Charles Tillman thinking of joining Lovie Smith in Tampa

Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman has admitted that a move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would appeal to him.

The Bears are poised to allow the 32-year-old to test the market, and Tillman has been mooted with a possible link up with his former head coach Lovie Smith at the Buccaneers.

"Obviously, it makes the deal probably a little sweeter just because it's a former head coach," Tillman told the Chicago Sun-Times. "You do know the system, you know the scheme.

"I think it helps it from a standpoint that it's a former coach, a guy that you liked, a guy that you'd been with for 10 years. It's cool. But it's free agency. I'm open to whoever."

Tillman had 41 tackles, three interceptions and three forced fumbles in the 2013 season.

Tillman has stated that he'd like to retire as a Bear, but it's a business and he also said that he has interest in all 32 teams.

“I’m just trying to make the best decision, and hopefully the Bears do, too,” he said. “If I get to free agency, so be it. If I don’t, so be it. It’s nothing personal. It’s a business. It’s a process.”

"(I hope) that a team picks me up and I still have a job. Any team," he said. "All 32."

Tillman made nearly $8 million last season and knows a big payday isn't coming at the age of 33. He can still help a team out but whether it's in a starting or complementary role remains to be seen.

Former NFL player B.J. Askew charged for not paying child support

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced Tuesday that his Child Support Division has filed a criminal charge against Bobby Deangelo "B.J." Askew, Jr., 33, of Tampa, Florida, for felony non-support.

Askew was a standout Michigan collegiate athlete and went on to play professional football as one of the league's highest paid fullbacks at the time. According to Schuette, he owes more than $267,000 in back child-support.

"If you fail to pay child support, you must face the consequences," said Schuette. "No matter who you are or where you live, you cannot punt the responsibility to provide for your children – we will hold you accountable."

A star fullback at the University of Michigan, Askew was the first fullback selected in the 2003 National Football League draft. Askew's professional career spanned seven seasons where he played for the New York Jets and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2007, Askew was drafted by Tampa Bay and signed a four-year multi-million dollar contract extension with the Buccaneers in 2008, the largest ever for a fullback at that time.

It is alleged that although Askew enjoyed a lucrative professional football career, he failed to pay child support to his children in Michigan.

A court order was filed in 2005 for Askew to pay child support for his three children in Michigan and payments were to set begin May 2006 at a monthly rate of approximately $2,188.87. The court ordered payment increased to $5,127 monthly due to Askew's extended contract with Tampa Bay. Askew then allegedly made sporadic payments and submitted several arrears payments ranging from $13,058 to $35,310 after failing to pay on time and for the court ordered amount. In 2010, it is alleged that Askew underpaid $107.87 in lieu of a $5,127 monthly payment. Askew allegedly stopped child support payments altogether in November 2012 and has not paid since then.

Despite his alleged non-payments, Askew has received significant income from his NFL career and allegedly possesses multi-million dollar assets. In 2008, Askew signed a $8.3 million contract extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Askew is alleged to own a home valued at $2.1 million in Tampa and has owned several expensive automobiles whose brands include Bentley, Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, and Corvette.

Askew's career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was cut short by injuries from a car accident in 2009.

Askew was arrested on January 7, 2014 by Florida's Hillsborough County Police. Askew is currently in the process of extradition to Michigan and will face one count of felony non-support in Wayne County's 36th District Court.

Reggie Bush says lack of chemistry hurt Lions

The Detroit Lions are just a few plays from being in the hunt for home field advantage in the NFC playoffs. Then again if my aunt had a package, she'd be my uncle. It's not good being close, you have to find a way to get over the hump and the Lions couldn't do it.

The team was hurt by it's inability to get crucial third down stops on defense and untimely turnovers on offense. The Lions couldn't find a way to overcome the avalanche of bad luck that caught up to them.

Lions running back Reggie Bush seems to have an idea what went wrong for a team that had such a promising start to missing the playoffs.

"There were certain games where maybe the offense was playing well and the defense struggled," he said, per the Detroit Free Press. "Then there's games where defense played well and offense struggled. Or there's games -- I'm thinking of the Philadelphia game -- where special teams just played lights out and offense and defense couldn't really get it together.

"I just think that maybe our chemistry as a team definitely struggled and lacked a little bit -- and obviously the turnovers and big plays, making more plays when needed."

Bush is probably the only Lion in the locker room with the credibility to be a team leader. He's won national championships at USC and was on a Super Bowl winning team in New Orleans as a member of the Saints.

 “As a team, when you have kind of have that mentality that no matter what the situation is, you can always overcome it and come out with a win. That type of chemistry. ... And you’re feeding off each other, too. When offense scores a big touchdown and defense goes out there and gets a big stop or defense gets a turnover, offense goes out there and kind of answers with a touchdown. Something kind of like that.” 

When Bush and Nate Burleson talked about having a team meeting to get things right after losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, quarterback Matthew Stafford shot down the idea.

I'm not saying that would've made a difference, but maybe things might've changed and the team might've shown more of a sense of urgency instead of just talking about it. I think Bush might have been alluding o that moment.

"It begins in the offseason," Bush said. "It's not something that happens overnight. From my experience, it's something that builds. It's a culture, a mentality that's built from the offseason and not in Week 1 or Week 2."

The Lions need to make a few changes and do some soul searching during the offseason. This was a golden opportunity and the Lions blew it. They have to come back next season and play like a team on a mission, not one hoping for a few lucky breaks that they didn't capitalize on this season.

Darrelle Revis giving tips on how to defend the Jets

New Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Darrelle Revis left the New York Jets on somewhat bad terms. The Bucs open the regular season against the Jets and Revis is eager to get on the field and also doesn't mind sharing some tips on what the Jets run offensively and defensively.

 Revis is doing everything he can help his teammates get ready for the Jets. He's provided tips about some of New York's defensive players to offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan and discussed some of the Jets' offensive playmakers with Goldson and the rest of Tampa Bay's overhauled secondary.

"It's just one of those things, when a player comes from another team, [offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan] is asking a couple of questions about [the Jets'] defense and what are the base calls, I spill them," Revis said. "I'll spill the beans and let him know what we used to run and let him know what things Coach [Rex] Ryan might do. It's almost like stealing a little bit. That's what you've got to do. You take the information and pass it to the offensive coordinator."

"I know these guys. I played against them every day in practice. So I've got a bunch of tips on those guys," Revis said. "And the good thing about it, I've been sharing them in our secondary. ... We will come into this game real comfortable. We really will, just from the experience I had there and knowing these guys." 

Revis and the Buccaneers defense has to be licking their chops knowing they'll be facing a rookie quarterback in Geno Smith. Revis also heard news that Smith hasn't studied any film on him.

"I don't understand why he didn't study me because I will be on the opposite side," Revis said. "But I don't know what their game plan is or what their preparation is and personally, I don't know what Geno's preparation is. But I would hope that if you're playing against another opponent, you should study everybody on the opposing team. If that's the case, that's the case. I'm studying him. Just to let him know, I'm studying him. I guess we'll just leave it at that."

If this goes how I'm thinking, this game could wind up being a repeat of of Super Bowl XXXVII, where the Bucs happened to know everything the Raiders were running since their coach Jon Gruden was Oakland's old coach.

If the Jets fail to have any success Sunday we'll know what some of the reason is.

Two NFL general managers get pranked

Two 20-year-olds are looking at being in some big trouble because of a bad telephone prank. The prank involved two NFL general managers and now the law is looking to get involved.

The NFL is looking into a 'conversation' between Buffalo Bills general manager Buddy Nix and Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik last Friday. It happened to be recorded and appeared on Deadspin on Tuesday.  

From Deadspin:


On Thursday afternoon, the pranksters called Buffalo's publicly listed front office phone number. They claimed to be Bucs GM Mark Dominik and asked to be transferred to Buddy Nix. To their surprise, they were. Panicking, they hung up as soon as he answered.

Then Buddy Nix called them back.

And he kept calling back. Into Thursday evening, resuming again on Friday morning, Nix's personal number kept lighting up their cell phone. They ignored it, until they came up with a plan. They would call Mark Dominik, claim to be Buddy Nix, and send the two on a phantom game of phone tag.

So they rang up the Buccaneers, but while on with Dominik's secretary, Buddy Nix called again. It was perfect. They answered Nix's call, then fell silent while they were patched through to Dominik. They put the call on speaker, recorded with a second cell phone, and sat back and listened to the fun.

The call lasted about six minutes and after some initial confusion about wrong numbers, the pair settled in to discuss their own personnel, with Nix describing some of the team's frustration with the slowed progress of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. As far as juicy gossip or major revelations, there really wasn't anything of the sort, just two guys in the same profession chatting politely about business.

"We are aware of the report on Deadspin involving a phone conversation with Bills GM Buddy Nix," the Bills said in a statement. "We have made the league aware of the report and are reviewing it with legal counsel."

The Buccaneers did not respond to a request for comment.

In the state of Florida what these two unknowns did was a third degree felony. In New York they might have a loophole in which they can escape punishment.

"In Florida, it is a third degree felony so you are talking about a criminal violation," Jeff Hermes, the director of the Digital Media Law Project at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, said. "The Florida wiretapping law does have a civil cause of action."

Federal and New York state law requires "one-party consent," meaning that you can record a conversation as long as you are a party to that conversation. The pranksters may have a loophole here in that by Nix calling their number thinking it was Dominik's, they were technically a party to the conversation.

"This is a circumstance where there was an affirmative misrepresentation," Hermes said. "I'm not entirely sure how that would affect this analysis. A court could say 'you dialed a number, you didn't know for sure, you thought it was a person's number due to this person's misrepresentation. You're responsible for initiating the call and the consequences. If that results in the person you call starting a recording, that's on you.' I think it's a stronger argument to say under these circumstances where the call was initiated as a result of the misrepresentation that the person doing the misrepresentation shouldn't be treated as the legit recipient of the call." 

We'll have to see if these two yahoos get punished or end up with a slap on the wrist.

Barret Robbins doesn't remember Super Bowl XXXVII

Former Oakland Raiders receiver Tim Brown called out his former coach Bill Callahan for allegedly sabotaging the Raiders in their Super Bowl blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  

When he made those allegations Brown mentioned that Callahan changed the game plan and center Barret Robbins begged Callahan not to change it.

"Barret Robbins begged Coach Callahan, 'Do not do this to me. I don't have time to make my calls, to get my calls ready. You can't do this to me on a Friday,'" Brown said. 

Every former Raider teammate this side of Jerry Rice that has spoken out on this subject says that Brown's allegations are a bunch of bull. Robbins had something to say about it. He said he has no memory of Super Bowl XXXVII. Anyone in the know remembers that Robbins disappeared in Tijuana two days before the Super Bowl.

During an interview with Sports Radio 610 in Houston, Robbins said he has no recollection of the events that took place.

“I would be absolutely wrong to tell you that that was the case,” Robbins said during an interview with Sports Radio 610. “If Tim Brown goes on record and says that he changed the game plan on Friday, I don't remember. Because you've got to understand, I was going through a manic episode that had lasted more than two weeks. At that point in time, when we went to the Super Bowl, I was having to shoot my foot up, I was having acupuncture, going through a lot of pain. It was a lot of stress. Pain is a big trigger when it comes to bipolar (disorder) -- that was something I was going through, as well as self-medicating.”

“I'm not going to say that I remember the exact meeting that took place, but I haven't heard anybody deny it,” Robbins said.

I'm no psychiatrist but that pretty much explains why he was in Tijuana on a bender before the game and was unable to play.

