My face hurts...

[UFBucgator]

What is wrong with feeling bad when a great player leaves?  Isn't that part of being a fan?  Its easy to say he "should have" done this and that.  Who are you to judge anyones heart?  He felt he could contribute and he stayed on at a cut in salary.  We felt bad when Lynch left.  Some felt bad when Sapp left.  A Train is gone now.  In the next couple years we will feel bad when Brooks and Barber take their leave.  Hell, I felt bad when Hardy left us.  Goes with the territory of following a team through the years.  Especially a team with a very brief history of excellence.

[LtFox]

...from laughing at all of the outcry and outpouring. He didn't walk away when he should have, now he's just another cliched, broken athlete. I feel bad for his family, but he gets no sympathy from me. The worst part of this is all of the people that will feel bad for him. He gambled and pressed his luck with his health for several years, is it truly surprising that this is the way it ends?

On the plus side, he's no longer taking up a roster spot. Maybe someone who can contribute will get a chance.

Although I haven't posted here in at least a year, some of the veteran posters will remember my stance on the A-Train ever since his original neck injury, so trust me, this isn't meant as a flame. No disrespect for his career, just for his poor decisions and refusal to step away.

Hey, and Gruden and Allen are finally rid of him and the fans can't point the finger in their direction. Looks like a win-win situation for Bruce Almighty and Chucky, in my eyes.

He pressed his luck for several years? What NFL player doesn't? Every hit could be your ticket to a wheel chair. All players know this and accept it as part of the deal. Also, how was Mike's return from a previous injury a "poor decision"? Quite the contrary if you ask me. He made a few million more dollars and loved the game while doing it. I wish I made decisions that poor!!! Also, Mike stated that the most recent neck injury was unrelated to the first (different area) so he wasn't reinjured (according to him). I think it is fine that you want him gone and that you support Gruden and Allen. No big deal there, but to say that "we shouldn't be suprised how this ended..." was somewhat dumbfounding. MOST players retire because of a major injury, numerous minor injuries, or their skills erode. Very, very few walk away before one of those events occur. Mike's case was not unusual in that regard so nobody is suprised how this "went down". Sad, yes. Suprised, no.

[ryan24]

Wow.. that was about the dumbest thing I have EVER read on this board.

What    You don't proof read your own posts.   

I don't agree with the OP but this response to corpse was pretty funny.

Well done!

[hanks9872]

Mike is the Man!

Nothing else to say...CLASS ACT!

Just like DB....

[BUCFAN4LIFE]

Alstott is at the end of his career and gave 100% to the team. yes its time for him to hang up his cleats, which I'm sure he will do at the end of this year, but dont disrespect the man. He's not the reason the team is in the tubes. The guy took paycut after paycut to stay with the team he loved.

I seem to remember him being paid pretty well for a FB.

I also recall one season where he made vet minimum to stay with the team. No he's not poor from playing football and I also think he did his best to earn his pay. The guy scored something like 70 touchtowns for this team. He earned his pay and wasnt the type to hold out for more pay.

He restrucutred to base salary and took the rest as bonus to prorate the hit. Huge difference.

But he was a class act-- He should have retired last year though. It was painfully obvious he could not lower his head and take the hit last year.

[blitz]

No disrespect to Mike or any of the other Bucs who have given this team 10 or more years of their lives but you can't have it both ways.   You can't demand to have a winner and yet protect fan favorites who hang on past their prime.   That's the hard part of the game.  Winners take exceptional pride in what they do and that's why they have a hard time recognizing the end. 

Mike was having a difficult time with that and the Bucs were on the verge of a PR nightmare if this didn't conclude in just the right fashion.  Allen and Alstott did a great job today and the hate media can't spin a thing.

Simeon could have had a similar "soft landing"  but he miscalculated and then thought he could embarrass the organization.   Looks like Allen is getting the last word on that one......right Steve? Right???

[Boid Fink]

Welcome back MIF.

Can't agree with you about your stone faced approach to Alstott, but welcome back.

[bucs1]

Welcome back MIF!  You must have been gone a very long time because I don't even know who you are.

