If Bucs' bust-in-waiting Josh Freeman blows up in the Bucs' face, all fingers will be pointed at Raheem The Dream.

Bucs coach Raheem The Dream spoke to the press after he doomed the franchise for the next five years by drafting Bucs bust-in-waiting Josh Freeman. The following is a transcript, heard via WDAE-AM.

“I’m really excited. We got our guy. We had a target on him. I had a unique relationship with him. He’s a potential franchise guy. I’m excited to build around him.”

Why not defense?

“Anytime you get a chance to get a franchise quarterback, a guy who creates excitement and is big and is accurate. He can be your guy of the future. You go get him.”

“Hey, when Peyton Manning was drafted, the Colts needed help on defense.

“You never say when a guy will be a franchise quarterback. He will tell you. We will take four quarterbacks to camp. They will compete. We’ll make a decision (on a starter) then.

“Whenever you get a chance to take a franchise quarterback, and you trust him, you go get him. There are other needs, but you go get him. We are strong on defense. We have more picks. We are excited.

“We involved everybody (on the decision to draft Freeman).

“I was lucky to be [at Kansas State] when he came in as a freshman and he led the team and beat teams. You felt like you had a chance to win when you had this guy leading you. I am excited about him doing that here.”

Was this pick for the long term?

“When you draft a quarterback in the first round you make a bold statement. He is here for the long term.”

What about short term?

“I don’t want to hold him back nor rush him. Let him practice. He’ll learn things (from other quarterbacks). If it’s like San Diego a few years ago (with Drew Brees and Philip Rivers), good for us.

“There’s a lot of pressure with my job period. I am paid to make these decisions and I made it.

“In trading up, I got a little nervous; [other teams] knew what we wanted. We were worried about plenty of teams. We were worried about someone jumping in front of us to get a 6-6 quarterback who is accurate.

“Bad decisions, can you coach. Those things you can correct. You can’t correct arm strength, accuracy, field presence. Everything you don’t like about him is correctable. Everything you like about him is special.”

Who starts this year?

“I am creating a competitive environment. I have a ton of quarterbacks on this roster that can play. If he becomes the best quarterback, there’s a good chance you will see him play.

“I went to Kansas State and he was a 6-5 freshman who was special. I saw the last two years on tape and was impressed. So was everyone else. It was impressive. We liked him; the scouts liked him. We got him.

“I developed a nickname for him. He was the first one on the field and the last to leave. He has all of that going for him. He was highly touted coming from high school. He was always asking questions. I compared him to Brett Favre. He was poor, hungry and desperate.

“We’re talking about a quarterback and [defensive coordinator] Jim Bates is fired up. If he plays well, we will all be here a long time. We are fired up.

“He’s my guy. I wanted him and I got him. He’s my guy. I went and got him. I’m fired up about him and you will be too.

“A quarterback has to work on everything: running a huddle, learning to read defenses. He’s been coached up. He’s pretty sharp. He’s more talented than I thought. He did that in this building. We’re excited about it. I am married to him.”

“There’s always a danger of having too much information on a guy so I tried to step back and give him a chance to be around people. He is the solution.

“This is the guy the last couple of weeks we have targeted all along and I’m excited to get the guy you targeted. I am fired up.

[As for who will start], “the best man will win. He will compete.”

How about Luke McCown?

“He’s in the best situation. He’s with a rookie quarterback. We’ll see how it plays out. We know Josh is our franchise guy. He’s the long-term answer.”

What about [Son of Bob]?

“Same thing.”

What about Byron Leftwich?

“Same thing. Whoever wins the battle will be great.”

What about Josh Johnson?

“Same deal. I can’t wait. We are ecstatic because we got the guy we wanted. It was fun to see him grow and lead us (at Kansas State). It will be fun to see him lead us now.

“The waiting game was tough.”

Any infighting on the pick?

“No.”

Do you expect Freeman to be like Matt Ryan or Joe Flacco and start right away?

“No, you can’t expect that. They were in different situations.”

Aqib Talib played against him in college. Did you talk to him about Freeman?

“Aqib gave us some information. He said he got picks against him but no one else could. Aqib said that [Freeman] could make big time throws.”

What about the critics of the pick?

“Critics? They have their opinions. They just give Josh Freeman ammunition to prove them wrong.”