TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

No Complaints From Bucs' $9.84 Million Man, But Still ...

Tribune file photo by JAY CONNER

Antonio Bryant's one-handed touchdown catch against Carolina was among the Bucs' highlights from 2008.

ADVERTISEMENT

By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 1, 2009

TAMPA - Have no fear, Bucs fans. We think.

Antonio Bryant, Tampa Bay's $9.84 million, franchise-tagged receiver, is one happy camper, though I guess this isn't camp. OK, make it one happy voluntary worker-outer.

"I'm always excited to play football, man, that's the one thing that'll never change," Bryant said on day one of minicamp at One Buc Place.

The fact that Bryant was here in the flesh was a load off everyone's mind, particularly new head coach Raheem Morris. Tuesday was Morris' first day on the football field with real, live players — his players — and Bryant was one of them.

"He came in here bouncing around practice, and I felt good about it," Morris chirped.

There was no real sign (well, maybe a few simmering moments) of the Bryant who boiled over in Dallas and San Francisco, who seemingly blew it all, unemployed in 2007, before reviving his career in a major way last season with 83 catches for 1,248 yards and seven touchdowns, including that one-handed catch-of-a-lifetime TD grab at Carolina that defied description, physics, everything.

The man walked the walk last season.

We can only judge him by that … and Tuesday.

"Of course, I'm happy to be here," Bryant said. "This is what I like to do. I could have been back home on the couch again. Know what I'm saying? I'm not complaining about it. But for my situation, what's going on in my lane, there were better options, better situations that I wish I could have had myself in. But that's over; that's over. We're on our new foot. That's why I'm here. So you all can't go and report, 'Antonio Bryant didn't show up today.' I'm here. I'm here to do my part."

Good. Great.

There were also a few signs (OK, some) of the A.B. who only a news cycle earlier had popped off on Sporting News Radio, still sporting concern or even, yes, unhappiness about being slapped with the franchise tag by the Bucs, denying him a shot at a long-term deal, or the Bucs losing so many veteran leaders, or former coach Jon Gruden, or all the new quarterbacks … on and on.

A little taste from the radio:

"It's a one-year contract; it's a prove-yourself contract, again, and the circumstances for me have gotten a little tighter. Now I've got quarterbacks fighting for opportunities to showcase their talents, so the ability that was there last year is gone. We lost a lot of leaders, so we're going to have to find some leaders in the locker room. And we've got some guys that can step up, but there's a lot more tweaks and new things I've got to get comfortable with again. So it's a simple situation, but an unfair situation for myself."

Hey, Antonio, want to be a leader?

Move on.

Completely.

You see, it isn't easy, and it's sort of unseemly, especially in this economy (hell, even in Dubai's economy) for a guy who got a raise from $650,000 to $9.84 million to talk about his "unfair situation." I don't think even President Obama has cut many stimulus checks that big. A $9.84 million salary generally flies in the face of "The Man Is Keeping Me Down."

To Bryant's credit, on Tuesday, he was expansive with the media and generally jolly.

Yes, he did show some slippage as he talked, especially when asked whether a guy who landed a $9 million raise should ever think about quarterbacks this or that, or money, or ever, ever being unhappy.

"I look at it more like it's a different challenge," Bryant said. "It's a different challenge. It's a tough situation as far as me financially, that part of it, just in the football perspective. It's a challenge because most teams coming back — [New England's] Randy Moss, Tom Brady — they got their camaraderie, you know, their relationships. Now we got to rebuild that relationship, that rapport with each individual group.

"I don't have a problem with proving myself. You always want to be judged in accordance. You know, it's the team first. If the team is no good, how good is the individual? I've got to do my part. I'm just a piece. I'm just a piece of this puzzle. Hopefully we all motivate each other together and come out on top."

He was asked whether he understood, maybe, how someone making, well, not $9.84 million, can't relate to his "situation."

"I look at it like this," Bryant said. "You got a $9 million raise. Did you count the taxes? Did you count the fact that Antonio Bryant don't just take care of Antonio Bryant. Antonio Bryant has kids, mom, brothers, sister, exactly. I got people in my family who lost their jobs, too.

