Roy Cummings Needs A Time Machine

Roy Cummings really misses Shelton Quarles. How else can you explain an article like "Desperate Measures For A Desperate Team"? Just like much of the Tampa sports media, Cummings is apparently bitter over the loss of a stand-up guy like Quarles, so he points out that the Buccaneers have brought a few guys in that, admittedly, are not in line for sainthood and uses that to label the team as desperate.

It is more likely that the lack of Buc news this week has made Cummings desperate for something to write about.

The string began on the first day of the draft, when the Bucs used their first pick on Clemson defensive end Gaines Adams, one of three prospects who had admitted to experimenting with marijuana.

First, that information was supposed to be confidential and was only revealed because of a leak at the league level. If all NFL players had their confidential secrets broadcast internationally, I'm sure far more have done far worse. Personally, I think Adams should be praised for honestly answering a question that he could have easily lied about and no one would have known any differently. That shows character. Second, does anyone think for a second that if Tampa Bay had selected Calvin Johnson, one of the other guys who admitted to smoking pot, in the first round that this article even gets written?

It continued a few picks later when the Bucs chose Syracuse defensive back Tanard Jackson, who was stabbed during a frat fight as a junior and suspended from the team as a senior for contract detrimental to the team.

I don't know anything more about the stabbing than what I read, but it appears that Jackson (the stabee, remember) was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A confrontation broke out between two groups during the dance, and it was reported that Jackson and a few of his teammates attempted to break up the fight.

According to Syracuse.com, head coach Paul Pasqualioni said, "It's unfortunate. He tried to avoid what happened. In the end, he couldn't. It's encouraging [though] that he was trying to do the right thing."

Yeah, sounds like quite the hellraiser. And as far as the conduct detrimental suspension, Cumming failed to note that is was an offseason suspension that Pasqualioni called "family business". It was such a terrible offense that he let the other players determine when Jackson would come back. Jackson went on to start all twelve games in 2006. Anything else, Roy?

Then, within minutes of completing the draft, the Bucs signed free-agent tight end Jerramy Stevens, who dropped off the radar of almost every other team in March when he was arrested on a DUI charge.

When Stevens was signed, I said it was a mistake and to expect another incident similar to those that he has become so well known for. But you know what... Stevens didn't get a signing bonus and will cost the Buccaneers absolutely nothing to try out. If he keeps his nose clean and performs well, he can stay. If the nonsense continues, he'll be gone. They did the same thing with (the late) Darrell Russell, whom the team quickly cut after he stopped abiding by his alcohol recovery program.

As if that wasn't enough, the Bucs then granted a tryout to Olympic gold medal sprinter Justin Gatlin, who is serving an eight-year ban from the track and field circuit for his involvement in a 2006 doping scandal.

Gatlin didn't get signed. As Cummings said, they just tried him out. So did the Texans. And the Cardinals. I guess they don't care about their teams, either. I contend that it would be irresponsible to not tryout guys who could potentially help the team at no risk.

Are the Bucs desperate? Maybe. A few losing seasons will do that to you. But if they are desperate, they're not acting like it. Gruce didn't mortgage the future on Calvin Johnson, choosing instead to stay put at #4. They didn't pull the trigger on Lance Briggs or Charles Grant or any other franchised player that would have been an obvious upgrade but cost the team in the future. There were no ridiculous deals for players like Nate Clements in free agency. The biggest names they signed, Jeff Garcia and Cato June, were both done for reasonable money. They released a player who was performing well at the end of last season in order to make way for his up-and-coming replacement. This is not desperation; this is shrewd management of the salary cap, wise use of resources, and thinking beyond the 2007 season. It is also Cummings upset that yet another piece of the 2002 Buccaneers team has been shown the door in favor of younger players with more years ahead of them than behind them. Again, it's sad. I wish Quarles didn't have the injuries and that high character cornerstones of great Buc teams could stick around forever or at least leave on their own terms. They can't. Gruce did the right thing by releasing Quarles and they are doing the right thing by taking low-risk looks at players who could prove to be worth the time.

(Also, Roy... "As best"? Really? I know you took a grammar class or two when you were studying journalism.)