My Take on Sean Payton’s Take on Jameis Winston, and The Bucs Tanking in 2014!

Tanking and Draft nonsense

Never one to shy from the camera, or saying what’s on his mind. Sean Payton had a few things to say about Jameis Winston and inserted a jab at the Buccaneers of 2014. Here is the first quote associated with the story made by Coach Payton. It concerns the way the Buccaneers found themselves with the #1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

“Heck, they lost a game on purpose to us at the end of the season prior with (head coach) Lovie Smith,” Payton told Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. “They forced Lovie to take his starters out of the game so they could get the one spot to draft Jameis. So we’re excited to work with him, and he’s still a young player — only 26 years old I believe — and I know he’s got a great work ethic and I know he’s competitive. So we’ll see how that unfolds, but we’re excited that he’s joined our team and he’ll be a part of what we’re trying to accomplish.” – Per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times

There is very, very little doubt that this was indeed true. The Bucs were up 20-7 in the fourth quarter and had replaced most of the important position starters with backups after halftime; including three offensive linemen that allowed a safety on Josh McCown that sealed the victory for the Saints, and Tampa’s position to take Jameis Winston in the coming draft at number one. It’s no secret that Lovie Smith was enamored with Jameis Winston. So, in my opinion, it’s pretty obvious that the Bucs did tank the final game. My take on this? So what, who cares? It’s not like he’s accusing us of tanking the entire season or half of the season. He’s talking about one meaningless game that a bad team took a loss in on purpose. It wasn’t the Playoffs, or world peace, or even a basket of puppies that were harmed by this loss. In fact, the team was just doing what it thought it needed to do to get better, by dropping just one game. What difference does it make to Sean Payton? Other than he saw a chance to try and ‘Dis the Bucs on the public stage. News for ya Sean, you made yourself look petty by the move, in my opinion. Nobody is aghast at the revelation. Bucs’ fans already knew what went down back then, and the rest of the NFL doesn’t care – Except for Coach Sean “the drama queen” Payton.

 More Draft nonsense

 The following quote is Sean Payton telling us all about how Jameis Winston would have graded out in this latest Draft.

 “You say, ‘Well, throw Winston into this Draft ― because we can all remember him coming out and I was there at his Pro Day and sat right literally 5 yards behind him as he threw 80-some, 90-some passes,” Payton said. “How would he grade? And I think he’d fare extremely well in this class, and a number of classes, enough to where someone thought that much of him that they selected him with the first pick in the Draft.”- Per Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times

 My take? What does that have to do with the price of gum in Tanzania? The quarterbacks coming out of the 2020 Draft are college players, and Winston has already been in this league for five seasons. That five-year player is who you signed, that’s the player you are getting, not Jameis Winston at 21 years of age fresh out of college. You have to judge those draft-eligible players by their body of work; the same would be true for Jameis Winston. If you put him in with those players with his body of work to compare to theirs, he doesn’t rank high at all. He sends most teams running away from him. He couldn’t be trusted in Tampa, 658.5 miles north of New Orleans. Who knows, maybe he does get it turned around in the Big Easy, but that’s not the point, though. You are inserting Winston into a Draft Class and ignoring his first five seasons playing in the NFL. Shoot! Bryan Bosworth and JaMarcus Russel would grade out awful high in any Draft Class, not counting the fact that they bombed after turning pro. So what’s the point in even saying that, Coach Payton? So, let’s pretend we haven’t seen what Winston can do in the NFL, and compare him from five or six seasons ago with the truly amateur collegians coming out in the 2020 Draft. I don’t see the point in saying that. It seems like he was just bored and felt the need to bump his gums. Hence, you get this unimportant and uninteresting piles of horse apples that means absolutely nothing, except to brainless ‘Aints fans.

Finishing up

Sean Payton is an excellent coach, and for the most part, I respect him in the coaching arena. This was just my take on him in this situation. Jameis Winston; also has many qualities that can be admired. This was just a poke at one frame in time. Go Bucs!!