Buccaneers Separate Themselves From Jaguars as NFL's Worst Team

By - Keith Smith

I thought it was virtually impossible to make the Jacksonville Jaguars look good this year, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have managed to do just that.

Okay, maybe "good" is a stretch, but the Bucs have assured that the Jags won't be seen as the worst team in the NFL this season. That distinction belongs solely to Tampa Bay.

Photo by: Steve Mitchell

There are a lot of reasons why I think the Buccaneers are worse than Jacksonville (and the gap between them isn't very wide), but the biggest has to be the low quality of Tampa's coaching staff. Namely, the low quality of character of two of their coaches; Bryan Cox and Randy Melvin.

It was revealed this week by Buccaneer defensive tackle Gerald McCoy just what an upstanding pair these two are. In an interview with radio station 620 WDAE-AM in Tampa, McCoy claimed that Cox and Melvin chewed him out for showing good sportsmanship.

I'm not kidding.

"They got upset with me because I helped somebody up during the game," McCoy said. "So what! Kiss my butt. Listen, if I want to help somebody up, I'm going to help somebody up. Because on the next play, I'm going to knock him back down again. 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."

This would almost be humorous if it wasn't so disturbing.

Poor sportsmanship is nothing new to Cox. Many of you may remember him from his playing day antics. A very talented and gifted linebacker for the Dolphins, Bears, Jets, Patriots and Saints from 1991 to 2002, Cox's mouth often detracted from his play on the field.

While with the Dolphins in 1993, he began a war with Buffalo fans prior to Miami's visit to upstate New York. It culminated with Cox leading his squad out of the tunnel with both middle fingers prominently displayed to both sides of the stadium.

Earlier that week, he had called fans of the team "arrogant and obnoxious," and said that he would "rather be out of football than play there."

So it should come as no surprise to anyone that Cox discourages sportsmanship amongst the players he is now coaching. I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand what it is.

Don't get me wrong, I'm highly against the wussification of America, especially in American sports. It's been happening for years, so I'm happy to see that coaches still want their players to play with fire in their gut. But I'm also a big proponent of showing respect for the other team and demonstrating good sportsmanship. That is something that has disappeared from athletics, from the professional ranks all the way down to pee-wee ball.

Between all the trash talk by players and Johnny Manziel doing his "money fingers" to opposing fans, you don't have to look far to see that poor sportsmanship is running rampant in sports.

But as a former athlete myself, I know for a fact that you don't have to play that way to win. I've played with and against guys who would willingly rip your head off, but help you find it and screw it back on again before ultimately defeating you.

So while the Jags and Bucs may both go winless this season, I'll take Jacksonville over Tampa any day. At least their coaches aren't encouraging being losers and poor sports.