What I remember is that Tampa Bay's defense pretty much knew what the Raiders offense was going to throw at them all game and it resulted in Rich Gannon probably having the worse game of  his life.

Hopefully this will be the end of this particular story.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers sign Dallas Clark

With news of Kellen Winslow being on the outs in Tampa Bay (traded or released) the Buccaneers signed former Indianapolis Colts standout Dallas Clark.

Adam Caplan of Sirius XM NFL Radio reports that Clark has signed and that the contract has been officially submitted to the league office.


On paper it looks like a decent signing for the Bucs but Clark has been struggling with injuries the past two seasons. His production has declined and Clark may not produce like Winslow has for Tampa Bay.

If Clark's body can hold up this could be a steal of a signing. If not the Bucs will wish they would've kept Winslow.

LaGarrette Blount wouldn't be happy if Buccaneers chose Trent Richardson

The NFL Draft is coming up and there are plenty of mock drafts to go around. Mock drafts usually aren't the end all be all but sometimes they do come close to nailing who goes where.

A lot of mock drafts have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selecting Alabama running back Trent Richardson. I think that would be a solid pick as he and LaGarrette Blount would form a pretty good backfield combo. One problem, Blount wants no part of a time share backfield. And he says that he wouldn't be too happy with the pick which might relegate him to being a goal line back.

"I would not like that pick," Blount said at Nike's unveiling of the new NFL uniforms in New York City. "I would definitely not be happy with that pick."


Blount believes he's a feature back and expressed that last season. When it was suggested that he take a Brandon Jacobs type role he scoffed at that notion.

"I don't want that role," Blount said. 


Blount should realize that he could extend his career with the addition of Richardson, he should also know that when a team drafts a player with the number five pick he's not going to sit on the bench. Why would he view Richardson as competition when it's clear that the Bucs could use another running back on the team that could help you win games. Maybe it's because Blount knows that he probably would lose the starting job if Richardson is drafted.

I have a personal bias against Blount as he stunk it up on my fantasy team last year. Step your game up.

Sherman Close To Landing Tampa Bay Job?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hunt for a new head coach might be coming to a conclusion. Former Green Bay Packers coach, Mike Sherman appears to be the front runner for the job.

The NFL Network's Jason LaCanfora says that Sherman is close to landing the job with the Buccaneers. This would provide Sherman with a landing spot after being fired by Texas A&M.

The Bucs want someone that will instill some discipline to a young squad that collapsed under the weight of expectations this season. They were thought to be a playoff contender but finished 4-12 and in last place in the NFC South.

Sherman coached the Packers to three NFC North titles but was fired after a 4-12 campaign in 2005.

Morris Ejects His Own Player from The Game

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris did something a lot of coaches won't do in this day and age. He kicked his own player out of a game. Morris sent defensive tackle Brian Price home after Price was called for a personal foul penalty in the third quarter.

“Because it's foolish, it's selfish to your teammates, to everybody in your organization, to your fans,’’ Morris said. “That's terrible. That's just selfish behavior to get a 15-yard penalty, in that situation, when that's all we talk about, when that's all we discuss. You just can't do that to your team.



"When you give up a penalty, after a third-and-15, those are things that are not smart, not fair to anybody on the football team. Not fair to anybody that's coaching that football team. Those things are unacceptable.''

Kudos to Morris for sending his own player to the showers. Many observers say this move might've been too late since there is speculation that Morris is on the hot seat.

That's the message the Lions' Jim Schwartz should've sent Ndamukong Suh before he went all riverdance on someone.

Keith McCants Arrested On Drug Charge

Keith McCants was one of the more notable busts in NFL draft history. Now he has a different kind of problem.

McCants was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on Saturday afternoon, charged with felony possession of cocaine and resisting an officer.  His bail was set at $4,000, but he was still being held for having a warrant in Alabama. Boy, did he take a mighty fall.

The former number four pick for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1990 NFL draft washed out after three years and has had numerous run ins with the law. According to reports most of them have been drug related.