Maybe I Was Wrong About Geno Hayes

I really, really like this new program the NFL has of taking all the rookies to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and having them get a big, heaping spoonful of humility before they sign their contracts. The Buccaneer rookies went last weekend, accompanied by Lee Roy Selmon, and quickly learned that their previous success in high school or college isn't such a big deal anymore.

Out of everyone that was interviewed, though, I was most impressed with what Geno Hayes had to say. He sounded like he really had a revelation in there and he was going to honestly re-evaluate his priorities in life.

"It has given me a better and bigger perspective on everything right now," he said. "I'm just going to go home and write down my goals and reset them a little bit, because it's opened my eyes a little bit more than I had them. Listening to some of the speeches that were given and how [the Hall of Famers] got to the point they were and how they looked up to other players, I'm just going to go ahead and reset some goals of mine and get everything settled in."

Said Hayes: "I always wondered, 'What does it take? What key elements would I be missing when I strive to be the best?' The videos and the tour around the place really gave me some inside keys to what it takes to be a champion and how to be a great player. It really helped."

I had prejudged Hayes because of the legal trouble with the bar fight and the Tasering and the suspension and then the whole cheating scandal thing (wow... that's a lot of stuff,) but it could be that he really wants to get things turned around and that this trip was just what he needed to put life in perspective. Or he could just be feeding the reporter who works for the Bucs a line of bullshit. But it's working on me, so I'll believe the former for now.