Tampa Bay Sports Blog

• Full Name: Derrick Dewan Brooks
• Birthplace: Pensacola, FL
• Born: 04/18/1973
• Position: OLB
• How Acquired: 1st round draft pick (28th overall) in 1995

What we know: Derrick went to Florida State University and was a four year letterman standout in college. While at FSU he was part of the 1993 National Championship team (bs by the way, no offense Derrick) and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in business communications, which he followed up with a masters degree later on. Derrick was one of the core members of the Dungy/Kiffin defense that would wreak havoc through the NFL for over a decade, capped off with a Super Bowl in 2003. Under the defensive prowess of Dungy and Kiffin, and alongside John Lynch and Warren sapp, Brooks was a core piece in the innovative and much copied “Tampa Two” defense that has become a staple of nearly every teams defensive schemes from High School to the NFL. Derrick is as celebrated for his charity work in the community off the field as he is for his defensive dominance on the field. He is one of the most decorated athletes in the NFL receiving multiple awards throughout his career, topped off with his Defensive Player of the Year award in 2002.

What we think: As an absolute Hall of Famer, it’s hard to find anything negative to say about Derrick Brooks. While his career is winding down, he is still a great performer on the field and a great teammate. Brooks came up as a speedy, undersized linebacker that flew around the field and punished anyone in his line of fire. He has performed at an elite level for over ten years and even though he has lost a step, still makes his presense felt. As the Bucs vaunted defense was picked on in the 2008 season, Derrick included, one thing early on really made an impression on me. Derrick was sharing large chunks of time for the first time in his career, and no one noticed because he kept his mouth shut. In a time where it seems like every athlete complains about playing time and older players clinging on to the death, even if it’s detrimental, Derrick shared time with Geno Hayes and did nothing but perform and tutor his teammate in a professional manner. Mister Derrick Brooks may be on his last leg, but I can’t think of an athlete that has made more of an impact on me, or the Buccaneers for that matter, than him.

For stats click here.

Technorati Tags: Derrick Brooks, Florida State University, John Lynch, Monte Kiffin, National Championship, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tony Dungy, Warren Sapp

Well, it was as ugly as it could possibly be. Not only did they drop the final four games of the season and miss the playoffs, but they did it in old school orange Buccaneer fashion. I think we all took the Carolina loss fairly well, it was on the road against a tough team and the Bucs were banged up. The Atlanta game was tough to swallow, but it was another tough road game and we could all understand it a little. The San Diego game was an absolute disaster and no one wanted to believe that it actually happened. It all could have been salvaged though with a win against an awful Oakland team and a Cowboy loss. The Cowboys did their part by taking an absolutely laughable beating at the hands of the Eagles, but it was too little too late. The Bucs had already lost to the second most dysfunctional team in the NFL, and it wasn’t as close as the 31-24 score would lead one to believe. This monumental collapse has left me wondering, who do we blame for this? Let’s try to figure it out.

• The offense? Jon Gruden’s offense has never really taken off in Tampa Bay and this season seemed to showcase all the problems we’ve had offensively in the Gruden era. Joey Galloway was the once favored WR who all of a sudden vanished. Warrick Dunn was the aging RB who emptied his tank yet didn’t have enough to carry them. The QB madness continued on with Garcia, Griese and McCown. The offensive line was up and down, mostly down. Any of this sound familiar? As bad as it seemed, this wasn’t the problem.
• Injuries? There is no doubt that the Bucs lost more than their fair share of guys to injuries and that always plays a factor, but this team has been allegedly avoiding big name free agents to build depth. Where was the depth? Again though, this wasn’t the problem.
• The players? Now I’ve got to admit, I’m going to put a lot of this on the players, especially in the playoff stretch. The stars in Brooks, Barber, Galloway and Garcia are all close to the end and their skills have diminished noticeably. That being said, I expected a lot more out of the defense, especially since Monte Kiffin announced his intent to depart to Tennessee, but they didn’t step up. I thought we might see that one last charge of Kiffin and his boys toward greatness, but they didn’t even achieve averageness (is that a word?). I put much of the demise on the players, but not all of it.
• Monte Kiffin? I do not put this one Monte Kiffin. As bad as the defense was in the final quarter season and as equally bad the timing was on the announcement of his decision to leave, I don’t blame Monte. He has shown us that he’s nothing if he’s not prepared and professional. I guarantee you Monte had the scheme’s in place to beat every last one of the teams the Bucs played throughout the entire season. He can’t force guys to not miss assignments or actually tackle someone that they are close to. This is not on Monte Kiffin.
• The defense? I will lump this one in with the players. Ronde Barber has been exposed as an aging corner, Derrick Brooks was in on less plays than in any season I could remember and there still isn’t enough of a rush being put on by the front four. The defense had enough physical impairments that the schemes couldn’t overcome. Barrett Ruud went from all-world to all-ok late in the season. Gaines Adams I’m officially calling a bust. Phillip Buchanon looked like he was still a Raider and the rest of everyone on the team basically filled in where they could. I think Monte saw this and that helped him make his decision to leave easier. Trying to find replacements for Brooks and company will be tough and I think he wants to spend his golden years having a little more fun than that. Defense is lumped in with the players so that’s not it either.
• Gruden/Allen?I think we all know where I was headed with this. I put it on Gruden and Allen.

