Posted by  Shawn Golan, Los Angeles, CA on 08/07  at  08:42 AM

Ira was right…we were on the verge of getting the deal done.  There was just one problem - one that nobody could have predicted.  Green Bay, all along, wanted a potential 1st round pick for Favre - something that Tampa simply wasn’t willing to give up.  Unfortunately, the Jets were willing to do it at the 11th hour.  The terms of the trade would give G.B. a 1st round pick if Favre takes 80%+ of the snaps and the team makes the playoffs.  Chances are, Favre and the Jets will meet both of those conditions - so G.B. gets what they alway wanted. 

The Jets were willing to mortgage their future to rent a QB for a year or two.  Tampa wasn’t!  I’m just fine with that.  to me, this deal was never worth more than a 2nd rounder.

Posted by  Slick, Palm Harbor on 08/07  at  08:39 AM

If Favre paid any attention to the media (and you know he did), he knows about Chris Simms and Jeff Garcia’s experience with Gruden and co.  That’s why he chose the Jets over the Bucs, and I don’t blame him.  Favre wants to play, not to walk into the hive that is the Tampa Bay QB position.

Posted by  Chuck King, Palm Beach County Florida on 08/07  at  08:38 AM

I see a couple of things that need to be explained to Garcia - you have to tell him - what did you want us to do - the guys a legend - your not - not yet anyway. (motivation for Garcia to go out and kick butt - (to prove his worth)  We offered a 7th rouond conditional pick for Farve - why?  Because we didn’t really want him!  Now Jeff - go out there and play your cahones off! Or you could be replaced.  This is a business, a dictatorship - either you play or you get traded.  That’s life Jeff - now - go out there and play and prove we made the right choice in not bringing in Farve.

Posted by  Saints are Better, NOLA on 08/07  at  08:36 AM

Ahw, too bad Buc fans… I guess you won’t have a chance to be playoff contenders after all. But, hey, there’s always next year’s draft!

I wouldn’t worry too much over Garcia; he will probably not be able to play after game 1 anyway. But that’s all good because Griese and Favre play a lot a like; they throw lots on interceptions. So, you might get ‘Favre’ anyway.

Posted by  Chuck King, Palm Beach County Florida on 08/07  at  08:29 AM

Ira; was it you who wrote,“Buc’s are on the Verge of signing Farve” and I asked you to site your source,because you were way off base? I can’t believe that you have the audacity to write an article like this justifying your position on your soothsaying comment. Not only did you do that but because of your article; you had the whole football world believing that Farve was coming to Tampa. They plastered your comments all over ESPN, NFL Network and every other sports related computer, magazine and tv in the free world. This is monumental piece of literary crap and you need to be fired at once. I can’t see how you can remain employed with the Tribune after this. We all knew it; and now you just proved it; you are a PUTZZZZZZZ!

Posted by  JB Keziah, Phoenix, AZ on 08/07  at  08:20 AM

The only way the Bucs win here is if Farve gets hurt.  The damage done by openly shopping for Farve will not soon be repaired.  If you want to make a statement step up to the plate and deliver.  Nobody remembers who came in 2nd place.  I do not want to hear any complaints from ownership about poor ticket sales or an under achieving season.  You had your options and failed to deliver!  While you were sleeping the Jets delivered.  WAKE UP!

Posted by  :PapaJohn, Tampa on 08/07  at  08:19 AM

Grudens quotes after Giants playoff loss:

“We need guys who can make a profound impact, the kind you see on SportsCenter”

“We hope to add speed and explosive playmaking”

Ok, we added Dunn and Faine. TB is $26M under the cap, ticket prices rose (again) and aquirable players this year included:

B.Farve
R.Moss
Jason Taylor
A.Jones (Dallas can have him)
J.Shockey
J.Walker
Jared Allen
J.Vilma
Shaun Rodgers

Nice splash guys. I wonder if the Glazers are using the Bucs to finance Manchester United…

Posted by  Owling, Brandon on 08/07  at  07:59 AM

How come people keep forgetting that the ONLY reason Garcia made the pro bowl was because Favre declined his invite?

Posted by  jason bert, Tampa on 08/07  at  07:48 AM

Ira, Roy and the rest of the crackpot staff got this completely wrong! You guys are supposed to write the facts not give us your personal opinions on what you GUESS will happen.  Make sure and tell us how the crow tastes!

Posted by  jason, cocoa beach on 08/07  at  07:24 AM

BTW, the only thing this entire circus did for the Bucs was make us look foolish in the natioanl media, ruined our team unity, and probably destroyed Gargia’s motivation. All this for an over the hill legend that nobody else even wanted. Good job!

Posted by  jesse, cocoa beach on 08/07  at  07:20 AM

Ya know, I normally am the guy that sticks up for the writers. I’m always telling people to lay off em and get a life. After this, I say fire em all. What complete jackasses.

