Could this be Brooks last year?

[cheveliar]

I will get killed for this, (but I really shouldn't), so here goes.

IMO, Brooks has sadly slowed down considerably.

For the betterment of the team, the powers that be need to make real hard decision.

Do they do whats best for the team or do what will prevent fans screaming.

As was stated in another thread, NE just keeps winning without regard to cap and draft problems. How?. They do whats best for the team without regard to how much a fan favorite a player is.


To mirror that type of approach, the Bucs need to do the same.

Its so obvious to some of us "uneducated fans" that Brooks and Alstott have to go. In retrospect, Alstott should have been gone last year.

We have healthy good blocking FB sitting on the bench (Sowell). Why?  Why isn't Winborn and Terry at least getting some decent reps so it can be determined if they are worth keeping?

For all intents and purposes this year is over for making the playoffs. Its time to find out if we have some future players here.

I am more concerned about this than the run/pass ratio.

Sometimes you gotta take a hardline.  I think the team could take that line if they wanted too but their credibility would be shot around the league.  Then what kind of FA's do you end up with.  There are so many factors to keeping this guy, unfortunately they are intangibles and don't translate to the field in W's this year.  The one intangible that most of us overlook is the fact that this guys is all about team.  I think if he felt he was a hindrance he'd be the first to tell you he can't go and he should bow out.  With all the things he's done in his soon to be Hall of Fame career, doesn't he deserve the right to go out on his own terms?  In the grand scheme of things, he's not playing any worst than anyone else on this team.  And who do you replace him with today?  Winborn eventually, but he's not ready to take DB's place right now.  I think you'd see him and our defense struggle as he doesn't know this defense yet.

Personally, I think the guy has two more decent years in him.  I certainly don't think he's become a liability though.  Derrick, like SR, is a victim of his own success.  We are used to see him play at superstar level and now that he looks like he's, well, normal we want to kick him to the curb?  

[mjs020294]

Great players and champions retire at the top of their game.  I think it is a stretch to expect DB to play another two years because he is already showing signs of slowing down.  If he lingers around he risks destroying his legacy, which would be really sad IMO.

[cheveliar]

Great players and champions retire at the top of their game. I think it is a stretch to expect DB to play another two years because he is already showing signs of slowing down. If he lingers around he risks destroying his legacy, which would be really sad IMO.

I think Great Champions all want to ride out into the sunset.  But they all are not afforded that opportunity...There's only a handfull that have gone out truly like that...most either go away quietly or have to be pushed...

[SamoaJoeBucFan]

Derrick will show us something the rest of the season.  This Bucs team is not done yet.  I really think DB is going to step it up for the rest of the year.

We need to see what we have though.  I want to see Sowell, and if we brought in Lance Briggs!  Oh man, Derrick Brooks at WLB, Shelton or Barrett in the middle, and Lance Briggs at SLB.  Damn.

[ZenBuc]

Stan,

While I agree with you, the bucs cant make those kind of decisions like the pats do.  The pats have won 3 SBs.  The fans would run gru and allen out of town for cutting brooks or alstott.  So you can thank the fans for these guys getting to leave on their own terms.  I dont agree with that, but thats just how itis.

 Especially after a losing season, if Brooks and/or Alstott are released it would be 10 times worse than when Lynch left.  The sad truth is, a large number of Tampa fans hate Gruden and Allen and this is perpetuated by the constant and increasigly negative and hateful local media....Gruden and Allen can't afford any more negative pr.

They're really in a bad situation.. If they cut the fan favorites, they'll be run out of town. But if they keep someone like Brooks around and his play declines and hurts the team, people will be blaming them for not getting new and better talent....it's lose-lose for GruAllen

[cheveliar]

Derrick will show us something the rest of the season.  This Bucs team is not done yet.  I really think DB is going to step it up for the rest of the year.

