Quote (HEIDTB @ Aug 1 2010 04:45pm)

sorry about your loss.

Quote (Superfly_B @ 1 Aug 2010 21:52)

wait, just one?  sorry 'bout your losses, all 10-12 of them

Quote (GangStarr @ 1 Aug 2010 22:05)

Mike Williams is their #1 receiver
lololol

inb4steal

Quote

PewterReport    D-line 1on1s just finished. McCoy and Price dominated

Quote

Restricted free agent Bucs middle linebacker Barrett Ruud successfully dodged the media for two days, but finally publicly addressed the fact that left tackle Donald Penn, a fellow restricted free agent, was signed to a six-year extension worth a reported $43 million on Saturday after holding out during the team's offseason workouts.

“Obviously, I’m very disappointed,” Ruud told the Tampa Tribune. “I’m not real happy about it. I’m very happy for Donald and I’m very happy for Gerald [McCoy]. Very happy for all the guys who signed the last couple of years, but definitely it’s pretty frustrating on my end.”

On Friday, Ruud was openly expressing solidarity with his decision to hold out of training camp.

“I fully support Donald, and hopefully things get worked out," Ruud said. "That’s all I know about that part. … Until you get a decent contract, you kind of think about that every year. For a lot of guys they think about it from the time they are a rookie to the time they do sign a little bit more of a long-term deal. I can’t speak for guys who have had a couple of big contracts, but I think there’s always a lot of pressure on you. This league is so competitive, and it’s usually not a lot of guaranteed money – not like baseball or basketball where everything is guaranteed. I think you’re always under a lot of pressure from everybody to play well.”

But Ruud’s tune clearly changed after Penn’s extension although the signing of Penn to a contact extension won’t prompt the middle linebacker to leave camp and hold out.

“I’m already here now,” Ruud told the Tampa Tribune. “I’m here. I’m working. ... "It’s too late for that. It has worked out like it has so far, which was frustrating for me.”

Ruud, a former second-round pick in 2005, held out of the offseason workouts last year while attempting to get a long-term contract extension before his contract expired in 2010, but did report for training camp and started all 16 games. He signed a one-year tender this past April worth $3.268 million as a restricted free agent because he is only a fifth-year player.

Ruud has recorded 615 tackles (385 solo), five interceptions, four forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and three sacks in the 79 games (52 starts) he’s played with the Buccaneers.

“You would like your results to speak for themselves,” Ruud said. “I think I’ve done pretty well for 48 games and I’m going to play well for 72 games or whatever it’s going to be. I’m not going to stop playing well until I stop playing. You always want to be rewarded for your performance. That’s the bottom line.”

Ruud wouldn’t say if the Bucs’ decision to extend Penn, but not him, would influence his decision to sign elsewhere in 2011 when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

“I don’t set any definite rules of any kind,” Ruud said. “As of now, I’m here working. I’m going to do the same thing I’ve always done. I’m going to get a little better every day. I’m going to keep letting my performance talk for me. Whatever happens – happens.”

Quote

Number 55 is finally calling it quits.

After being away from the game for the last year and a half, Derrick Brooks has officially announced his retirement from the National Football League. For 14 seasons Brooks wore pewter and red. He was the face of the Buccaneers. And today, after a legendary career, he said goodbye.

"Today is a special day," said head coach Raheem Morris. "One of our legends walked away from the game and officially hung up the cleats. He did a lot of great things. He was a so-to-speak superhero, in our eyes, with what he was able to do with the Bucs and how he was able to carry this band for so long."

And what a superhero he was. Brooks was the heart and soul of the Buccaneers for many years. He was not only a vocal leader, but a productive one as well. During his career in the NFL, Brooks was a nine-time All-Pro and 11-time Pro Bowl selection. So, what happens now?

"I guess you just countdown the days ‘til he gets to Canton," said middle linebacker Barrett Ruud. "He probably had about as good of a career as a linebacker could have. He's won every individual award and has been at the biggest two team awards a football player could get with a National Championship and a Super Bowl."

The Buccaneers drafted Brooks out of Florida State with the No. 28 overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft. Brooks, along with defensive tackle Warren Sapp (the Bucs drafted Sapp with the No. 12 overall pick that same year) helped build the Bucs into winners and brought them to a level that the franchise had never seen before.

"When we started being successful it was because of him and Warren," said former linebacker and current Pro Scout for the Buccaneers Shelton Quarles. "They did a great job of getting us to a place that we have never been before. So, when I look back on his legacy I remember him as being one of the cornerstones of the foundation."