Now it’s hard to put a late season meltdown on Bruce Allen, but he’s Jon Gruden’s do boy, so he takes it on the chin there. Bruce Allen has not done a good job of enticing quality free agents to come here and the drafting has been questionable at best. The draft’s have gotten somewhat better, but not much. This all still leads to Jon Gruden though.

Gruden has been the man here, especially since Allen arrived, and all things get fixed on his shoulders. The drafting of offensive talent, particularly the skill positions, has been bad. The management of talent on the field has been questionable at best and the lies have become more abundant in the process. Galloway is hurt, oh wait no he isn’t. Jeff Garcia is hurt, oh wait he isn’t. How bout this one, hey Luke McCown, if Garcia is hurt this week, you will start so I’ll have you take a majority of the snaps this week to get ready. Sunday comes and Brian Griese starts? Now I’m going to try and come at this from a different angle for all those Gruden defenders and everyone else who thinks Gruden should keep his job. The “core” of this team is still on defense and is getting on in years. Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber don’t have time on their side. The offensive core is really questionable. This is an offensive coach who’s core right now are an aging QB in Garcia he can’t get along with, an offensive line that is still a work in progress, a WR in Galloway that watched the season from the bench, another WR in Bryant who is going to get big money and doesn’t seem all that happy here, a RB group that includes an aging Warrick Dunn and a broken Cadillac Williams (whose career is now in jeapordy) and TE’s that are seldom utilized or productive. I think the time has come for all us fans to realize that the run is over.

It’s time, especially with Kiffin’s departure, to lovingly let go of the old and bring in the new. We all loved Gruden in the Super Bowl season and we all have loved the run of the defense under Kiffin that gave us Brooks, Barber, Sapp, Lynch, Nickerson, Quarles and so on. I will cherish these memories for the rest of my life as we all will as fans. But we now must look at turning the page and starting over. We have tons of cap room and great ownership who let’s football guys do their jobs so when, if not now, will it be time to turn the page? It’s hard to do, but don’t you think you’ll be excited when the new wave comes through? I was excited with what I saw from Ruud and Talib this season and there could be more than that if we start looking toward the future now instead of holding on to the past. I hear people saying “who would we get better than Gruden if we fired him?” I don’t know, but do you think no one is better than him, seriously?

Look at what Mike Smith did in Atlanta this year. Look at what Tony Dungy did here when he was an unknown. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Gruden basher or a Garcia basher or whatever, it’s time for us to let the past go and embrace the future. I’m not saying that Gruden can’t build it from scratch here, but I would bet against it. How’s his track record with young players? Do you think that Matt Ryan would play that well under Gruden? I think not. Gruden’s success has always been with veterans and I haven’t seen any veteran players beating down the door to play here other than Jeff Garcia and we see how that’s going. Let’s all let it go and Gruden/Allen with it. Let’s take a chance on one of those up and coming coordinators and see what happens. Maybe it will work out again.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Bryant, Aqib Talib, Atlanta Falcons, Barrett Ruud, Brian Griese, Bruce Allen, Cadillac Williams, Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, Derrick Brooks, Earnest Graham, Gaines Adams, Hardy Nickerson, Jeff Garcia, Joey Galloway, John Lynch, Luke McCown, Matt Ryan, Mike Smith, Monte Kiffin, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Phillip Buchanon, Ronde Barber, San Diego Chargers, Shelton Quarles, Super Bowl, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Volunteers, Tony Dungy, Warren Sapp, Warrick Dunn