We need to see what we have though.  I want to see Sowell, and if we brought in Lance Briggs!  Oh man, Derrick Brooks at WLB, Shelton or Barrett in the middle, and Lance Briggs at SLB.  Damn.

If we bring in Briggs, DB is done.  Or as others here have suggested they move him to SLB.  Maybe if another coach other than Monte Kiffin is deal with the defense.  But you will never get Monte to move DB unless he is done.  Won't happen in a million years...

[InChuckyITrust]

the only reason lynch wasnt re-signed is because he failed our physical.

Beniro,

Why keep him just because he was great in years past.

He's playing horrible this year.

Hey.  I agree that Brooks' production has fallen off.  I admitted in my original post that we need to find a replacement.  I just think that he can be a valuable contributor to the team going forward, even if that is from the bench or as a position coach.  Doncha think?

[Uncle Stan]

Its a sad day when the "inmates run the prison".

So what you are saying is, let the fans tell us who the players are to be.

IMO, that's utterly ridiculous.

Maybe thats why we can't have a run at the playoffs almost every year and we play like a yo-yo. Up one year, down one year. It stinks!!

Its a sad day when the "inmates run the prison".

So what you are saying is, let the fans tell us who the players are to be.

IMO, that's utterly ridiculous.

Maybe thats why we can't have a run at the playoffs almost every year and we play like a yo-yo. Up one year, down one year. It stinks!!

You are talking to me?  No, that's not what I'm saying.  What I'm saying is that DB has a future with the team, even if it's from the bench.  I don't think we need to play him all the time because of any loyalty, though.

[Uncle Stan]

Beniro,

I wasn't talking to you:)

I was talking about the reasons suggested here about keeping Brooks another year AS A PLAYER.

Just don't believe its the right thing to do IF its because the fans would raise hell.

[alstott40]

This should be, at least i hope so, but wait

hey could be like marriman and take the oj


should add a year or two

[jerseybucsfan]

Love both Brooks and Alstott. But if our fan base is that dumb to lean so much on sentiment OVER what is best in terms of wins and losses, then we deserve what we get ...
Couldn't you see this coming? Booger never lives up to the promise, though Sapp isn't what he was ... OTOH, what has backfired is that Lynch really was NOT done, the way we thought and those who remained have NOT played as well as we hoped. So a broken-down old man was STILL better for the team than the new guy. Can any of us guarantee that Brooks won't be SLIGHTLY better next year than he is now?
Still, I'm not a believer in a guy 'going out on his own terms.' Too often players take advantage of that status and delude themselves into thinking they can still do it. Chev's right, unfortunately.

[Ladyfan]

During pre-season I watched Brooks teach his signals to the new guys.  During the breaks after arunning some drills, he would go to each one of them and talk about the "reads' of the offense.  His knowlege is invaluable.  Performance obviously is huge part of playing pro ball, but the guy who calls the offensive reads on the field of play deserves to 1) pass it on and 2) play another year.  Let's face it, when Alstott, Barber and Brooks leave...the old Bucs will all be gone, and it'll be the kids' turn.  I don't want to lose any more games, but I'm not ready to write Brooks or Barber off.  Alstott can barely play this year and I hope he decides to leave on his own next year...I wouldn't want to be the one to have to tell him it's time.  But I could see Brokks playing 1/2 time next year while grooming whomever...

[Axxon]

I vaguely remember watching Mickey Mantle in the late stages of his career. He was my childhood hero; even though I was born in '63 and long after the prime years of his career. Watching him struggle in the late 60's was horrible for his fans to witness. You want your heroes to never grow old, tired, and worn down. Granted, baseball is very different from football. The contact in football turns 28-year-old men into 80-year-old men very quickly, but it's still the same in terms of how to let go of the game. I think Brooks will know when the time is right; when his body tells me he can't continue to play effectively. His body will tell him long before his mind ever will.

I know what you mean. I wasn't a fan but watching Joe Namath in his last years was one of the hardest things I've ever had to watch sports wise.