TAMPA — A lot of Buccaneers fans are cheering at the firing of Raheem Morris earlier today but some of his players are expressing sadness at the move that severed their father figure from their football lives in a sense.
Some of the sadness is expressed towards Morris, who for many of these players is the only processional head coach they’ve known, is now gone. But a lot of the emotion is expressed with the knowledge that things are going to change. The Glazers, as questionable owners in many circles, are pulling out the butcher knives and boy are they razor sharp.
They’ve already jettisoned the entire coaching staff and now the player know that they will be held accountable for quitting on their team, their coach and the Glazers.
“There are going to be some guys who might not be here,” Bucs running back Earnest Graham said. “That’s the league, man.”
Graham, a nearly 10 year veteran of the Buccaneers, acknowledges that although Morris is to blame here, the players are equally accountable for the ugly 4-12 season.
“It’s about the team,” he said. “We’re all in this together and the blame has to fall on everybody. It wasn’t totally our fault and it wasn’t totally Raheem’s fault.”
Some players expressed shock, even though they openly admit they saw this move coming. Brian Price, a player made infamous in Buccaneers circles for being kicked out of a game by Morris a few weeks ago, said he was still shocked even though he readily prepared himself for the move.
“No matter whether you expect it or not, it’s always a shock,” Price said. “He’s the only coach I’ve known in the NFL. I mean, he drafted me. And he didn’t get the job for no reason. But during that slide things didn’t go our way. But what’s done is done. I wish I could take all the blame instead of him.”
The next people on the chopping block is the players, as much as fans want to ignore that they are equally the problem here. Guys like Aqib Talib, Donald Penn, Jeff Faine, Quincy Black and Geno Hayes are all guys that should be held as responsible for this horrid meltdown as the now unemployed coaching staff.
The question needs to be asked: where is the line of hypocrisy drawn? When does it stop being okay to blame Talib, Faine and Penn and begin to be acceptable to blast Morris, Olsen and the rest of the staff?
We will see how well this team responds next year with a new staff. If the same results are produced, how can anyone logically blame the staff? At that point we will see if this team really has it in them to win or if they have just been talked up this entire time.
That is, those who are still here next year.