I was pretty shocked to see the news yesterday that Keyshawn Johnson had been “deactivated for the remainder of the season” from the Tampa Bay Bucs. I thought it must have been one of those nagging injuries needed surgery, and with the season pretty much in the toilet it was time to get it fixed. Imagine my surprise to learn that it was essentially a disciplinary (eg, remove the disruption) maneouver.
Now as many know I am a big Bucs fan. Last season was nirvana, this season has been a disappointment, to put it mildly. I’ve always had mixed feelings about Keyshawn. Probably one of the most selfish players in the league. His constant bitching has been annoying since forever. But he’s not afraid to go across the middle and put his body on the line. He’s always blocking down field. So compared to a pansy like Randy Moss he seemed like a bargain. He’s even a somewhat decent guy off-field, apparently, although that’s probably even more about the ego.
There are two sides to every story, and this one is no exception. Was Keyshawn such a distraction that it was in the best interests of the team to let him go? Or is Gruden even more egomaniacal and Machivellian, forcing out someone who wanted more of the spotlight. Truth is that Keyshawn was not getting nearly the number of looks at the ball after Gruden came to town. Although to be fair it seemed he was dropping balls more often than previous seasons, too. And the emergence of Joe Jurevicous(sp?) and Keenan MacCardell may have led to a reduction in his catches. Overall the offense was more productive, although I don’t know where this season rates against the Dungy years.
Well, for one thing, the Bucs are pretty bad this year. 4-6 is a mediocre record, but they’ve lost three in a row and haven’t looked like champs in any of them. At best, they’ve been inconsistent this season.
I have so much more respect for Jon Gruden now than I did before, and I respected him a lot before. Most coaches who have problems with one star player either compromise (the Moss Rule in Minnesota) or cut him (that wideout in Cincinnati - Johnson? who was later picked up by Jacksonville). The problem with the former method is that it enables a player to walk over a coach, which might mean his other players lose some respect for him. The problem witht he latter method is that the player ultimately benefits - he gets to get away from the coach AND go to a different team!
But Gruden was smart. If he cut Johnson, the player would simply sign for another team. Perhaps he’d go to a team that had a chance at the playoffs. If so, he’d be rewarded in a sense for his rotten attitude - he’d be away from Gruden AND heading to the playoffs with another team.
Johnson was playing okay, but not great, and his carping was considered to be detrimental to the team. Kudos - major, major kudos - to Gruden for seizing control of the team. A cockeyed optimist might think this signals a beginning of an era in which prima donnas don’t get their way every time.
I always thought that Keyshawn was overated and there are 6 or 7 better recievers in the league. He just happened to be the best on the team last year and Gruden will not take his attitude anymore. It seemed that he was more for himself than the team. The Bucs can go after Terrell Owens next year.
I always thought that Keyshawn was overated and there are 6 or 7 better recievers in the league. He just happened to be the best on the team last year and Gruden will not take his attitude anymore. It seemed that he was more for himself than the team. The Bucs can go after Terrell Owens next year.
FTR, the Johnson that dantheman mentioned was Kevin Johnson in Cleveland. Chad Johnson, the one in Cincinnati, is Keyshawn’s cousin and a heck of wide receiver. Don’t know yet if his ego is out of control as Key’s could be.
Also, as I understand, the Bucs would have taken a $7 million hit to their salary cap if they had cut Keyshawn outright, which would have put them over their cap limit.
I agree what Ralph Wiley said over on ESPN.com: Keyshawn is a role player, not a franchise player. Too bad his ego blinded him to that reality.
I can’t believe they paid him that type of money in the first place. In all fairness he did go across the middle and could have been a great possession receiver, but his own ego got in his own way. I think he’s been pretty bad this season. You can find guys who get half as much to do what he does without the BS thatgoes along with it.
I think all coaches have egos, but they will put up with a lot from a great player. Problem is Keyshawn is only a great player in his own mind. He’s never been able toget along well with his teammates it seems and I’ve noticed no one from Tampa has come to his defense. At least to date, I think the silence is deafening.
He couldn’t get along with Chrebet in NY because many thought the “slow white guy” was better than him. I say good riddance to bad rubbish and as a Cowboys fan I hope he doesn’t sign with the Cowboys. I don’t think/hope Parcells wants him although I’m sure he’ll catch on with another team for god knows how much money. I feel sorry for them since I don’t think he will change his personality.
I can’t believe they paid him that type of money in the first place. In all fairness he did go across the middle and could have been a great possession receiver, but his own ego got in his own way. I think he’s been pretty bad this season. You can find guys who get half as much to do what he does without the BS thatgoes along with it.
I think all coaches have egos, but they will put up with a lot from a great player. Problem is Keyshawn is only a great player in his own mind. He’s never been able toget along well with his teammates it seems and I’ve noticed no one from Tampa has come to his defense. At least to date, I think the silence is deafening.
