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Bryant Back And Ready, Tag Or No

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By MARTIN FENNELLY

mfennelly@tampatrib.com

Published: April 2, 2009

TAMPA - Antonio Bryant, $9.88 million, franchise-tagged receiver, is acting like one happy Bucs camper, though I guess this isn't camp and he still says a strange thing or two for someone who just received a $9.23 million raise.

"I'm always excited to play football, man. That's the one thing that'll never change," Bryant said Tuesday after voluntary workouts. That Bryant volunteered is a great sign to newly minted Bucs head coach Raheem Morris.

"Obviously he wants to be a long-term deal guy," Morris said. "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 try to work out a deal, that's how we're dealing with it. Move on.'"

So far, so good.

Bryant boiled over in Dallas and San Francisco, was unemployed in 2007 before his grand comeback last season with 83 catches, including that one-handed TD at Carolina that defied description and physics. The man walked the walk. And he never crossed the line.

Still hasn't. Tuesday, he was expansive and generally jolly.

"Of course I'm happy to be here," Bryant said. "... 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."

But he recently popped off on Sporting News Radio about being slapped with the franchise tag, among other things. Some radio riff:

"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, A.B., want to be a leader?

Move on - completely.

Hey, dude, don't make it bad.

Take a sad song and make it better.

For one thing, it's awful strange, in this economy (heck, in Dubai's economy) for a guy to go from $650,000 to $9.88 million and still talk about an "unfair situation." President Obama has cut smaller stimulus checks.

"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."

(Think there should be a tax for anyone speaking in the third person?)

Forget the words. Judge the actions.

So far, so good.

Bryant says he's ready to play catch with any quarterback. He says he's ready to lead, too.

"He's got this edge about him, and everybody sees it, but he's a great guy," Luke McCown said. "He wants to be great, works hard. You just have to know your limits, how far you can push him. He's so smart, he's incredibly smart. Not a lot of people know that about him."

Back to this season.

"I'm not unhappy about being a franchise player," Antonio Bryant said. "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 ... There is no beef. There is no problem. But if there is a question, I'm going to answer it."

Question: Has the man moved on?

Well, he's here.

So far, so good.

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