WATCH: Carolina Panthers DT Gerald McCoy Unloads Offseason Bitterness Towards His Former Team The Tampa Bay Bucs On "Undisputed" Sports Talk TV Show, While Also Comparing Himself To Sapp, Selmon, Brooks, & Other Buccaneer Legends...
VIA Tampa Bay Times: Gerald McCoy isn’t holding back any longer.
The former longtime Buccaneers defensive tackle, who signed with the division rival Panthers earlier this month, has said little about his awkward and messy exit from Tampa Bay. During an appearance Wednesday on Fox Sports 1’s Undisputed, however, he unloaded, revealing that he felt the Bucs didn’t show him any respect this offseason. “They showed none,” he told Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe.
McCoy took offense to the team allowing Ndamukong Suh, his replacement, to wear No. 93, the number McCoy wore during his nine seasons in Tampa Bay.
“As far as giving away my number, in the history of the Bucs, they have a Ring of Honor,” he said. “All of the greatest players in the organization usually get their numbers retired. When (Warren) Sapp left — Sapp is one of a kind — John Lynch, Brooksie (Derrick Brooks), Lee Roy Selmon, Ronde Barber, when all these guys left, nobody wore their number. They didn’t give their number away. It was a sign of respect.
“Well, six Pro Bowls, All Pro four times. This is Tampa Bay, and I’m one of the best players to ever play in the organization. I’m gonna say it. Usually, I wouldn’t, but I’m gonna say it. So what? It kind of shows the respect and how they feel about me. I think it does. Them giving the number away, that’s their prerogative. It’d be different if it was a guy who came in, he signed four or five years. This is a one-year deal, and you said because he caused a problem or he really asked for the number, we gave it to him? It might seem like it’s just a number, but it’s bigger than that. It’s respect. And that was a bigger part of the separation between me and Tampa, period, was the respect they showed to me all offseason. It just wasn’t there.”
Full Story HERE and Full VIDEO Below...
Let's not forget this though, he PLAYS FOR THE PANTHERS now....
Here's some highlights from Sapp, Selmon, & GMac... comparable?