Tanks' for the memories, and for Jameis, as well
The Bucs earned the right to select Jameis Winston, who has an 85.6 rating this season, first overall after losing last season’s finale. THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMartin Fennelly ColumnsPublished: December 11, 2015 at 01:15 PMTAMPA — Bucs fans, give tanks.Lovie Smith’s playoff hunters meet the Saints on Sunday. More to the point, so does Jameis Winston.And it was against the Saints, in last season’s final game, that the Bucs pulled the plug for the greater good. They lost one last time, sweet 14, to lock up the No. 1 pick in the draft.The Jameis Game.Right about now, it looks brilliant. Sort of smelled at the time, but that’s show business.No Buc will ever admit the organization tanked. Compared to the NFL’s real problems, this is small potatoes. Only make a note to have your head examined if you don’t think the Bucs rolled over in the second half.“I know I was trying,” said Bucs offensive lineman Demar Dotson, who played the entire game. “I know we took a lot of players out. To the naked eye, it might have looked like we weren’t trying to win it. But we were trying.”“I was trying my hardest to win the game,” said receiver Mike Evans, who played half the Saints game to end his rookie season. “We didn’t get the job done. We got the No. 1 pick. Great player.”Yeah, there is that.We’ll never get it out of them. Sometimes I wish we could. Sometimes I wish it could be like Tom Cruise questioning Lovie Smith — “A Few Good Bucs” — and that Lovie would crack.Tom: “I want the truth!”Lovie: “You can’t handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has quarterbacks, and those quarterbacks have to be chosen by men with draft picks. ... The release of Josh McCown, while tragic, probably saved wins. ...”Tom: “Did you order the Code Jameis?”Lovie: “You’re gosh-darn right I did!”Let’s not make this into Defeatgate. I’m fine with what the Bucs did in the Saints game. They broke no rules. I would have done the same thing to get my man. It wasn’t a blow to NFL integrity, even though Bucs fans paid full value for tickets. The Bucs acted in the best interests of the franchise’s future. They got their quarterback, at least the one they wanted.But, boy, was it funny to watch. We saw Vincent Jackson head for the barn early on, after hitting 1,000 receiving yards. We saw Evans on the sideline in the second half, along with Lavonte David, the Bucs’ best defensive player.That’s not saying the guys who were out there weren’t trying. They were. But I remember the key play in that game. Bucs are up 20-14 with about five-and-a-half minutes left. Josh McCown throws a slant pass to — wait for it — Tavarres King. Ball bonks off King’s hands into those of New Orleans’ Keenan Lewis. Interception at midfield. Drew Brees drives Saints to winning score.Hello, Mr. Winston.“To me, it had nothing to do with substitutions,” Smith said after the game. “You look at how we played. The team we put on the football field had a chance to win right up until (the end).”I remember laughing at the whole thing, because I thought the Bucs starters were fully capable of losing that 14th game all by themselves. The week before the Saints game, they had tried to beat the Packers and mustered 109 yards of offense. Only they weren’t taking any chances against the Saints. Up 20-7 at halftime, the Bucs produced 32 yards and two first downs in the final 30 minutes.I still don’t think what the Bucs did is that different from a team that has clinched a playoff spot shutting it down to rest starters. True, winners earn that right. But what’s the difference if we’re talking about the integrity of NFL competition? If it’s about the game, how is not caring if you win any better than wanting to lose?The Bucs finish the regular season against the currently undefeated Panthers. There’s no doubt Carolina will go all out if it’s going for 16-0. Only what if the Panthers aren’t going for perfection, but have already locked up homefield in the NFC? What if Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly don’t play much against the Bucs, or at all? Is that fair to Carolina fans who bought tickets? What if the Bucs win their next three games? Is it fair to Seattle, trying to hold off Tampa Bay, if the Panthers lay down?That’s show business.But could someone admit it at least?And now for a brief history of time: In 1988, the 4-11 Bucs met the 4-11 Detroit Lions in the final game of the regular season. The winner would receive the sixth pick in the draft, while the loser would pick third. Well, the Bucs won. And with the sixth pick of the 1989 draft, they selected Broderick Thomas, linebacker, Nebraska. The Lions, at No. 3, chose a running back: Barry Sanders.Dotson looked across the Bucs locker room.“At the end of the day, it did work out,” he said. “We got Jameis over there.”The Bucs probably need to win out.