Posted by  Jerry Gaughf, lakeland on 08/07  at  07:15 AM

This is ridiculous! The bucs did the right thing by letting this man get away! It takes a QB atleast two years in this system to be effective, and you believe that we came up short on this deal? Not me because he would not have learned the offense in time to really help us this year, I believe.The asking price was to steep for a player at his age also.I just wish sometimes the fans and the media would trust this organization and let them continue to build a winner and know that they are doing everything in there power to make this come to fruition!With the running game we will have this year to take some heat off the QB, we will be fine at the position!  Thank You Jerry

Posted by  Jake, Tampa on 08/07  at  07:14 AM

Way to go Roy and Ira. Any chance that you were the ones that reported Dewey beats Truman?  Way to overplay your hand Brucie! Again!

Posted by  Scott, Great Mills, MD on 08/07  at  07:06 AM

WOW! When you read or hear reports that other teams’ fan have football smarts, you never hear Buc’s fans mentioned. Now I know why. Brett is a prima donna. He would have hurt team chemistry and taken forever to learn the playbook. He would have had maybe one good year playing for the Bucs. Bruce Allen is correctly building a future for the Bucs. Do you really think he screwed this up? The man is one of the league’s better GMs. To bad that Tampa has so many highly qualified GMs with nothing better to do than display their football ignorance on this site. Bruce didn’t want to mortgage the future for one questionable good year from Favre. Pay Jeff Garcia and move on.

Posted by  Robert, Lake Wales on 08/07  at  06:58 AM

A touchdown in the hand (Garcia)is worth two interceptions in the bush (Favre).

Posted by  Jim Travis, Tampa on 08/07  at  06:39 AM

Cancelling my Tampa Tribune subscription.  What a disgrace!!!!

Posted by  Jeff garcia, tampa on 08/07  at  06:33 AM

Now is the perfect time for garcia to begin a hold out - give the brainiacs at one buc place a little of their own medicine

Posted by  A. Crum, Altanta on 08/07  at  06:24 AM

Now that the talk is over, let give a vote of confidence to Garcia and give him a 2 or 3 year extension…

Posted by  HFXBuc, Halifax on 08/07  at  06:20 AM

Total disappointment.  Would have been too sweet for the next 2 years with stability and confidence at the QB spot (Garcia is fragile, man!) and a legit Superbowl run…gotta trust Allen on this one, he’s done a great job building the team we are talented, young and very deep. can’t wait for the season to get going!

Posted by  Mordechai Bigfeather, St. Petersburg on 08/07  at  06:11 AM

+1 for what “Steve, Tampa on 08/07 at 12:54 AM” says ...

This is a good thing for the Bucs, despite the injuries to the relationships between Garcia and Grudenallen.

BUT .. it’s also a horseman of the apocalypse of journalism.  It’s unfortunate that Ira’s “Favre traded to Bucs” article whipped up more local expectation than was warranted, and flat-out amazing how many other papers, websites and blogs nationwide put out “Favre traded to Bucs” articles, citing ONLY that guy’s exaggeration.

Here’s hoping the Tribune is even more widely ignored in the aftermath of this drama.

Posted by  James R. Kinzer, 351 Winfield Ave. Winfield WV 25213 on 08/07  at  06:10 AM

Calm down guys, you only have four more years of Brucie.  In free agency, he promised a “Tiger Woods Type” would be signed and he only signed some has beens and wanna bees.  Now to let Favre slip away is much worse than that.  The reason could be that Favre didn’t have a criminal background.

Posted by  Mordechai Bigfeather,  on 08/07  at  06:09 AM

+1 for what “Steve, Tampa on 08/07 at 12:54 AM” says ...

This is a good thing for the Bucs, despite the injuries to the relationships between Garcia and Grudenallen.

BUT .. it’s also a horseman of the apocalypse of journalism.  It’s unfortunate that Ira’s “Favre traded to Bucs” article whipped up more local expectation than was warranted, and flat-out amazing how many other papers, websites and blogs nationwide put out “Favre traded to Bucs” articles, citing ONLY that guy’s exaggeration.

Here’s hoping the Tribune is even more widely ignored in the aftermath of this drama.

Posted by  Brian, Tampa on 08/07  at  06:07 AM

Ira,What??Look,we should give up a 3rd or better for what? We cut Garcia, Give the pack Griese?. What went so wrong with Garcia last year?Garcia ended up at the pro bowl.It is clear the Bucs want to build the future through the draft.It is not a bad plan.Would Brett get Tampa that much further down the road than Garcia. What locker room problems would this have created.When you write a story wrong you move on to the next story and another column. The coach and GM..well Ira,they get fired..And what major blow to the image?Some may say we made the better decision a year from now..
So Ira, just curious..what do you plan on doing in your next career? You obviously need to plan ahead a little. This column doesn’t seem to be working out so well.

Posted by  Will Ashworth, Toronto on 08/07  at  06:06 AM

Why would Tampa fans want a player who is so obviously selfish? Jon Gruden should be more concerned about his receivers, a weak point for many years. Brett Favre is one more example why pro sports aren’t nearly as fun to watch as they once were. Stop coddling brats.

Posted by  Dave, Tampa on 08/07  at  05:51 AM

We dodged the bullet thanks to mismanagement by Bucs management.  You don’t need a star that puts himself above Team.  What the bucs have done up until now in this situation could very well have destroyed any team chemistry on this team.  Give Jeff his money (that you promised to negotiate during the off season) and start mending fences or kiss another season good bye.