In a recent interview with Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan on Sirius NFL Radio, former Buccaneers’ defensive end Simeon Rice blasted his old coach Jon Gruden and even called him a “scumbag.”
“You get what you deserve,” Rice said. “That’s what Jon said. He got it now. Everybody gets what they deserve. . . .
“You look at what he did when Chris [Simms] damn near died on the field he wanted to release him right when he got injured. I get hurt, my shoulder’s torn off the bone. This dude releases me. You know what I mean? I’m your guy. The list goes on. Keenan McCardell, that situation was a debacle. Keyshawn Johnson, another situation [that] was a debacle. Joey Galloway, which was his man, was in the dog house all year because he got injured, broke his ankle or whatever. Brad Johnson that situation was bad. Brings Jeff Garcia in here, oh, he’s going to change things. I helped recruit him [and he] released me, kept Jeff and then put him in the doghouse. Gets rid of Brian Greise, brings him, starts a controversy. It was chaotic. I’m giving you facts.”
“How I feel personally? I could tell you that, too. I think he’s a scumbag,” Rice said. “I think he’s a scumbag personally. That’s when he’s telling you one thing and… You know what he told me? ‘Simeon you’ll be here in the next five years.’ I got injured [and] this man’s never said one word to me. I won a Super Bowl for you. I got 13 sacks, 12, 15 every year for you. I balled. I got injured [and] you let me go like it was nothing.”
I don’t dispute what Rice is saying because obviously I wasn’t in the Buccaneer locker room all those years, but unfortunately Gruden probably acted the same way a lot of coaches and teams do when players are injured. A player gets injured and then the coach acts like that player isn’t even on the team anymore because they’re of no use to him. It’s not fair, but most teams go about their business this way because the NFL is so cutthroat.
Look at Tom Brady last year. The man got the Patriots to four Super Bowls but because he got hurt, speculation started to surface that the team would eventually move on to Matt Cassel. When players get older and suffer major injuries, a team has to start looking ahead. It’s nothing personal and although Gruden might be more cutthroat than other coaches, I don’t know if it merits Rice calling him a scumbag. But again, I wasn’t in the locker room so maybe he is a scumbag. It’s not like Rice is the only player that has taken shots at Gruden since the team fired him.