(Do you think there should be a federal tax on anyone speaking in the third person?)

"If you were a guy in a situation where somebody says we're going to give you $10 million, of course, you're a guy who's going to think of more than just yourself, you're going to go beyond that, because you got family, you got other people who you're the backbone for. That's how I look at it, too. I'm the burden carrier in my family. When things happen, when crises happen, they come to me.

"One thing about me: I never pointed a finger at anyone else for anything I did wrong. But you all don't point that kind of stuff out, that doesn't get pointed at."

More Bryant: "I don't want to go into my personal, but in this business we don't look at it as that's a $9 million raise. There's taxes, people you've got to pay off. Remember, I was out of work myself in '07. I can understand what it's like to be out of work. Don't sit there and take it personal. You should never take it personal. Never count the next man's pocket. I don't do that. I never come in and say, oh, this guy got this kind of money, I want that money. I've never done that. I never compared myself."

I understand, sort of, what Bryant is talking about. He came off the canvas (put himself there, too) to save his football life — and now he has to do it all over again. Not only that, but Gruden, the man who threw him the lifeline last season, is gone. The man who threw him most of those footballs last season, Garcia, he's gone, too.

OK, enough of that.

Every year is prove-it year in the NFL.

Let's move on.

"I prove myself every game," Bryant said. "That's what it's about. I'm a competitor. But I don't sit there and count the next man's pocket, because I don't know the next man's pain, I don't know the next man's struggle, I don't know what he's got to do to work or what he's going through."

And …

"It's a prove-me league every day. That's why we get filmed every day. That's why you're evaluated every day. Every week, they bring in people in here to work them out to see if they can replace someone."

And …

"I'm not unhappy about being a franchise player. That's not me, just in the overall picture. I'm past that. But if you ask, I'll tell you the truth. I'm not a sugar-coated person. I'm not going to lie to you."

And …

"There is no beef," Bryant said. "There is no problem. But if there is a question, I'm going to answer it. Like I told you. Remember, I ain't pointing out no one else's situation; I just speak on my situation in my lane in life, what's going on in my life, what my options are what they could have been. That's all."

Good. Great.

"There were times I thought about the whole scenario, 'OK, now you get franchised, now you go back out here and you guys have the success you had last year, including myself, or better.' Now what's the deal. Now do you go back to the table and you say, 'I want all the money you got.' Know what I mean? That's how I look at it. Now what's the scenario?"

And with that, Bryant was done, ready to move on. That's the best news this offseason, right up there with Kellen Winslow and Derrick Ward and the sight of Raheem Morris on Tuesday, all energy, ready to make these guys his guys, including Bryant. When he slapped the franchise tag on Bryant, Morris came right at him, straightforward, which the new coach says has always been his style.

Morris on A.B.:

"I wouldn't say he was not happy. Obviously, he wants to be a long-term-deal guy. I just feel good about him. He felt good about it from day one. Immediately, when I hit him with the franchise tag, I dropped him a phone call. I said, 'Hey, dude, don't be mad. I'm not letting you get out of Tampa. We'll stay try to work out a deal. That's how we're dealing with it. Move on.' "

And so Bryant has.

Someone asked about the quarterbacks.

"I don't have any problems with any of our quarterbacks," Bryant said. "We're going to joke and clown, but those guys are competitors, and they know what's stake for them. They know how I feel; they know how the coaches feel, how everybody feels. Those guys have to understand that because of the position they play, it's automatic leadership responsibilities."

Someone asked about getting better companionship at wide receiver.

"There's nothing stronger than team," Bryant said "The more weapons, the better. Ask Tom Brady. C'mon, look at that offense. It's not all about Randy. It's not all about one individual guy. Guys love that. When, you know, hey, in some situations, I want you to double me, because after you double me and I come out of that route, I'm living with Winslow down the field or Clayton's down the field, and boom, it's a touchdown."

Sounds like a team guy to me.

Hold that thought.

Cross your fingers while you're at it.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT