Oh No! Kenyatte Walk-Us-Back is sobbing on PewterReport.com

[Gettin'Vicious]

WALKER TAKES COMPETITION PERSONALLY
Bucs offensive tackle Kenyatta Walker has stayed out of trouble, but he may not find himself out of the starting lineup when the 2004 regular season rolls around.

Tampa Bay general manager Bruce Allen and head coach Jon Gruden made upgrading the team’s offensive line a top priority this offseason, and that included the ttwo ackle positions.

The Bucs signed free agents tackles Derrick Deese and Todd Steussie to long-term, lucrative contracts. Deese will likely replace Roman Oben at left tackle while Steussie figures to unseat Walker as the starting right tackle.

That doesn’t sit well with Walker, whom the Bucs acquired by trading up in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft.

"I take it personally,” Walker said. “If you don't take it personally, you don't stand for anything. I take it very personally. I take it as a little bitterness. If I had a chip on one shoulder, now I have it on both. It's fuel. I'm fueled from playing like we did last year. I'm fueled from getting booed every time they called my name. There's enough gas in the tank. We had a bad year last year and I'm the whipping dog. So keep on whipping."

The boos and criticism Walker received last season stemmed from the team-high 17 penalties he was called for, which hindered -- and often stalled -- offensive drives.

But not all of those penalties came while Walker was anchoring the right side of Tampa Bay’s offensive line. In fact, the former Florida Gator started three games at left tackle due to a hand injury sustained by Oben. The change in position had a negative impact on Walker, who spent his entire rookie season at left tackle before being moved to right tackle the following season.

"Penalties have to be fixed,” said Walker. “But what people need to realize is that I was switched from right to left from right to left. Penalties have to stop. Penalties hurt. Face masks have to stop. But that's stuff that can be changed. That's stuff I have to do that is mental discipline."

With the possibility of him landing on the bench, Walker said Steussie’s presence will push him to become a better player.

"Because of the competitive (situation), we have to fight now to even step on the field,” said Walker. “We have to fight now to get reps. It may be a kind of disrespect type of thing if you look at what that offensive line did accomplish. When things go wrong, we'll just have to ... well, not abandon you, but we have to look somewhere else. It puts a very bitter taste in your mouth, but it makes you better, it makes you stronger. We have to come out here and compete and play ball.

"It's a competitive thing. I've never been afraid of competition. A lot of decisions that have been made that I can't control. The only thing I can do is go out there, be detailed, be consistent and play ball."

According to Gruden, Walker, who started started 13 regular season games and all three of Tampa Bay’s postseason games en route to helping the Bucs win a Super Bowl championship in 2002, will be given the opportunity to compete throughout the rest of the offseason and in training camp and preseason.

“We still have the same offensive linemen we had last year, with the exception of Cornell Green,” said Gruden. “We’re going to be committed to those guys, too. They helped us win a Super Bowl championship. We also feel it was an area that we needed to take a good look, so we did. When the dust settles, we’ll have the best five starters we can possibly have based on the men we’ve assembled.”

Not only will the new offensive linemen add depth to their O-line, but Gruden believes it will make each of them better.

“They know it’s competitive,” said Gruden. “They have to take advantage of their snaps and opportunities and they realize that if they don’t, somebody else will. In my opinion, competition has brought out the best in players, and that goes for any sport.

“We’re just getting going here and we’ve got a long way to go before we announce any depth chart.”

.................................................. .................................................. ......................

The fans whipping boy? Sounds like a Warren Sapp comment...wtf???

i acutually like the attitude Walker has here. he is being a realist. he knows the situation and lets just hope, his actions follow his words. Kenyatta Walker and Jamel White would make a bigger difference than anyone on this team, if they could have a breakout year

[original_bucfan]

Release walker and maybe the Eagles will get him. Then he can hold on their line and bring back the touchdowns that TO may catch. His play last year killed us.

[TampaRez]

You know, if you put a mouse in a maze and he finally finds the cheese, the mouse never again makes a mistake finding the cheese.

How damn difficult can it be to switch from the right side to the left side and -- oh, by the way -- don't grab the other guy's friggin' face mask? I don't remember exactly how many face mask penalties Pinata Walker received -- but it was a bunch. Wouldn't you think after the fourth or fifth penalty that he'd get the idea? I'm SURE coach Gruden mentioned this to him once or twice.

Maybe this year, we'll have someone in there at least as smart as a mouse.

In an IQ test, I'll take the mouse.

Originally posted by TampaRez


How damn difficult can it be to switch from the right side to the left side

i like his attitude as well. if his attitude was ok i will be a backup then TB would need to cut there loses and move on.

[ToxicBucFan]

Yeah. There's still gas left in the tank...its just that this team runs on High Octane!

[Y2A]

Gas left in the tank? He is what, 24 yrs old? lol. ****ing *******... well he is physically talented, MAYBE this can get him to play well but I doubt it. He has no technique other than "stand up slow and grab the other guys facemask as he is running by."

[DragnSlayrF31]

Kenyanka Walkusback didn't like being booed???? Well I didn't like his 17 flippin penalties either!!! And could they have come at worse times?? Every damn one of them when we were trying to make something stick to put points on the board to catch up. Makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it. He single-handedly got us the penalty yardage that put us as the #1 penalized team and he didn't like getting booed? Well boo-****ing-who as far as I'm concerned. Either compete for the spot, earn it, and play w/o the penalties or sit your damn *** on the bench until you can learn to play legally is my whole opinion on it. One penalty this year and he should be the permanent bench warmer for the rest of the season. I just don't see how we can afford to let him stall drives this year if we want a winning record. But that's just me...

Geimont, Bisaccia, and Walkusback are all detrimental factors to our season this year and I don't understand why we still have 2 of them but at least this one can be benched if he can't do it right.