He couldn’t get along with Chrebet in NY because many thought the “slow white guy” was better than him. I say good riddance to bad rubbish and as a Cowboys fan I hope he doesn’t sign with the Cowboys. I don’t think/hope Parcells wants him although I’m sure he’ll catch on with another team for god knows how much money. I feel sorry for them since I don’t think he will change his personality.
Early line has him playing in Oakland to be near his kids. I could also see Arizona, where he would actually make an excellent contract to Anquan Boldin’s quickness, although I’m not sure he could take being the second guy in the receiver corps.
He might not get to choose where he plays next year. Apparently, Tampa plans to pay him a $1M roster bonus this off-season to hold onto his rights and trade him. EPSN (Chris Mortensen) was saying today that they might get a 3rd round pick for him, but I think they could get more.
I should have added one other point: wide receivers are rarely, very rarely, “franchise players.” Simply put, they don’t affect the game enough to make as big a difference as a quarterback or running back. Whereas a QB might throw the ball 40 times, or a #1 running back might carry it 25-30 times, even on a good day your #1 wideout will make 10 catches. Sure, Terrell Owens or Marvin Harrison could break a game open with those 10 catches. But Keyshawn is not even close to their league.
Another thing I wanted to mention is that he reminds me that most of the prima donnas in football now are wide receivers. I can’t remember where I heard this - probably ESPN radio - but wide receiver can be a comparatively nonphysical position, because there’s little blocking to do - even on a running play. RBs aren’t prima donnas as often, because they’re mired in the muck with the rest of the team. QBs can be prima donnas, but they quickly learn (unless, of course, you’re Ryan Leaf) that it’s unhealthy to be one - for if your offensive line thinks you’re grandstanding behind them, they just might not work so hard to keep those big burly men from beating the snot out of you.
I hope he doesn’t come to Washington. He seems to me to be too divisive to fit in.
6 or 7 WRs better that MeShawn? Crap people, he’s even fooling you with mouth. I don’t even think he’s top 20, maybe not even top 30 in the NFL. He has 9 touchdowns COMBINED OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS.
Even if Keyshawn was a hard worker and humble, I’d take all of these WRs ahead of him on talent alone:
Moss
TO
Harrison
Ward
Plax Burress
Chad Johnson
T Holt
Rod Smith
Lav Coles
Eric Moulds
Peerless Price
Donte Stallworth
Joe Horn
David Boston
Amani Toomer
Derrick Mason
Jimmy Smith
K Robinson (even with his recent shit-tank)
Charlie Rogers
Jerry Porter
I could go look at NFL rosters and find some more, I’m sure.
He’ll wind up on some team, for sure. Oakland? Dallas? But, good move to sack up for Gruden. Jeez, my hatred of the Bucs just dropped 50%. Just think, Sapp may not be a Buc much longer and then I’ll have no reason to dislike them at all.
Of the guys on your list, mouthbreather, Mr. Boston may be a better player but does not possess a better character - which makes his overall edge over Mr. K. Johnson negligible, IMO.
Boston has roided out and threatened his team’s weight trainer…but I am not convinced that he’s any worse (attitude wise) than MeShawn is.
Did any of you hear MeShawn when he was “mic’ed up” for that Monday night game against the Colts a few weeks back, the one with the crazy finish? All he did was talk shit at Marvin Harrison.
Warm ups –
“I’ll show these guys why I am the best of the '96 class” (Harrison was also drafted in 96)
Harrison takes a WR screen for 6 yards–
“Oh, I see, thats how he leads the NFL in catches…garbage like that” (paraphrasing)
Then you look at the stats for the game:
I would bet that there’s even more going on behind the scenes than we’re hearing about. I don’t recall any team doing this before, kicking a guy off the team essentially for being an intolerable a-hole. Maybe it’s been done to nobodies before, but not one of the highest paid guys on your team.
You would think that TB would just suffer through 6 more games with him then trade him, where they could get something for him.
They’ll be hard pressed to get much for him now (I’d say a 3rd round pick is pushing it) for 2 reasons:
They’ve essentially told every other team what a divisive, disruptive, PITA he is. Not a plus in most teams’ eyes
More importantly, they’ve told everyone that he has no value to them at all. Hard to have much leverage in that case.
Still, good for them. Though it’s much easier to lay down the law on a player when you are 4-6 and that player is the 3rd best WR on your team.
I don’t follow football much so I need a clarification here. It’s my understanding that he’s not actually “fired” from the team, because if that were the case he could just go to another team. I’m under the impression they’re paying him to do nothing all year, which doesn’t strike me as a very hard-hitting disciplinary measure. I mean, in a nutshell he gets the same amount of money but doesn’t have to do anything or worry about getting injured. He could probably use that time to make a bunch of lame commercials or something and make even more money. Is the idea to simply get him out of the “limelight” so he’s not as interesting to other teams? Doesn’t that bite them in the butt when they want to trade him later?