Epiphany

I am a Buccaneers fan. Because the Bucs are my team I have, on occasion, had heated arguments with people about my team. These arguments have usually concerned two players in particular: Warren Sapp and Keyshawn Johnson. I was always a staunch defender of both.

When Sapp would mouth off I always was the one defending him. When he made his infamous hit on Chad Clifton and subsequently called out the Packers coach ("Put a jersey on!") I said it was okay. When he showed up to camp thirty pounds overweight to camp every year I said he would play himself into shape. When I was in attendance at a Bucs game, and Warren ran through the opposing teams pre-game stretch, I felt he was totally justified in doing that. Was I blinded by my allegiance to the Pewter Pirates or was this truly behavior that I would condone from any other player?

Keyshawn? I once got into a heated argument with a friend. In this argument I laid out a pretty convincing case for Keyshawn being the best possession receiver in the history of the league. When Keyshawn bullied his quarterback to throw him the damn ball I felt like he was well within the bounds. When he yelled at his coach on the sidelines I appreciated his firedup attitude. Once again, were my fond memories of Bucco Bruce making me see things?

I did not know for sure until recently. I walked into Buccaneer Heaven, the largest retail store for Buccaneer apparel in the Tampa area. I was looking for a new jersey for my two year old son to wear. He had recently outgrown the Derrick Brooks my dad had bought for him, and I was looking for a new Caddilac jersey. I asked the lady at the front if they had the new Carnell Williams jersey in a small size. She told me that the news one would not be in until September, but there were some old players jerseys in the back for fifty percent off. So I go back and look at the rack and all that I find are surplus Sapp and Keyshawn jerseys. At first I thought at fifty percent off this could be a great deal. Then, I looked down at my son and thought of the day that he might ask me, "Who is this guy on my back?" In my head I looked back on all the trashtalking, grandstanding, and me first attitude about those guys and realized I didn't want my kid with their name on his back.

That was it. My epiphany. Those guys were dicks, and I just loved my team too much to realize it. I apologize to anyone that had to endure my Keyshawn/greatest possession receiver ever argument. I have put my Sapp bobble-head up on e-bay. My only regret is that they did not have a John Lynch jersey on the rack.