Tag: Tampa Bay Times

Kyle Trask ‘learning so much’ despite inactivity on Sundays

Waiting his turn isn’t new to Kyle Trask, but the former Gator is now learning from one of the greats in Tampa Bay.

Kyle Trask hasn’t played a snap this season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the former Gator is making the most of his time as he waits his turn just as he did at Florida.

Trask didn’t play right away in Gainesville, but he set records when he got his shot. It seems like Tampa Bay will be a similar story, assuming Tom Brady doesn’t stay as good as he is forever and on the Buccaneers.

Selecting him in the second round last spring makes Trask the most likely target to replace the legendary quarterback when the time comes. Being a healthy scratch in all six games this year isn’t surprising, but Trask’s development behind the scenes in year one has coaches impressed, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

“This kid’s putting in a lot of work to not be playing a snap,” Leftwich said. “And that’s how you get better in this league, and you just appreciate that as a coach.”

Brady is about as good as it gets if Trask is looking to learn from the best, and it seems he’s not wasting any time. Blaine Gabbert is the backup on Sundays for Tampa right now, and veteran practice squad quarterback Ryan Griffin is also there to help guide Trask.

“We’re treating him just as if he’s Tom (Brady),” offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said. “Obviously, he doesn’t get the reps, but in the meetings, he has responsibilities. He has responsibilities for this team, for the room, so we’re trying to teach him how to play the position, really. And he’s got a guy in front of him that he can learn from.”

Trask played in three preseason games for Tampa and complete 29 of 55 passes for 312 yards. He also threw a single touchdown and two interceptions.

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USF Does Not Have Financial Guarantee for Games at Notre Dame

Simply getting invited to play a high-profile school at its stadium is an honor for Group of Five programs.

Simply getting invited to play a high-profile school at its stadium is an honor for Group of Five programs. In addition to getting greater exposure, you get a nice paycheck just for showing up. Those incentives make it easier to absorb a likely loss, which probably will be a big one. However, USF might not get that luxury for playing Notre Dame over the next three years.

According to the series contract, obtained by the Tampa Bay Times after a public-records request, there is no financial guarantee for the Bulls. In fact, if this year’s contest, scheduled for Sept. 19 in South Bend, doesn’t get played, the remaining two games in this series will not be scheduled. If it goes on as scheduled, those games must have dates by Aug. 1, 2021. And to no one’s surprise, the cancelation provisions include the phrase “epidemic or pandemic”.

Despite this unusual arrangement, USF won’t be completely deprived of money for playing the Irish. It can purchase 300 tickets for this season’s game if it so chooses. And with the teams keeping their respective home ticket revenue, the Bulls should benefit nicely when this series has its lone game in Tampa.

Hey, in the times we’re living in, you can’t afford to be picky.

Tom Brady finds your jokes about his age hysterical

See how Bucs QB Tom Brady reacted to seeing a comedic piece about him in the Tampa Bay Times.

New Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady may have six Super Bowl titles to go along with four Super Bowl MVPs and three regular season MVPs, but there’s an underrated aspect of his game that Bucs fans may be happy to learn about — his sense of humor.

Brady, who will be 43 years old when the 2020 season rolls around, knows that his age is a big question mark and punchline for a lot of people. But don’t expect the quarterback to get bent out of shape about it. In fact, he finds it pretty hysterical, evident by his recent Instagram story, where he posted a picture of a piece in the Tampa Bay Times that had some fun at his expense.

Take a look at the screenshot below, along with Brady’s caption.

You can check out the full piece from the Tampa Bay Times here.

Worth noting, Brady is older than his offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, who faced Brady a couple of times back in the day.

Also, nice to see Brady is already reading the Tampa newspapers!

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WATCH: XFL comissioner defends restricting contracted player from leaving for NFL

The XFL is still seven weeks from launch, but don’t expect any of the players under contract with the league to change between now and then.

The XFL is still seven weeks from launch, but don’t expect any of the players under contract with the league to change between now and then.

Commissioner Oliver Luck spoke at length with the Tampa Bay Times roughly two months from kickoff and defended the league’s policy on not releasing its players from their contracts if an NFL team is interested in-season.

The Detroit Lions inquired with the XFL about quarterback Josh Johnson in November, but Luck & the XFL said the LA Wildcats player would be held to his contract ahead of December mini-camp.

Luck said, “In the game of football today (…) your quarterback play is determinative. (…) we said, ‘No, we’re keeping him. He’s ours, he signed a contract. He’s committed to us.”

Luck said he also turned down releasing quarterback Landry Jones and Phillip Walker after Ben Roethlisberger’s season-ending injury.

The commissioner explained that in order for the XFL’s relaunch to succeed, stability is key, saying “Once a player signs a contract (…) then he’s under contract with us. We won’t release that player to the NFL until after our season. We need certainty. We can’t just have guys peeling off.”

Two quarterbacks that fans will *not* see in the XFL are polarizing former football stars Johnny Manziel and Colin Kaepernick.

Johnny Football was in the XFL’s draft pool, according to Luck, but scouts and coaches, “didn’t think he was going to help their team.”

Of Kaepernick, Luck said, “I think his salary demands are way out of our ballpark. He was never really a viable option.”

XFL comissioner defends restricting contracted player from leaving for NFL, talk Manziel & Kaepernic

The XFL is still seven weeks from launch, but don’t expect any of the players under contract with the league to change between now and then.

The XFL is still seven weeks from launch, but don’t expect any of the players under contract with the league to change between now and then.