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Tag: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Darrelle Revis Dropped By Bucs, Signed By Patriots

    It was a short-lived relationship for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Darrelle Revis. After just one season together the Bucs broke up with Revis on Wednesday.

    The relationship started out beautifully, with such trust and promise. In 2013 Revis signed a $96 million, six-year contract, but with five years and $80 million left on the contract, the Bucs let Revis go.

    With none of the contract money guaranteed, the Bucs won’t have to take any extra dead-money charges for releasing the cornerback.

    Making the decision to drop Revis seemed puzzling to many. The cornerback was a dominant fixture for the Buccaneers in 2013 after a season-ending knee injury while with the New York Jets in 2012. Many even ranked Revis as the second or third best cornerback in the NFL.

    With a new defense and new coach Lovie Smith, the Bucs felt it was the right move to release Revis. Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht said, “We have specific ideas regarding the best way to build this defense and, while you never like to lose a good player, we believe this is in the best interests of our team moving forward.”

    Before releasing Revis, the Bucs signed former Tennessee Titans cornerback Alterraun Verner to a four-year, $26.5 million contract.

    Finding somebody new before getting rid of the old one? Ouch Bucs.

    We always root for love, but these kids just couldn’t make it work.

    It didn’t take long for someone else to snatch up the great catch that is Revis. The New England Patriots have reached a $12 million, one-year deal with Revis. All the cornerback has to do is pass his physical and sign on the dotted line.

    Patriots fans were more than happy to congratulate and welcome Revis to Gillette Stadium.

    While many Jets fans may have been hoping to see Revis in green again, one Jets fan has faith he may be seeing Revis again at MetLife Stadium.

    Hopefully this relationship with Revis and the Patriots will have a happy ending and won’t just be a rebound.

    Image via YouTube.

  • Buccaneers New Logo Revealed Last Night

    Yesterday we covered an announcement by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers about the team changing their helmets and logo, and last night fans saw the big reveal.

    Some may have thought the Buccaneers would have changed their helmet and logo completely, which would have surely caused some sort of debate between the folks who hold on to tradition, and the folks who welcome change and new ideas.

    But in actuality the Buccaneers just made a few tweaks and kept the colors and the logo the same, however everything now looks more pronounced.

    As most know, the original helmet had a red flag with a skeleton, two swords and a football, and looked like it should of been a flag whipping around on a pirate ship somewhere, and the logo itself only covered a small portion of the helmet.

    However, the new logo covers just about the entire helmet and the skull was made about three times bigger, so now, the red flag, the mean looking skeleton dude and everything else stands out much clearer. Plus, it gives the team a much more frightening look.

    This is the first time the Buccaneers have changed their logo and helmet since 1996 and team co-chairman Edward Glazer said looking a little more fierce was the whole point of changing the logo, and the facemasks the helmets have will protect the team better.

    “This is an exciting day for the entire Buccaneers organization as we begin the process of introducing our new look by revealing an enhanced logo and new helmet design,” said Glazer.

    “The enhanced logo is much larger and portrays a more intimidating presence, while the chrome facemask is the first used by an NFL team. This is the first alteration to our logo and helmet since the previous re-design 17 years ago and we believe it sets the stage for our transition in this new, exciting era of Buccaneers football.”

    Image via Twitter

  • Buccaneers’ New Helmets Will Be Released Tomorrow

    The Tampa Bay Buccaneers truly didn’t have the best season this year, and with a finishing record of 4 and 12 it’s likely there will be some major changes during the off season.

    Now, whether those changes will come on the defensive side of the ball or on the offense remains to be seen, because those things are usually fully determined several months after the season ends.

    But there’s one change that’s taking place right now, as former Buccaneer Warren Sapp announced the team be wearing new helmets for the 2014/2015 season, and they’ll abandon the dark helmets with the red logo that they’ve been wearing since 1996.

    “On Thursday, Hall of Famer Warren Sapp will do the honors on NFL Network as the Buccaneers reveal their first logo and helmet re-design since their new uniforms were adopted in 1997,” announced the team.