[skinny]

Hey, now we got a backup tackle with an attitude and something to prove. Sounds good to me. Show us, Kenyatta. Prove us wrong.

(I'll cut him some slack on the right-left thing. I'm a ****** myself when it comes to changing hands. Some folks are better at it than others.)

[AF Go Bucs]

Well, he has the choice to play or go home. If he wants to be upset because there are other people that want to fight for a job, then he is in the wrong profession. He can be a solid LT. If he does what he says he has to do.

[DragnSlayrF31]

Originally posted by skinny
(I'll cut him some slack on the right-left thing. I'm a ****** myself when it comes to changing hands. Some folks are better at it than others.)

That's just an excuse. He played in his regular spot the the SB year and he still got grabby. Those were the games that Green Bay and Indy submitted tape to the refs on before we played them. And of course the refs paid extra attention to him = not to be let down for their extra scrutiny. Then to tell the media that it's the way he was taught to play so he can't change? THAT really ticked me off. C'mon, you're doing something that's costing the whole team - at least TRY to fix it. I'm not impressed with him but b/c he has so much potential I hope this added competition motivates him to try harder and fix his face grabbing issues.

What would gripe me is if he played well enough to get the starting job and then when the season started , reverted to the same Walker we know and hate.

[CB24]

He won't ever take it to the next level unless he matures, and this is just another piece of evidence indicating he hasn't matured one bit since we drafted him.

[Dy-nasty D]

I don't see anything wrong with what he said. I'm pulling for the guy. Even though he has made a lot of mental errors, he really has been made the goat of the team. After all, it's not his fault that McKay gave up 2 number ones for him. Then he was thrown in as a rookie to start at one of the most difficult positions (LT). Then was moved (RT) and had to learn a new system. I think he will come on this year, and wouldn't be real surprised to see him start.

[Got-defense?]

HAHAHAHHA.


He is ****ed....I think we will give everything in training camp.

[DragnSlayrF31]

Originally posted by CB24
He won't ever take it to the next level unless he matures, and this is just another piece of evidence indicating he hasn't matured one bit since we drafted him.

Amen! He needs some mental training and he needs to be taught that even if he is undersized, slower, or overpowered that he needs to block legally. Those 15-yarders are a killer. If he could just learn to do that he would prove very beneficial to our line but until then...he's going to cost us more than 2 picks - and I don't like the pricetag that comes with his ineptness.

As usual.....I come into a thread to make a point and my good pal TampaRez has "bested me" before I begin to type. I could not have said it better Rez......... playing the other side of the line is NO EXCUSE for grabbing a facemask or jumping off sides. Sure it's a different methodology......but that's no excuse for the penalties. Turley never seemed to have a problem with these changes.....step up or step out...this is the NFL.

if you add up his penalty yardage and then consider how many games we lost by only 3 points......... you soon see why he is a WHIPPING BOY. Beyond that.....is the frustration of blowing such a high draft pick on this clown. His response to all this is what it always was....... child like cry baby.

addendum:

some of these guys are so coddled in college that when they arrive into the NFL.....they look at it as their long overdue paycheck for what they've done in life already.........rather than the START of a career.

Walker, Reidel Anthony and Jacquez Green have all suffered from these delusions.

[Buc Nashville]

Originally posted by PG
addendum:

some of these guys are so coddled in college that when they arrive into the NFL.....they look at it as their long overdue paycheck for what they've done in life already.........rather than the START of a career.

Walker, Reidel Anthony and Jacquez Green have all suffered from these delusions.

All Gators..........coincidence?

.....I was actually thinking that as I was typing........it actually could be related to how they treat (coddle) their players.........

[Y2A]

With Spurrier more concerned with his golf game than coaching, its no wonder why the work ethic is lacking JUST a little bit. Not to mention passing down that ego of his to his players

i love it...."how dare they make me prove that i deserve to be the starting RT?!"

In my experience you become the "whipping boy" because you earned it, and the only way to not be that anymore is by earning and proving you don't deserve it, his action have not proven anything other than he hasn't matured at all. This is one of those cases where Gruden's "competition in camp" attitude is a great thing... It will either make Kenyatta pull his head out, or not, either way the Buc's win in the long run.

[BabyBuc]

Shows why KW is a "loser"....he's immature , unprofessional, takes no responsibility... an entitlement mentality.

[Greg in DC]

Originally posted by blaze69787
i acutually like the attitude Walker has here. he is being a realist. he knows the situation and lets just hope, his actions follow his words. Kenyatta Walker and Jamel White would make a bigger difference than anyone on this team, if they could have a breakout year

I agree. I think we need some fire and competition out of that guy.

[digitaldave]

Has anybody here ever played R or L tackle?

Originally posted by digitaldave
Has anybody here ever played R or L tackle?

yes

[bucsorbust]

I don't like his attitude in the least. He's never truly taken responsibility for how badly he hurt our team on game day. There's a similar report on TBO:
http://bucs.tbo.com/bucs/MGA5O1Y4SSD.html

"I know the penalties have to stop. Penalties hurt." -- Does he really expect anyone to buy this? He made the same mistakes over and over.

"I've been switched from left to right, right to left and then back to the right." -- Sniff, sniff. Last time I checked, Illegal hands to the face applies to both sides of the line.

"Last year was the first time I didn't get that playoff check, but I know I can be part of something special here in Tampa." -- Hmm, that first part doesn't smell of selfishness in the least. I think he now knows he can be part of something special because we've brought in adequate replacements for him--he can't get called for a penalty if he's not on the field. At least, I hope not...

"We had a bad year last year and I'm the whipping dog. So, keep on whipping." -- Uhh, the whipping didn't work. That's why your sorry *** is getting replaced.