With the NFL lockout in place, one of the major sticking points for teams like the Minnesota Vikings. . .who have a new head coach (essentially), a new offensive coordinator, and (presumably) a rookie quarterback, is that coaches are not supposed to be able to talk to their players while the lockout is going on.
Apparently, some folks are under the impression that these rules only apply to certain teams and not to them, such as Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris.
Caller: … LeGarrette Blount throws the football around right in the neighborhood. Right there by the little Lake {inaudible} football field. All the kids at the middle school come bragging about him.
Raheem Morris cuts off caller: You probably don’t realize who else is over there. You got Sammie Stroughter, Legarrette Blount, [Dezmon] Briscoe. They all go over there. They tell me about it all the time.
Steve Duemig: Do they live in the area in the offseason?
Raheem: Yes, they live right over by Jefferson [High School].
Caller: So they’re right over there. They’re making such a strong [impact with the kids]. …Those guys [and other Buccaneers] come out and put a lot of time into those boys.
Raheem: Hey listen. I talk to them all the time. I talk to those guys all the time.
Ummmmm, yeah. Raheem, you're not supposed to do that. At all.
Now, do I think that the Buccaneers are the only team that's doing this sort of thing? Not a chance. Hell, there's probably a pretty fair chance that the Vikings are doing it, too. . .but I've only seen one guy thus far come out and admit it.
Either the NFL needs to look into this sort of thing and actually do something about it, or they need to allow all of the teams to treat these rules at the farce that they are and practice as a team. Heck, if this is going to be allowed to happen, then frankly Leslie Frazier ought to start calling up everybody and see who wants to get together at Winter Park next week for the extra mini-camp that he's supposed to be entitled to as a new head coach (that he's probably going to wind up not getting).