    And Sapp sent out a tweet that said fans should be excited about the change and he anticipates people liking the new helmets. “New @TBBuccaneers helmet coming for 2014,” he wrote. “Wait til you see this thing!! #Fire my G Gerald McCoy joins me live Thurs 8pm EST.”

    From 1976 to 1996, the Buccaneers wore helmets with orange and red trim, which showed a logo of a pirate biting down on a sword. However, it seemed the team wanted to look more menacing, so they went with darker colored helmets with red trim, which showed an evil-looking skeleton sitting inside a tattered red flag.

    It’ll be interesting to see what the reactions of the fans will be when the new helmet and logo are released tomorrow, because as most know, fans who are really passionate about their team take changes personally, and that’s whether the change has to do with a new player, a new coach, or a new helmet and logo.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Lovie Smith Hired As Coach Of Tampa Bay Buccaneers

    After a slew of coaches were fired earlier this week, some teams have already started to hire the replacements. After a number of years with Chicago Bears, Lovie Smith has been hired as the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

    Lovie Smith served as the head coach for the Chicago Bears from 2004 to 2012, and in his tenure as coach, he took them to one Super Bowl, in 2006.

    While other teams have begun the interview process, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wasted no time in finding their next head coach.

    He comes in to replace Greg Schiano, who was fired this week during the black Monday firings, an event which saw several coaches lose their jobs on Monday.

    Before taking the job with Tampa Bay, Smith also interviewed with the Houston Texans. The Detroit Lions had interest in him as well after firing Jim Schwartz, but the Bucs made sure that he did not make it to Detroit, and as a result, he will be the head coach of Tampa Bay in 2014.

    It was reported that the Lovie Smith was the leading candidate to become the next coach of the Buccaneers, despite other coaches who might be interested in the job. He will also be returning to a team where he served as the linebackers coach from 1996 to 2000.

    The key firings that occurred on Monday involved the coaches of the Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions.

    Of course, with the disappointments that the Houston Texans faced this season, they were forced to fire Gary Kubiak weeks ago.

    Following the departure of Rob Chudzinski, Josh McDaniels was reported to have set up an interview with the Cleveland Browns.

    Lovie Smith achieved a record of 81-63 in his nine seasons as the head coach of the Bears. With great success in Chicago, and after building a foundation around his defense, Smith will look to improve a Tampa Bay team that has continued to struggle in recent years.

    Does Lovie Smith have what it takes to turn the Buccaneers around? As the first new coach to be hired, he will have plenty of time to get to know the team, and get himself acquainted with the players, building a stronger team to compete in the 2014 season.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Jon Gruden: Why Won’t He Coach in the NFL?

    In true “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” form, while coaches were being let go on Black Monday–one man would rather not have a part in any of that NFL coaching business.

    Teams pursue him, and fans of struggling teams mention his name in whimsical tones, but according to St. Paul Pioneer Press, the former NFL coach and now ESPN sports analyst Jon Gruden bluntly says about it all, “I don’t want to be considered for any of these jobs.”

    50-year-old Jon Gruden coached in the NFL for seven seasons after a number of assistant coaching jobs. He first began head coaching in 1998 with the Oakland Raiders. After four successful years with the Raiders, he moved on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to meet the ultimate success– the 2003 Super Bowl win in his first year, and against his old team to sweeten the victory.

    Things went steadily well with Gruden and the Buccaneers in the years after, but the team began to decline in 2006. That year, Gruden coached the team to their worst record in more than a decade, and certainly to the worst record of his own career.

    It seemed to get better in 2007, and by the next season the Buccaneers were set to make the playoffs with home field advantage. Instead, the team shockingly lost every game the December of 2008, were eliminated from the playoffs and Jon Gruden was fired from the Buccanners weeks later.

