All you need to ask yourself is, does Doug Williams belong in a top 25 Buccaneers of all time. It’s really just that simple. Yes, he in fact does.
Not according to Pewter Report however, who excluded the only QB to guide an orange clad Bucs team to the Playoffs, for the likes of Karl The Truth Williams, Lavonte David, Davin Joseph (they couldn’t even get his years correct, he was drafted in 2006, they have him playing for the Bucs in 2005), Martin Gramatica and Gerald McCoy.
Brad Johnson, who had three good seasons, taking the team to the playoffs in two of them (including a Super Bowl appearance) can be argued belongs. In fact, all the players listed have a good case for them, but not when you realize you’ve left off the heart and soul of the 1978-1982 Buccaneers team.
Martin Gramtica has his place being mentioned as one of the Best Bucs of all time. He has the most FGs with the Bucs at 137. Of course, he happened to kick during the Bucs best years ever. The rest of his numbers do not put him “Best” in anything. Gerald McCoy is probably headed to an amazing career as a Buccaneer as is Lavonte David. Unlike David however, McCoy was questioned as a ‘bust’ in his first two seasons, which were injury riddled. It wasn’t until 2012 that McCoy started to get the accolades of the NFL in Pro Bowl/All Pro mentions. Lavonte David is headed to a stellar career if all works out fine. But both of these players are here more for what they are projected to do, rather than done.
How many Buccaneers had amazing initial season? Scott Reynolds and Mark Cook both have as many playoff appearances as McCoy and David do, yet both of these men were included in a 25 BEST BUCCANEERS OF ALL TIME, and Doug Willams wasn’t.
Karl Williams is the Bucs best special teams contributor of all time it can be debated….he was amazing, I watched his career. But when “The Truth” left the Bucs, 14 years of losing did NOT ensue.
Davin Joseph has plenty of accolades for his tenure here in Tampa. Ian Beckles too was as good of a Guard, and had it not been for a lack of playoff appearances back then, probably would have had national attention like Joseph did. When Joseph was knocked out for a season, the team did not suddenly go 2-14.
Jimmie Giles made the list, as he should have, and his arrival in Tampa was brought up. He came in a directly involved trade between the Bucs, Houson Oilers and Doug Williams. Yet Williams name was left out of being mentioned, almost as if it were a dirty word.
An honorable mention could not be made once realized he would be left off? Because PR clearly started to defend their omission of Williams with their first entry, #25 Karl Williams!
The knock on Williams is an age old one, he has some bad statistics. Most of his seasons he failed to complete 50% of his passes, in fact his ’79 year it was worse than 40. But people forget that this was an age BEFORE the West Coast offense that everyone has a version of today.
Doug Williams was asked to heave ho downfield with his passes, low % attempts, and that’s not counting how many times he let the ball go to prevent a sack. Number 12 was one of the least sacked QB in Tampa Bay history, never mind the NFL.
If Completion percentage is so important, then lets take Terry Bradshaw out of the Hall of Fame. He has a worse % than Williams some years, like 1st Super Bowl season, 47%! The man has 4 Rings though, that’s what counts.
Williams has one ring, not with the Bucs, so that doesn’t count. But his value to the team was not in his completion %, its Winning percentage. His Rookie year, the Bucs were 4-5 with Doug Williams in the game. After being knocked out for the year (came back in the last game) the Bucs went 1-5.
After Williams was allowed to leave over 100,000 dollars, Tampa Bay spent two #1 round draft picks to try to replace him, first with Jack Thompson, then with Steve DeBerg. The Bucs went 8-24, and 12 straight Double Digit loss seasons.
What’s worse is what Williams had to endure, from the time he came here, until obviously even today. In the 1981 playoffs HC John McKay ordered a game plan against a week secondary of the Dallas Cowboys that involved heavy passing attacks, putting everyone out for passes including tight ends and running backs. No one was kept in to protect the QB.
Dallas had an amazing Defensive Line, and the Game plan was not changed at the half. Down 10-0, the Cowboys scored to make it 17-0, and then cowboys pinned their ears back. Williams never had a chance.
He came home to boxes addressed to him with rotten Watermelons and notes in them saying, “if it wasn’t for you NIG*&R, we would have won the game”. Being the first full time black QB was a lot of pressure on Williams, and he didn’t always respond to it the right way. Negotiations were horrible on the part of the Bucs. Posturing ensued on both sides. In the end, Williams left for the USFL in what amounted to only a few thousand dollars, and some say the Bucs were prepared to pay him what he wanted, but by that point, it was too late. Feelings were hurt on both sides, and racism was the foul cry.
Williams returned during the Gruden regime but then after the firing there were issues again regarding Doug. Pewter Report is VERY CLOSE inside One Buc place.
I can only surmise that PR authors do not remember Williams enough, perhaps did and were not appreciative of Williams efforts in those days as some people were, or is trying to simply play the numbers game, and looking only at Stats.
If Raheem Morris had anything right, it was that Stats are for losers. There is no reason Doug Williams doesn’t belong on an all time Buccaneers top 25 list, to be completely excluded. That tells me either reckless, or un-objective thoughts were used.
You pay excellent homage to late 70s early 80s players in your series, including praising an often overlooked secondary of Cedric Brown and Mark Cotney, Heros of mine too. But Ask yourself Scott Reynolds, how many of those Early Bucs players you listed in your top 25 would be there if Doug Williams was never drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
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