This is why I tell everyone not to get too far ahead of themselves when they talk about the Bucs and the playoffs. Carolina came out mean and aggressive at home as they set out to try to win out and the Bucs were the first opponent to feel the wrath of what this team can do. In a somewhat surprising twist in this game it was the defense that let us down. The offense played decent against a good defense with no turnovers and moved the ball well enough to win in most any other game. The defense looked very small last night in getting man handled up front as they gave up nearly 300 yards rushing. This is something our defense has always been susceptible to given that we have smallish interior defensive linemen. Monte Kiffin can usually game plan well enough to overcome these things, but not last night. The game was tied at 17 going into the fourth quarter and it looked like it was going to be one of those games where it would be decided in the final two minutes, but no such luck. Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams went off and started running through the line however they felt and it was over soon after. On the positive side of things Antonio Bryant was an animal last night with a 9 catch 200 yard performance.  Ronde Barber said after the game that they ran a handful of different plays and that they just executed better. Maybe that’s what Tony Dungy was talking about way back then huh? Anyway, the season isn’t over and we still look good for the playoffs if we can knock off Atlanta at home. This game in Atlanta has now become the biggest game of the year because if we can win here, it all but clinches the playoffs for this team with bad Charger and Raider teams coming here to finish off the season. Hope it goes better in Atlanta this week.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Bryant, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, DeAngelo Williams, Johnathan Stewart, Monte Kiffin, Oakland Raiders, Ronde Barber, San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tony Dungy

The Bucs have just rolled right along this year with the usual mess of distractions to a 9-3 record. As we head into the biggest game of the year on Monday Night Football, a couple other things have popped up. First let’s get to the Monte Kiffin to Tennessee rumor. I don’t think it’s a rumor, I think it’s a done deal. I have some questions for all those reporters and fans out there that keep harping on it though. What did you expect? What response did you think you were going to get from him now? Why is this being perceived as a bad thing? These are the things that annoy me with sports. Monte Kiffin has been here as defensive coordinator since 1996. He has shown no real desire to be a head coach. He’s produced great defenses over his tenure here. He’s plugged in players and coaches to fill voids left by others and things haven’t seemed to miss a beat. He’s done all this under two different Head Coaches and General Managers with completely different philosophies on how to run their ship. He’s done it all with a smile on his face in his father figure type persona. Why do we have to question his motives, his responses and now his character (Warren Sapp!)? If Monte wants to go and coach with his son at Tennessee at the great age of 68, why shouldn’t he be able to do so? I would miss him but I would also root for him to do well in his new position. When he gets asked a question like, “are you going to coach here next year or are you going to Tennessee?”, what do you expect him to say? He’s under contract here and his team’s still playing, so let him coach. If he decided to go already, it’s up to him and not us. He doesn’t need to make a big show of this being his final year with the Bucs and he doesn’t need to interrupt the current season to worry about the next. Leave him alone, enjoy the year and move on! Now, on to Warren Sapp. I always loved Sapp and he was one of my favorite players to watch when he was here. I think he’s doing a good job on Inside the NFL and Dancing With the Stars, he can really dance by the way. This all leaves me wondering why he would make this statement about Monte Kiffin. He stated on Inside the NFL that Monte Kiffin was selfish and that things have always been about Monte. What?! Ok, let me see, a guy that has been with the same team for 12 years, never left to be a Head Coach and never has been accused of such behavior by anyone else is supposed to be this way because you say so? C’mon Warren, let it go! It really sounds like Sapp has never gotten over not being able to finish his career here. It angers me when athletes say things like this, especially one with Warren’s reputation. I have always been a defender of athletes, Warren included, in the sense that their lives should be their own. They carry no responsibility to be “role models” for anyone off the field, they are required to do a job and that’s it. It’s like any other business out there. Show up, do your job, go home. If you choose to put yourself out there and take on responsibilities like that, great, but they are not required to. Everyone knows the type of work that Warrick Dunn and Derrick Brooks do off the field and we all admire and respect them for it. They are going above and beyond and deserve every ounce of respect they get for it, probably more. We all can’t hold athletes to this standard though, everyone is not ready to do these things and it doesn’t make them bad. These are the same reasons I don’t report on incidents in nightclubs, bars or DUI’S or anything like that. It’s their lives and they need to live it the best way for them, not us. Children need role models that they know, not that they know of. I tell my son this about athletes all the time. You can look up to him and what he does on the field and if you want to model yourself after that, great, but don’t try to be someone off the field that you don’t know anything about. These are the things I’ve always said when defending Warren Sapp. But there’s no defense for this. This is a bitter, self obsessed man attacking someone he played for and obviously had problems with when he was here. Has anyone ever heard Kiffin say anything like this about anyone? I haven’t. It’s an attempt to get more publicity or maybe a far reach in defending Rod Marinelli, whatever it is, it’s very sad to see and Monte Kiffin deserves much more than this. Listen up Warren, your career probably wouldn’t have been as good without Monte Kiffin whereas his would’ve been just fine without you, so get over it.