    His time post-Tampa Bay seemed almost reminiscent to “former football legend” Al Bundy of Married with Children. Right after his dismissal, Gruden volunteered as an assistant coach at a day school and rented an office in a strip mall for his newly created “Fired Football Coaches Association.” Do you think that Jon Gruden is scarred from the rapid decline during his time with the Buccaneers? Some may think so.

    Currently serving as an analyst for ESPN’s Monday Night Football, he says that he’s, “hoping to do the best I can to hang on to my job.”

    Sounds like Jon Gruden (understandably) isn’t a fan of the volatile NFL coaching climate, and is content with being a part of the game without the high pressure.

    Image via Twitter

  • John Gruden Will Not Coach for the Texans in 2014

    Let the rumors begin. The Houston Texans fired head coach Gary Kubiak on Friday morning after an embarrassing loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday night, on national television, in front of the whole country. The Texans loss brings them a game below the Jaguars to 2-11, the worst record in the NFL.

    It’s especially difficult considering the Texans were thought of as front-runners to win the AFC South this season. Texans CEO, Bob McNair, had this to say about firing Kubiak. “We felt that a change was needed at the head coach position and Gary Kubiak is no longer the head coach. To have this string of losses that we sustained is just totally unacceptable and it’s not what this organization is about, We’re about winning and accountability. Even though we normally would wait until the end of the year to evaluate our coaching staff and our players, under these extreme circumstances, we decided it was in the best interest of the organization to go ahead and start that evaluation process now.”

    Former Dallas Cowboy head coach Wade Phillips will serve as the interim coach while the Texans figure out their next move. Of course, rumors are already beginning to swirl. One very sexy name that has come up is former Super Bowl Champion head coach and current ESPN Monday Night Football Color Commentator, John Gruden.

    But Gruden says not so fast. “I’m just trying to do my job. I’m not going to address every little rumor or supposed conversation that takes place, according to these so-called sources. There are a lot of good coaches out there available to coach these teams. I’m just hoping ESPN likes the job I’m doing. That’s my focus.”

    It looks like Gruden will stay up in the booth for the remainder of this year and the 2014 football season. The Texans will need to fill their vacancy sooner than that. Also in the conversation is Tony Dungy and Bill Cower, names that always seem to come up when there is a head coach vacancy.

    Gruden, also affectionately known as “Chuckie,” for the mean faces he was known to make along the sidelines, had a 95-81 record as head coach for both the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His Super Bowl victory with the Bucs was their only championship in team history.

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    Image Via Wikipedia, YouTube

  • Darrelle Revis Reacts to Twitter Insults

    Darrelle Revis Reacts to Twitter Insults

    Monday night, Darrelle Revis, cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, intercepted a pass from Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill in order to seal a 22-19 Buccaneers’s victory. Plays like this were all too common in the past when Revis played for the New York Jets. In fact, Revis’s ability to shutdown opposing wide-receivers is so great the he has trademarked the phrase “Revis Island” – the nickname he received due to the lack of passes thrown toward his side during NFL games.

    Due to being perhaps the best cornerback in the NFL, Revis is constantly in the spotlight – a position he usually relishes due to his larger-than-life personality. However, being an NFL star is not always the wonder life; Since being traded from the New York Jets to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this year, Revis has received his fair bit of criticism (something he was no stranger to at New York). Despite his oftentimes cavalier attitude, Revis voiced his frustrations with recent Twitter-criticism in an interview with the New York Post:

    “I get harassed every day on Twitter [by Jets fans], and I barely even tweet. And you just get tired of it. You’ve got to have a backbone, because guys are saying, ‘F–k you!’ and ‘I want to kill you!’ It’s crazy, but I’ve been getting death threats from them since my first holdout [in 2010]. It’s just bitter Jets fans.”

    The Twitter-hatred really flared up when Revis responded to a Tweet from a bartender in Jersey City, NJ, Jason Owens:

    (image)

    The exchange between Revis and Owens then led to further criticism from Jets’s fans, Revis’s former team:

    The hold-out issue mentioned by @BrianSette is still a sore spot for Jets fans. In 2010, Revis held a 35 day hold-out against the New Jersey Jets in order to win a restructured contract. When it was all said and done, the Jets gave Revis a new contract worth $46 million over 4 years – $11 million more than his previous contract was worth.