[LA BUC]

Mike Alstott ... one of the greatest fullbacks in history,  but maybe you should get that face looked at if it hurts that bad.

[dpc1192]

I was more than ready to see Alstott retire

[Uncle Stan]

MIF,

Really glad to see you back. Lets not wait another year.

Agree 100% with what you said.

No matter when he packed it in, it was going to be somewhat emotional. Many will forget however, the skills he didn't have that hurt the team in his waning years that precluded someone else in that roster spot.

Mike was a great player when he was healthy and loved playing for the Bucs.

But - - - - even now, won't admit he's done.

I really wish him well and hope his health is not permamnenty damaged. But I don't want to hear anymore fans screaming, "Give Mikey the ball", when it has been so painfully obvious for a long time, he isn't able.

JMO

[bryan12112]

Even though Alstott isn't the player he once was, I'm still a little disappointed by this news. It was never a bad thing to have him on the roster. At times in the past I have wanted to see more of Earnest Graham and Jameel Cook, and this year I was hoping to see more BJ Askew, but I never thought Alsott was just "taking up a roster spot". He has always earned his spot on this team.

Mike is a good guy that has had one hell of a career here, so it's a little disappointing to see his season (and most likely his career) end this way for him. But I'm not the kind of fan that gets too attached to players. I never have been. When Sapp and Lynch left, I looked forward to seeing Phillips and McFarland. With Quarles, Rice and Alstott gone, I look forward to seeing other players step up.

[BucJam07]

Your face hurts?...I'm sure it'll be hurting all of us, if we were forced to look at it everyday.

Why return after a year to create such a stupid OP?

You're saying that you find it laughable Bucs fans are unhappy and upset to see one of the most popular Buccaneers of all-time unable to play because of injury.

You're implying that if we were more like you, we would be happy to see him go because using your logic, he should've retired in 2004 and we shouldn't be a bit saddened that his long career just may finally come to an end three years later here in 2007.

And because we are upset, you're here to laugh at us. Well brotha, laugh at me. But know one thing, I'm now laughing at you because at 33, you have to walk around with an old mans cane...HAHAHAHA...gimpy biotch.


Feels good getting laughed at doesn't it?

[rowdie]

When Sapp left I didn't look forward to crap. When Lynch left I really thought Phillips could handle the spot, but between injury and stupidity it appears he can't

[The White Tiger]

...from laughing at all of the outcry and outpouring. He didn't walk away when he should have, now he's just another cliched, broken athlete. I feel bad for his family, but he gets no sympathy from me. The worst part of this is all of the people that will feel bad for him. He gambled and pressed his luck with his health for several years, is it truly surprising that this is the way it ends?

On the plus side, he's no longer taking up a roster spot. Maybe someone who can contribute will get a chance.

Although I haven't posted here in at least a year, some of the veteran posters will remember my stance on the A-Train ever since his original neck injury, so trust me, this isn't meant as a flame. No disrespect for his career, just for his poor decisions and refusal to step away.

Hey, and Gruden and Allen are finally rid of him and the fans can't point the finger in their direction. Looks like a win-win situation for Bruce Almighty and Chucky, in my eyes.

You know MIF, I agree with the premise that Mike gets little simpathy from me because he has steadfastly determined to appear on this roster after a VERY serious injury. It is my opinion that the A-Trains diminished role in this offense is directly attributed to his brittle status, Especially after that neck injury - they fused vertabrae in his neck for pete's sake! I have grimaced each time I've seen Alstott take a hit over the past couple of years.

Could it be that the REAL reason Alstott hasn't played more often because the coach thought the next hit could be his last? Remember, Gruden and Allen have the benefit of having looked at the X-rays - we haven't.

How many times have you watched - as I have - as Mike comes to the sidelines slowly moving his head around after a big hit, as if something is wrong with that neck...

As a fan I loved to see Mike bounce outside, maul a couple of guys, then pick up a big gain/first down - but lets be honest - Mike hasn't done that consistently for many years.

As a human I am glad he is able to gain some perspective about this on IR - he has been flirting with disaster for too long. With a guy like Alstott it would take an injury to make him stop and think what the rest of his life will be like if something goes seriously wrong.