Technorati Tags: Derrick Brooks, Monte Kiffin, Rod Marinelli, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Volunteers, Warren Sapp, Warrick Dunn

   Let’s not get too excited about the victory the Bucs got yesterday in Detroit. They obviously fell behind quick and that was enough to bash them. But I’m not gonna harp on that. It’s time for people to stop defending Jon Gruden for his shortcomings. The Bucs got out of Detroit with a 38-20 victory and are ready to take Carolina to the wire for the NFC South title. But here’s the problem with what I watch on Sunday’s with this team. Every week Gruden challenges the defense to score points. How bout challenging the offense Jon? If it weren’t for Clifton Smith and Monte Kiffin this season, the Bucs would be .500 at best. This holds true for other seasons as well and I’m tired of listening to people proclaim Mr. Gruden as one of the best coaches in the NFL. He’s not! It’s a mystery to me what these people see in this guy to call him great. He feuds with players, changes QB’s like underwear and lies to anyone who’ll listen. It’s like saying that a drug addicted, jobless wife is great if she doesn’t cheat on you. There’s more to this than wins and losses. If you go by winning percentage by the way, Gruden is at .523 right now and that doesn’t scream great either. His offenses have never ranked higher than tenth since his arrival (even though they’re ranked ninth right now) and that doesn’t scream great either. Now I’m not saying he hasn’t been useful, he won the Super Bowl here and not Tony Dungy. I can’t stand those people either. It wasn’t Dungy’s team that won the Super Bowl, it was Gruden/Kiffin’s team that won. Monte Kiffin has been the glue that has held this whole thing together for years and at least Gruden has recognized that and hasn’t forced Kiffin to go elsewhere. His faces aren’t funny, they’re fake. His offense is average. His player relationship skills are awful and his talent evaluation is even worse. This is the world of the NFL and change is inevitable. There are people out there who praise and admire Gruden on a daily basis and I can’t help but wonder what they’re being given to say these things. I don’t hate Jon Gruden, I hate the statements made about him being “great”. I could swallow it better if people said he was good or doing well, not great. Monte Kiffin is a great defensive coach, it doesn’t mean he would be a great head coach and there’s nothing wrong with that. There are great coaches around the league, Bill Belichick, Tom Moore, etc.. They’re not all head coaches and they’re not going to be on top every season, but you know they’ll bounce back when they’re down. Now to finish off my point with this whole thing. I’m not saying we need to fire Gruden. I’m saying SHUT UP! Shut up about the “greatness” of Jon Gruden. Stop rolling out the red carpet for his Hall of Fame induction and stop getting mad at people like me who actually recognize the flaws that this guy has. I hate the way he treats players. I hate the way he calls out the defense and not the offense. I hate his love affair with himself. I hate his play calling. There’s a lot that I hate, but not enough to want to wash him away just yet. I liked the way Dungy conducted himself and treated everyone, but I don’t miss him coaching this team. Gruden is helping keep the team competitive so we have to deal with him dissing Mark, uh I mean Mike Alstott and loving Jerramy Stevens, but not forever.

Technorati Tags: Bill Belichick, Clifton Smith, Detroit Lions, Jerramy Stevens, Jon Gruden, Mike Alstott, Monte Kiffin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Moore, Tony Dungy

   I had to work Sunday so I didn’t get to look at the whole game until last night. Man did the Bucs look good this week though. The Bucs couldn’t get a good running game going after Earnest Graham went down with an ankle injury after one carry, and apparently this injury may end his season. Jeff Garcia stepped up in a big way going 23 of 30 with 255 yards, 84 of which went to the hated Jerramy Stevens. It was a nice showing for Garcia, but the Bucs defense again proved itself one of the best. The Bucs defense, as good as they’ve been over the years, have always had problems with bigger running backs and Adrian Peterson is as imposing as it gets. The Bucs held Peterson to 85 yards on the ground with no touchdowns. The Bucs have now faced seven of the top ten running backs without giving up a touchdown. Derrick Brooks really looks reborn this year, especially in his play on Sunday. That play in the fourth quarter in pass coverage with Peterson got everyone fired up! The Bucs are still struggling to score in the red zone and that needs to change if they’re going go deep into the playoffs. These guys are still a defense first team and it appears they’ll be so as long as Monte Kiffin is running the show. Matt Bryant was 4 of 5 in field goals and is having a very good season with 24 of 28 field goals, which includes 21 of 21 inside 40 yards. This is on the heels of him strugglingin the pre-season and the death of his infant son. You could make a legitimate case for Bryant being the offensive MVP of this team given their struggles in the red zone. The Bucs are now 7-3 heading into Detroit with three tough division games to follow. They play New Orleans at home and then go on the road to face Carolina and Atlanta. We should know how the season is going to shake out for the Bucs by the time the Chargers come to town on the 21st of December.