    Even though he won the hold-out, Revis still seemed to be unhappy with the amount he was making. Rumors circulated that Revis was planning to stage another hold-out in 2012 to increase his salary to $16 million. Instead of placating Revis once again, the Jets decided to trade Revis and let the Buccaneers give up $16 million – a figure that makes Revis the highest-earning defensive back in NFL history.

    Revis maintains that he isn’t bothered by Tweets that are mad at him due to the money issue, but that he responded to Owens in particular “…because I’m getting tired of [Jets fans] always being negative. You don’t want to hear that.”

    What Revis really doesn’t want to hear is that while his Buccaneers are currently 1-8, the New York Jets are 5-4 behind a rookie quarterback, and more importantly, without Revis. While Revis states, “I don’t really watch football. I know what the Jets’ record is, but only because you’ve got to follow the league when you’re in the profession,” it’s hard to believe that the success of the Jets is not the real reason why Revis is taking so much exception to recent Tweets.

    Image via YouTube

  • Cam Newton Helps Panthers Cruise Past Buccaneers

    Cam Newton has led the Carolina Panthers to another victory, while showing off his impressive skills. This week, the outstanding quarterback led them to a victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have been struggling severely and have not won a single game all season.

    Cam Newton has operated on a level all on his own when compared with others on his team, at times leading the team in passing and rushing yards. In the Thursday night game this week, they defeated the Bus’ccaneers 31-13.

    Newton has helped the Panthers improve greatly, after several seasons of struggling. While they are not an elite team by any means, and in fact started this season 0-2, they have won 4 of their last 5 games, and are on track for a successful season.

    ESPN states that The Panthers have also won three straight under the play of Newton, and in those games he has thrown for 667 yards, six touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He also has two rushing touchdowns.

    In yesterday’s game, Newton completed 23 of 32 passes, and also rushed for 55 yards on 11 attempts, a team-high. Meanwhile, the Bucs lost the first seven games in the season for the seventh time in franchise history.

    Cam Newton is currently in his third year in the league, after graduating from the university of Auburn. According to Sports Illustrated, Newton has been playing better than he ever has, as he has been composed in the pocket, dynamic on the move, and able to run a complex offense.

    Unlike some of the other stand-out younger quarterbacks like Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson, Newton has yet to make it to the post-season, but with a 4-3 record and an impressive start, maybe this will be his year. This also marks the first time that the Panthers have had a record that was above .500 in five years, which is a bit scary to think about.

    While Cam Newton is certainly standing out in the statistics, he is also able to humbly admit that it is a team effort, and it would be wrong to say otherwise. After the game, he was quoted saying, “I just feel as if my production is off a lot of other people’s production. This is not a one-man show. I understand that, and I will not have that type of attitude.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b13PYlXm9h4

    Image via Youtube

  • Dashon Goldson Suspended For Illegal Hit

    Dashon Goldson, safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has been suspended. He will be out for one week as a result of the illegal hit that he delivered to running back Darren Sproles, who plays for the New Orleans Saints. On Sunday, he hit Sproles with helmet to helmet contact, which is illegal in the NFL and can be very dangerous for players. This is not the first time that Goldson has violated the rules of the NFL and put another player in danger. Due to being a repeat offender and the seriousness of his latest hit, Goldson is being suspended for one week.

    The illegal hits that players have been delivering lately has become a big issue and something needs to be done in order to change that behavior, or we will be seeing more and more injuries. There have already been several injuries this season to running backs and quarterbacks, which can really hurt a team. Clay Matthews was fined for a very serious hit on Colin Kaepernick in week 1, in addition to other fines that were delivered during the game. Fox Sports Florida reports that Goldson, a seventh-year veteran, has drawn 15 personal fouls since 2010, more than anyone else in the league. The violation that occurred this past Sunday was also the fifth time that he has been called for unnecessary roughness since 2011. It seems a bit unnecessary, but he does not seem to get the point, since the whistle continues to be blown on his inappropriate antics.

