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About the Author: Trevor Sikkema

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Trevor Sikkema is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat reporter and NFL Draft analyst for PewterReport.com. Sikkema, an alumnus of the University of Florida, has covered both college and professional football for much of his career. As a native of the Sunshine State, when he's not buried in social media, Sikkema can be found out and active, attempting to be the best athlete he never was. Sikkema can be reached at: [email protected]

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On episode three of Hard Knocks: Training Camp With The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, NFL Films showcased the Bucs’ trip to Jacksonville for the preseason Sunshine State Showdown.

The yearly joint practice against an oncoming foe is always good for viewing. Normally it’s exclusive to those in attendance, but thanks to Hard Knocks, the world got to see what a joint practice is like – the benefits, the drawbacks, the tensions and the competition.

Here were our favorite moments from episode three.

Most Surpring Moment

For us, the most surprising moment came in the first five minutes of the show when they were showcasing what the players liked to do on their days off. Running back Doug Martin showed how he likes to get on his electronic longboard and just ride around the neighborhood. Some of the players liked to relax in the pool.

But our favorite was center Ali Marpet.

Marpet goes to the beach, often by himself, on his day off. He brings sushi, a book and a ukulele. They even showed him playing the ukulele to the next few scenes – he’s actually pretty good. The more we learn about Marpet, the more unique he seems to be.

Funniest Moment

There were actually quite a bit of comedic moments in this episode. Chris Baker was a big hit with his trash talk to the Jags fans, his eating habits and obsessions, and especially when he “romantically” danced with a tree.

However, the part that made us laugh the most was when the quarterbacks were talking about adopting goats.

Backup quarterback, Sefo Liufau, told Jameis Winston that someone he knew had adopted a rescue goat and Winston couldn’t stop laughing in disbelief. It gave us some great quotes and screenshots.

#SheGotGoats

That’s a scene you couldn’t script even if you tried.

Favorite Quote

There were a few choices for quotes this week. A handful of them came when the players were sitting down with the Monday Night Football broadcast crew the week of the Jacksonville game. Former head coaches Rex Ryan and John Gurden offered up some nuggets of wisdom. But, those fell short of the impact of this quote.

“It is worth it, Sefo… We gotta win at everything we do.”

-Quarterback, Jameis Winston

That quote by Winston, spoken to Liufau at one of the joint practices, was in reaction to Winston getting in running back Peyton Barber’s face about being timid with the ball during a rep. Liufau went over to Winston and said something along the lines of, “I know what you’re trying to do, but [getting worked up and yelling at Barber] isn’t worth it.

Winston responded with the quote above.

Winston isn’t a loser; he never has been, and he won’t start now. He knows that winning is about the little things – every rep. He showed he won’t stand for anything less than your best.

Favorite Shot

One cinematic shot that we really liked was the time lapse sun rise of EverBank Field. If we’re talking about purely aesthetic shots, that was our favorite.

However, our favorite shot, all things included, was when the team was going through walkthroughs in the hotel. If you’ve ever been on a football team, you’ve done this. This is something that traveling teams do from pee wee football to the pros. What made this shot special was that while the team was practicing in the ballroom, there was ballroom dancing music being played on a piano. The combination was beautifully directed.

Favorite Moment

The underlying feature of this week’s episode was cornerback Maurice Fleming. At the beginning of the episode, the show featured Fleming getting up early, being one of the first in the building and getting to work, knowing that as an undrafted free agent he has to do everything he can – he even asked Winston what time he wakes up and matched it.

During the game against the Jaguars, Fleming got his chance to play at the end of the game. During one of the last drives, Fleming had his knee rolled up on. He said to fellow rookie Justin Evans that he could feel his knee give out on him, but Fleming remained in the game. As a few plays went by, Evans asked Fleming again, “You good?” Fleming responded with something like, “No, but I have to be.”

That moment, to us, was chilling. This is the dream of the these players, and many know that, even as an undrafted player, the opportunity to get invited to a camp doesn’t come for everyone. That means when you get the final reps in the game, the last chance to prove yourself, it doesn’t matter if you can walk or not, you have to play. If you’re hurt, you’re out – your chance is gone.

Not only did Fleming stay in the game, but he made the game-saving tackle on the goal line on Brandon Allen, and then made the game-saving pass break up two plays later in the corner of the end zone before coming out.

He did all of that on one knee.

As the episode came to a close, we all watched the fate we already knew, Fleming being put on waivers because of his injury. It was tough to watch, especially after hearing how the coaches and players rooted for him, and watching him sell his body out for the game, his team and his opportunity.

As he was cleaning out his locker room, Fleming was very wise and collected with his situation. That led him to make sure he let Hard Knocks and the world know,

“I’ll be back.”

Those were our favorite moments, now it’s time to hear yours.

What did you think of episode three? What was your favorite moment, and what do you hope gets more air time next week?

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