Commentary | Watching Super Bowl could be dangerous venture for Tampa Bay Bucs fans
TAMPA
Tampa Bay Bucs fans be warned: If you are going to watch the Super Bowl, avoid tall buildings and do not drive until you're sure you are not under the influence of flashbacks.
The symptoms are clear. You feel on edge, nightmares of bad trades and bad coaching hires dance inside your head. Text messages make you jump in fear that the Bucs released Gerald McCoy.
There are five players in this game who used to wear the pewter. Three figure to play prominent roles, and the Bucs let them go for virtually nothing.
The men who created this debacle, former Bucs GM Mark Dominik and former coach Greg Schiano, are still at large. They were fired after the 2013 season, but are considered dangerous and capable of inflicting pain on Bucs fans anywhere.
Lovie Smith, the person we anointed savior, came in, and unfortunately things got worse.
We thought he was going to be Dick Tracy, but got Inspector Gadget instead. Oh well.
So check the warnings on your TV: Bucs fans use with caution.
The nightmare starts with Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett. Schiano encouraged Bennett to walk away despite a solid 2012 season in which he led the team with nine sacks.
The Bucs got nothing in return and wasted draft picks on Adrian Clayborn and Da'Quan Bowers. They failed to do what Bennett could, and now he is in his second straight Super Bowl.
Schiano said Bennett wasn't a "Buccaneer Man," and you heard whispers coming out of One Buc Place that he was a bad guy.
Bad for Schiano and good for Super Bowl champion Seattle. Bennett has amassed 15.5 sacks during his two seasons with the
Seahawks and is a mainstay on their front four.
To try and make up for Schiano's gaffe, Lovie and GM Jason Licht brought in Michael Johnson and paid him big bucks that would've been better spent on Bennett.
"I always count my blessings not being on the Bucs," Bennett said during Super Bowl week.
The Bucs did a similar thing to New England running back LeGarrette Blount, trading him to the Patriots for Jeff Demps and a seventh-round draft pick.
Blount has his warts. But he is good enough to start at running back for the Patriots, and Demps is a practice squad player for Indianapolis.
Blount ran for 1,000-plus yards for the Bucs in 2010, but Schiano thought he had Ray Rice reincarnated in Doug Marin and shipped Blount to Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, the apparent overseer of the Bucs farm system.
In this year's AFC title game, Blount rushed for 148 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries. Against the same Indianapolis Colts in the playoffs last year, he piled up 166 yards with four touchdowns and has become the Patriots' franchise leader in post season touchdowns with seven.
Now you know why Belichick is considered a genius, albeit a part-time cheat? What he stole from Schiano was a crime, but legal under NFL rules.
Darrelle Revis will be starting for New England and is still considered among the elite cornerbacks in the NFL. Schiano and Dominik paid a king's ransom for him and gave up a first-round pick. Lovie let him go because he said he didn't need Revis' expensive price tag for his Tampa 2 defense. Now you could agree his salary was huge, but the money the Bucs gave to Johnson and offensive lineman Anthony Collins could have gone to keep Revis.
New England also uses the services of former Bucs tight end Tim Wright and linebacker Jonathan Casillas, particularly on special teams.
Wright is an inviting target and caught 26 passes for six touchdowns in a seven-game span when he filled in for All-Pro Rob Gronkowski. He was dealt to New England along with a fourth-round pick for guard Logan Mankins, who is in the twilight of his career.
Bucs fans are in the twilight of their sanity, and watching this game could send them into the abyss.
Alan Dell, Herald sports writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports.
This story was originally published January 31, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Commentary | Watching Super Bowl could be dangerous venture for Tampa Bay Bucs fans."