With all the ridiculousness that has gone on in Tampa Bay this season -- the Josh Freeman situation, the trio of MRSA cases, the winless ballclub, the backlash against coach Greg Schiano -- feel free to add another. As in the Buccaneers coaches apparently don't want their players helping up their opponents from the ground.
This is what Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy told WDAE-AM 620 on Wednesday. Here's how McCoy described it (h/t to JoeBucsFan.com) in his dealings with Tampa Bay assistants Bryan Cox and Randy Melvin:
"I had my D-line coaches get on to me the other day. Well, not get on to me, try to get on to me. There’s no way they’re going to get on to me for this. They got upset with me because I helped somebody up [in the game]. So what. I don’t care. Kiss my butt. Listen, if I want to help somebody, I’m going help somebody up. Because right on the next play I’m going to knock him down again. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.
“That doesn’t change how hard I play. As long as in between the whistles I’m not helping anybody up, it doesn’t matter. So what if I help them off the ground? ‘Good job; we’re out here competing. But as soon as they snap the ball, I’m going to kill you again.’
“There’s nothing wrong with that. Everybody’s not like that. If you don’t want to be like that, keep it to yourself. I don’t care. I don’t go tell them, ‘Hey, you’re not doing this. You’re not doing that.’ I don’t care. Everybody does what they do. If I help somebody up, get over it. Get over it.”
As coach Greg Schiano explained to SI.com's Doug Farrar on Wednesday, he wants to live by the Golden Rule. Presumably, Schiano wants his team to do the same.
“I think the golden rule is usually the best to go by, right? You treat others the way you want to be treated,” Schiano said. “If I’m not doing something right I want somebody to tell me, I want them to tell me. I don’t want them to disrespect me, but I want them to tell me. If I am doing something well I’d like to hear some praise and everything in between. My big thing when I deal with anything is is the guy’s motive, right? As long as he’s trying his best out there, and doing everything he can to be the best he can, I’m going to help him the most I can; if a guy is not of that mindset than he’s probably not right for the organization. What we have right now is a bunch of guys that are trying their guts out, and unfortunately it hasn’t proven the results yet, but we’re confident it will.”
Just don't be a nice guy and help up your opponent. Clearly the Golden Rule isn't meant to cover that.
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