    Overall, Tampa Bay was penalized 10 times for 118 yards in the Week 2 loss. This certainly played a large part in their loss and the game ended with a final score of 16-14 after a lack of offense from both teams. The suspension will prevent Goldson from practicing with the team or competing in their week 3 game against the New England Patriots. He will be able to resume team activities next Monday. This was also his second fine in the first two weeks of the season, after being penalized for striking Jeff Cumberland of the New York Jets, when he was defenseless. He was fined $30,000 for the hit against Cumberland, when he hit him in the head and neck area, according to ABC News.

    The suspension was imposed Monday by NFL vice president of football operations Merton Hanks. In the statement sent to Goldson, Hanks told him “It is clear that you lowered your head and unnecessarily rammed the left side of your helmet into the left side of your opponent’s head.”

    Hopefully, Goldson will start to get the point eventually, otherwise more drastic measures will need to be taken.

    Dashon Goldson hit on Darren Sproles

    Image via Youtube

  • Bears Trade Gabe Carimi to the Buccaneers

    The Chicago Bears organization this weekend announced that it has traded offensive lineman Gabe Carimi to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The deal is contingent on Carimi passing a physical.

    Though Carimi worked out at a Bears minicamp in April, he has since chosen to skip voluntary practices with the team. He is reportedly working out on his own in Arizona.

    The terms of the deal have not been officially announced by the Bears organization. However, ESPN is reporting that the Bears received a sixth-round 2014 draft pick for Carimi:

    After a successful college career as left tackle for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Carimi was the 29th pick of the first round of the 2011 NFL draft. Carimi started only two games during his rookie season with the Bears before suffering a knee injury. He was later placed on injured reserve, ending his first NFL season. In his second season, Carimi started the Bears’ first 10 games before being benched in favor of Jonathan Scott. Carimi filled in at the position of right guard later in the season.

  • From Paper To iPads: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Switch Playbook Format

    If opposing coaches want to learn the playbook of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before they play them, they don’t need to look for a big binder with various plays written down. Look for the nearest iPad and steal it, instead.

    According to a report in the St Petersburg Times the players for the Buccaneers are moving to the mobile device industry, at least in regards to their playbook. The team has apparently purchased iPad 2s for the players, and each one holds the Tampa Bay playbook, as well as video files of games, practice and various videos of other teams, all for the sake of improving preparation and consolidation.

    Something should be mentioned about the trees being saved, because these playbooks are usually quite large, but I don’t think a “green” approach was what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff was going for. Instead, they just wanted to make the organization that goes with being a successful football team easier on the players.

    Speaking of, these same players seem excited about their new toy:

    “It’s crazy how much technology has changed the game,” second-year safety Cody Grimm said. “Back in the day, I think probably the whole team had to sit down with a projector and a reel, and watch the film together. They’d have the whole offense in the same meeting room. Now we all have our own iPad. Stuff that we used to come in here to see, we can sit on our couch at home and have access to it 24-7. It’s awesome.”

    Of course, the NFL is not the first industry to do away with reams of paper–well, at least in the case of the Buccaneers–in favor of an iPad.

    Pilots have started using them as well, as opposed to carrying around veritable forests in their flight bags.

    Not only are the Buccaneers committed to the switch, they’ve also taken steps to protect these playbooks from hitting the Internet:

    “We give these playbooks out, and by the end of training camp, we collect them so nobody sells them on the Internet,” [Head Coach Raheem] Morris said. “They become game books. If you need a reference to go back, you can pull up a blitz from camp and look at it.

    The report goes on to say the Buccaneers purchased 90 total iPad 2s for their team, and the entire franchise seems to be incredibly excited about the convenience these devices offer.