Chidi Ahanotu is a former NFL defensive lineman who has played defensive end and defensive tackle. The Buccaneers selected Ahanotu with the fifth pick in the sixth round of the 1993 NFL draft and he has seen his fair share of the NFL; as a game and for what it is: a business.

Chidi played nine seasons faithfully for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During his tenure in the Bay, he had unquestionably seen the business face of the organization as well as that of the NFL. But that is a story for his upcoming book. While in Tampa he amassed 34.5 sacks, 333 combined tackles, 245 of them solo tackles, and 88 of them assisted, 4 forced fumbled and 4 fumbles recovered. Those are numbers any NFL defensive lineman can be proud of obtaining.

Following his tenure in Tampa, he moved on to the St. Louis Rams in 2001, then known as the “Greatest Show on Turf” and helped them to the Super Bowl against the Patriots, which they lost.

He continued his career, by joining the Buffalo Bills a year later, then heading on to the 49ers in ’03 and then ultimately finding his way back to Tampa after a short stop in Miami to finish his career in Pewter in Red.

Overall career: 46.5 sacks, 436 total tackles, 8 pass defends, 4 forced fumbles, and 7 fumble recoveries.

Now on to Chidi’s thoughts on McCoy.

“So here are my thoughts: First off, to Gerald welcome to the NFL. Your story isn’t special. Once an organization is done with you, they move on. You’re complaining that no one called you and that’s somehow disrespectful? No Gerald, it’s called ‘showing you that they are done with you’. It happens to all of us who played. A rare few get the post-career interview and a parade out the door. It’s one of the hard emotional truths of the NFL.”

“Gerald picked the wrong team to play for, the Carolina Panthers, if his main motivation was to play against us [Tampa Bay Buccaneers] and make us look bad. Don’t forget, we got a decade of film on Gerald, and know his personality in and out. He has a better chance of being made look bad by us. Not the other way around. But sometimes you gotta get a kick in the ass to turn your life, and game, around and see your weaknesses for what they truly are. Maybe this kicks him into a level of playing that he’s never shown before. Or maybe he tanks. It can go either way. It’s up to him to internalize it and use it. But honestly, I’m not in fear of facing GMAC twice a year. None of the NFL teams were in fear of him over the last, however many, years.

“When folks call GMAC soft, it’s more about his personality and behavior than his playing. Although, both have shown signs of some softness. It’s a shame ’cause GMAC had no vets around him to teach him and mold him into becoming hard.”

Lastly, about Suh getting GMAC Jersey:

“I believe that’s Suh’s jersey number too. Suh is the organization’s big-time free agent signing. We don’t have a ton of those around here over the years, so we supposed to disrespect the guy we got coming in just so we don’t disrespect the other guy on his way out?”

“To expect the franchise to not allow Suh to have his own jersey number would be disrespectful. Not the other way around. I’m sorry, but GMAC is no Michael Jordan, let alone Michael Alstott.”

“I was blessed to have a pretty damn good career playing almost a decade with the Bucs. I am unsure, but I think maybe my #72 jersey number might be one of the ‘unofficial semi-retired jersey numbers’ as no defensive lineman has worn it since I retired in 2005.”

“If some defensive lineman did wear it in the future, I would feel some kinda way about it, but I’d personally demand and expect that player to be a beast and pay respect to the #72 jersey number, by playing his ass off.”

“Regardless of whether my jersey number is or is not, it really don’t matter. Gerald is asking a lot here and has a blown up perception of his so-called greatness. GMAC is following in the shadows of a true all-time great, my teammate and fellow defensive tackle, Warren Sapp. So we have that to compare him to, whether fairly or unfairly. So, it’s a bit hard to hear GMAC touting how great he is all the time when he PALES in COMPARISON to Warren.”

As always, a solid take from Chidi Ahanotu.

As James Coleman states, “Doug Williams, Tony Dungy, Jon Gruden, Warren Sapp, John Lynch, etc.—much more credentialed contributors were dismissed less ceremoniously. As far as the #93, that’s usually for National figures. Sure, if a Canadian took Gretzky’s #99, Lakers took Abdul-Jabbar’s #33 and goggles, Celtics took Bird’s #33, Bulls took Jordan’s #23, 49ers took Jerry Rice’s #80, etc., it may cause some consternation. But for non-National figures, being butthurt doesn’t make sense.”