Technorati Tags: Adrian Peterson, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Derrick Brooks, Earnest Graham, Jeff Garcia, Jerramy Stevens, Matt Bryant, Minnesota Vikings, Monte Kiffin, New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

   The Bucs have finished the first half of their season 5-3 with a 4-0 home record and there are still a ton of questions hovering over them. The first half was riddled with typical Gruden drama, questionable play calling and player personnel decisions along with the typical “D” we’ve gotten so used to seeing. Some of the good things we’ve seen so far include…

• Earnest Graham is the workhorse RB we saw last season and looks like he’s improving on every aspect of his game. He was always a good blocker so that’s just the norm there, but his improvement on catching the ball out of the backfield and his field vision have made him my leading candidate for offensive MVP on this team.
• Antonio Bryant has stepped up and done more than anyone could’ve expected in Joey Galloway’s absence. We’ve had reclamation projects at this position before who we’ve been told would make big impacts (remember David Boston?) but this one looks to be the real deal.
• The defense in still headed by Monte Kiffin, why expect less? The entire defense has showed they’re still one of the top units out there. D-Brooks looks 25 again, Barrett Ruud is playing out of his mind, Aqib Talib makes us not miss Brian Kelly and the line is doing enough damage to keep teams honest.
• Matt Bryant has performed well after a pre-season where everyone wanted to get rid of him and through the horrible turmoil his life became after his infant son’s (Matthew Tyson) death. There may be no other story this year more heart wrenching than his and it should make us all feel good that he can remain on a positive path after such an event.

I think we can sum up the good there for the first half. The bad and questionable I will not harp on too much right now as there was way too much to put it out there. The bad stems around Jon Gruden and that’s where it needs to be kept. His decisions on starting Brian Griese over Jeff Garcia, not running the ball enough and the fiasco that has become Dexter Jackson (another phenomenal draft choice by Gruden/Allen) is enough to make my head spin. The one thing I take out of watching this team so far this year is that this is still Monte Kiffins team. The defense is what makes this team successful and our season depends on them continuing to dominate opposing offenses. I’m gonna sit down and watch the second half now with the Bucs in Kansas City. Does this scream “trap game” to anyone else?

Technorati Tags: Antonio Bryant, Aqib Talib, Barrett Ruud, Brian Griese, Bruce Allen, Derrick Brooks, Dexter Jackson, Earnest Graham, Jeff Garcia, Joey Galloway, Jon Gruden, Kansas City Chiefs, Matt Bryant, Monte Kiffin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

   Well day two is done and the Bucs made some trades on both days to acquire more picks. Nothing very significantcame of the trades and the draft went along fairly quick and smooth. Today’s picks were…

•    3rd round: OG Jeramy Zuttah, Rutgers
•    4th round: DT Dre Moore, Maryland
•    5th round: QB Josh Johnson, San Diego
•    6th round: LB Geno Hayes, Florida State
•    7th round: RB Cory Boyd, South Carolina

   It should be no surprise to anyone that a QB was taken by Gruden so I’m not going to fret over that. I definitely thought the 7throunder was a puzzler with the Bucs going for a running back. They have what seems to be a plethora of RB’s on the roster already (QB’s too but anyway) so I thought for sure they would take a flyer on another WR or OL. This was a draft that didn’t have many big names for the Bucs but I trust Monte Kiffin for sure to pick quality guys for the defense. Gruden is Gruden so we’ll hear how great every one of these guys are and probably won’t see much of them this year unless one of them really step up and show something. Anyway the grades are already being handed out by Fox Sports and others in a race to see which idiot can decide how the NFL teams did in their ‘expert opinions’. I advise again going to Buc Em’ and stopping there.

Technorati Tags: Cory Byrd, Dre Moore, Geno Hayes, Jeramy Zuttah, Josh Johnson, Monte Kiffin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers