Is McCoy leaving, and does anyone care?

by Gary Shelton on May 6, 2019 · 0 comments

in general, NFL, Tampa Bay Bucs

Why haven't fans warmed to McCoy?/TIM WIRT

Monday, 4 a.m.

The biggest question is not whether Gerald McCoy is staying or not.

The biggest question is why so many fans seem ready to see him go.

Look, the careers of most professional athletes end badly. I get that. There is a devastating injury, or a regrettable trade, or the sad images of a player just trying to will his way through his final sunsets. Someone's pay outweighs his production, or there is a scandal, or the new coach doesn't appreciate his service as much as the old one.

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Warren Sapp played out the string in Oakland. John Lynch was banished to Denver. Derrick Brooks was waived while still believing he had something to give. Johnny Unitas ended up in San Diego, and Joe Namath was a Ram and O.J. Simpson was a 49er (before he was a convict). Not many players finish like John Elway, smiling through the confetti. Too many athletes end up feeling bitter, broken or betrayed.

That said, McCoy seems to have something left to give.

So why don't more people want to see him give it here?

He has been a good soldier, you know. He has 54.6 sacks, a nice number for a defensive tackle. He has made six pro bowls. No, he hasn't reached the playoffs, but neither has any other player on the Bucs while he was here. Put bluntly, the Bucs have let McCoy down a lot more than McCoy has let them down.

Evidently, however, McCoy has overstayed his welcome.

Fans no longer smile at the sound of his name. These days, a scowl punctuates it. There are fans who are eager when rumors of a trade surface, as if they are ready to hold the door open so he can depart. There is an acid to the comments, a venom that drips onto the computer keyboard. It as if fans turn into hecklers as they try to out-insult each other.

Hey, I understand why the Bucs might be considering moving McCoy. He makes $13 million on a team that is somehow pushing the salary cap (has any team ever paid more money for fewer wins?). He is 31 in a position where players age quickly. He has never reached the playoffs.

Then there is the Sapp factor. Sapp helped to turn around a franchise. He won a Super Bowl. He made the Hall of Fame. He was Defensive Player of the Year. No, McCoy hasn't accomplished as much. But Sapp wasn't always embraced while he was here, either, if you remember.

No, McCoy isn't a terrible player. And the loonies who would tell you that they are shouldn't even be allowed to watch football. He's never been arrested. He's never had a prolonged holdout. He hasn't been punished by Roger Goodell. He merely plays football. Put it this way: The Bucs go through players in a hurry; so why have different coaching staffs continued to play McCoy? Are they all stupid? Do they all know so much less than the commentators on a blog? Has there been a better nine year play for this team?

And yet, the comments keep coming. I looked at a couple of McCoy posts on JoeBucsfan.com. Take a ride, won't you?

If the Buccaneers have a desire for new leadership to emerge on this defense, they need to do something with GMC.

-- Barack's Crack Pipe

Hold up, we’d get Duke AND a draft pick? I would do Duke for GMac straight up. Hell I’d be willing to lose a draft pick to move him and clear up cap space, but to do it for Duke and getting a pick in a return? Couldn’t confirm that trade quick enough.

-- OBP

If we can get anything for McOverated it would be awesome but let’s be real.
No other NFL team would be dumb enough to pay 13 million for 17 tackles.
There will be exactly ZERO teams trading for his candy ass at that pay rate, either we cut him or we do the typical Bucs dumb ass nonsense and pay him stupid amounts of cap space for little to no production. I’m so sick of hearing/reading about McSoft. 

-- Go Bucs 72

Its time for the face of the basement years to simply go away. It’s been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt they can’t win with cancer93…. you cancer93 apologists will always have the blowouts, down double digit dance parties and disappearing acts to remember your failed hero… unfortunately you don’t have a single meaningful win or signature game to rember the bum for.

-- tmaxcon

McCoy is and has always been a really close player. When watching his tape during the draft process I didn’t want him simply because he was always about to make a big play. All we hear about him to this day is that he is a disruptor and that is what he has always been nothing more. He’s a great athlete with a tremendous get off but he just can’t and never could finish.

-- Ndog

Good players stand out on bad teams GMC doesn’t stand out he can only get off fast to get stopped. He’s not powerful and can’t shed blocks quick enough his hands is the problem can’t beat double teams either.

-- Mobuc

And so goes. McCoy misses a voluntary training camp, and it's because he's been told to stay home. He gets 6 1/2 half sacks, and fans curse him because he didn't get more.

Some players touch a fan's heart. Mike Alstott was that way. Ronde Barber. Paul Gruber.

Then there is McCoy, who is still waiting to be appreciated.

Perhaps, it won't happen until he is gone.

 

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