Quarles was a teammate of Brooks' for 10 years from 1997-2006. Their friendship, along with the way he approached the game of football, is what Quarles will remember most about Brooks.

"He was a great friend first and foremost and the just camaraderie we had with one another [is what I'll remember]. How we moved on the field and [he showed me] how to be the ultimate pro," said Quarles. "He came to work everyday with his hard hat on and was ready to start digging. So, I appreciate his work ethic and what he did to prepare for the games both in the classroom and on the field."

That work ethic is what allowed Brooks to enjoy so much success on the field. The stats that Brooks amassed are immense. During his career, Brooks recorded 2,198 tackles, 25 interceptions, 24 forced fumbles, 13.5 sacks, and 112 passes defensed. He also scored eight defensive touchdowns. In 2002, Brooks was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year and he lead the Buccaneers to their first and only Super Bowl Championship against the Oakland Raiders. That year is Morris' most fond memory of Brooks.

"Favorite? It has to be the six times he walked into the endzone in '02..." said Morris. "Other than that, there are too many special moments regarding Derrick Brooks. He was just one of the guys that mentored everybody. [He mentored] coaches. He mentored players...He was just the ultimate, motivated self-starter as far as our organization.

"When we lost to the Eagles in 2002, he told them that we would be back. Everybody in the lockerroom was angry and a little salty, but he knew we'd be back and we went back there and we beat them. And he was right."

Running Back Cadillac Williams played with Brooks for four seasons. His favorite memory of the weakside linebacker was on his first day as a pro.

"My favorite memory of D. Brooks on the field is when we always ran inside zone," said Williams. "I remember the first day I got here. That morning, we were in pads and I pressed the line of scrimmage and cutback on him and Brooks never gets beat on cutbacks. He is always there and he said, ‘You know what rook? You got me on that one, but you won't get me again.' And every time we ran that play, he was always yelling, ‘Hey! Hey! I'm right here!' So, that's what I remember."

Even with all the stats and accomplishments that he earned throughout the years, Brooks remained humble and was always ready to lend a helping hand to everyone around him.

"He was a great teammate," Ruud said. "He was a guy that went out of his way to help other people. He would show young guys how to do things. He was very approachable for a guy who was somewhat considered a superstar."

Ruud joined the Bucs in 2005 and immediately looked to Brooks for advice on how to improve his game.

"He was always very open for questions and I took advantage of it too," said Ruud. "I asked him as much stuff as I could and I still do now. Even though now it is probably less about football and more about other things, but I still ask a lot of questions."

Despite being cut by the Bucs in February of 2009 with other veterans Warrick Dunn, Joey Galloway, Ike Hillard, and Cato June, Brooks still has a presence that is felt by the players that are currently in the lockerroom.

"He is still in heavy contact with all of my players and is still in heavy contact with myself... He is one of our biggest guys and one of our biggest supporters," Morris said.

One of those guys is current weakside linebacker Geno Hayes. The Bucs drafted Hayes in the 2008 and the two hit it off right away. Why? Like Brooks, Hayes went to school at Florida State.

"He has meant a great deal to me," Hayes said. "He has taught me a lot of the small tricks to the trade. Just really being around him and watching him as a man and what he does off the field, it taught me to be humble about the situation I am in and to just go about things as a grown man. Just the one year of playing with him [meant a lot] and he has taught me a whole lot."

While some may view him as the heir to Brooks' spot, Hayes knows that no can ever replace a guy like Brooks.

"You really can't fill those shoes," said Hayes. "He's Derrick Brooks. He's the only Derrick Brooks out there so you can't really fill those shoes."

As good as he was on it, Brooks was equally impressive with what he did off the field. Brooks is well beloved in the Tampa Bay community, establishing Derrick Brooks Charities and heading the founding of the Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School in Tampa. He also was named co-recipient of the prestigious Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award in 2000.

"The guy as had a good of a career as you could have and he is probably even a better person," Ruud said.

It is all those wonderful qualities that made Brooks such a success. It is also the reason why he may not be totally done with football. Morris believes Brooks could have a future coaching - possibly with the Bucs.

"There is nothing in this building Derrick can't do," said Morris. "With his time hear with the Buccaneers, he could be the GM. He could be the head coach. He could be a linebackers coach. He can tell you how to work it, how to run it, what we can do, and what we should do because that is just the type of person he is. I think he would be a great coach. A lot of times great players have a hard time dealing with patience, but that was never one of his flaws... So coaching, if he chooses to, could certainly be in his future."

I know one thing that is in his future.

A first-ballot ticket into the NFL Hall-of-Fame.