Two days after the Bucs traded Anthony McFarland to Indianapolis, the excuses for his apparent underachieving are still rolling in. One of the most popular positions has been to claim that McFarland was held to an impossible standard since he took the spot vacated by Warren Sapp, the man who arguably re-defined the position with his speed and strength. Even Ellis Wyms, the man who consistently outperformed McFarland over the years yet still managed to earn a fraction of his salary, defended him:
“People have to understand that he (Sapp) was a one-of-a-kind type of player,” Wyms said. “There aren’t any guys in the league now that are doing what Warren did from a defensive tackle standpoint. I think it was unfair for them to hold Boog (McFarland) to Warren’s standards.
The Tribune’s own Katherine Smith sticks up for him as well:
Some of what McFarland did never showed up in individual statistics and instead opened up opportunities for others.
Both of you… stop it. Stop making excuses for Booger’s slacking. He just wasn’t very good; certainly not worth a first round pick. Forget comparing him to Sapp in his prime. Let’s compare him to every other starting defensive tackle in the league. Out of 58 starting defensive tackles (six teams officially run the 3-4 defense which only employs one DT,) McFarland is #50 in tackles per game. If you include the fact that he has zero sacks, he drops down to #53. And just because he’s a 3-technique player doesn’t let him off the hook. He’s #21 out of 26 3-techniques in the league. Maybe statistics aren’t everything, but they’re something. And for whatever non-statsheet opportunities McFarland created, Wyms created more when he played in his place. Please don’t rewrite history just because he’s gone.
I’m sure Anthony is a nice guy and he’s great in the community and all that. And I hope he does well in Indianapolis. This will be the last entry I take shots at him in. I just get annoyed at underachievers. In the 1999 draft, Tampa could have taken Jevon Kearse, Patrick Kerney, Al Wilson or Mike Rucker in the first round and gotten significantly more firepower for their pick. Well, at least they made up for it in the second round by taking Shaun King.
Wait… never mind.
Posted by george.turklll, jacksonville,nc on 10/23 at 07:00 AM
Booger is garbage ! He’s a good sidekick like robin but he’s not BATMAN(SAPP)! He will never be Batman not even close. So,that leads me to my next question? Why in world would the bucs get rid of a potential hall of famer, the voice of the south, the true leadership that was on the team,the best defensive tackle we’ve every had. OH, i know why ? GRUDEN !( the tampa bay bucs organization destroyer)
Posted by robert rix, tallahassee on 10/20 at 09:46 AM
Who’s asking for spectacular? I’d have been happy with solid. I can’t believe we got a second rounder for him. Now if we can move a few of our other guys who are living on their reputations we’ll have the picks to rebuild our defense.
Posted by Yves J. Higgins, Tampa, Florida on 10/20 at 09:46 AM
Thankfully, someone with guts to tell it like it is. Please stop making excuses for: sub-par performances. I am becoming more and more concerned that the new identity for Americans is “A people who have an excue for everything”. What will it be next for the McFarland fiasco? He was advised by his priest to play awful or will he just check himself into a Rehab center?
Posted by Sean Bussey, Sicklerville, NJ on 10/19 at 07:14 PM
Joe Greene, Alan Paige, Bob Lilly…
these were the guys that Warren Sapp was compared to. McFarland didn’t have
to be like these guys. All he had to do was be disruptive,...and he never was. The 3 technique position is
the most important, in the Tampa 2. Nobody expected the second coming of Sapp, but with Booger…we didn’t even get the 2nd coming of Brad Culpepper
(which I would’ve settled for). All
Wymms needs to do is keep playing like
he’s playing, and let the memory of Sapp…be just that.
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Posted by David Lee, tampa, fl on 11/06 at 02:12 PM
Booger is not even close to Sapp. But the problem is that he had a big contract from Bucs after Sapp was traded. Stupid!! Who made the deal, the new GM, Bruce Allen, he and Gruden destroy Bucs team and now it is time for them to go.