriously injury prone and coming off a major knee surgery that is rare for a football player. And Crowell says he’s still not 100 percent, reports the Tribune today. 

The Bucs are looking for a minor miracle here. Joe wants everyone to know it.