Raheem Morris and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Is a Sad Tale of Betrayal

Whatever happened to the 4-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

Whatever happened to the team that ventured to England after getting wins over both the Saints and the Falcons?

Is it possible the hearts of those 4-2 Buccaneers are still over there in the United Kingdom, locked away in the Tower of London, held captive?

Is it possible that the team that returned is nothing more than a group of impostors who have basically turned these last eight games into a sad tale of betrayal of their good-guy coach Raheem Morris?

This season has now developed into a tale of mystery and intrigue.

How could it come to this? How could our once-proud franchise go out and look like a bunch of quitters on national television last Saturday night. How could the same guys who Raheem has loved like sons and brothers betray him as if they were Judas Iscariot?

And that's what this all boils down to. This is plain and simple betrayal. That's why all of this is so hard to swallow. You could see it written all over Morris' face down there on the Buccaneer sideline a few nights ago.

It was the face of a man betrayed by his own players, the same players he has stood up for all season, the players he has defended time and again to the inquiring media.

Finally, it has come down to this:

Not even Morris was ready, willing or able to defend the play on the field last Saturday night.

He admitted, like shaken man, that there was not enough effort.

Can you imagine Morris' personal embarrassment when he heard about what Deion Sanders and Marshall Faulk said during the broadcast on the NFL Network?

If you've ever driven by One Buccaneer Place and seen that giant logo flag flying, well, this football team has now hung Morris on the flagpole right below it. Morris is simply dangling in the wind, uncertain of his own future.

He's now the fall guy, although in all of this, General Manager Mark Dominik is not without fault.

Who made Kellen Winslow the highest paid tight end in football? Who gave us Derrick Ward? The jury is still out on a lot of draft choices, guys like Myron Lewis who haven't done squat to help the cause. Who gave Quincy Black a ridiculous contract? Would it make any difference if Cadillac Williams was still here? You'd think it might.

Who left this team without any responsible veteran leadership?

Fact is there's plenty of blame to go around and while you're at it, throw in the Glazers for pinching pennies. 

I'll just go ahead and say it but right now, at this moment, I feel bad for Morris. He is a likable young man and probably a capable coach but this thing has just gotten away from him, it is like a giant, ugly snowball rolling downhill, picking up dirty snow and momentum and now no one can stop it.

That's what all of this has come to.

The mobs are now calling for the head of Raheem Morris.

The sad truth is the fix will not be that simple.

There is a major overhaul that needs to take place.

You can scream for the head of Raheem Morris.

But wouldn't it first make a lot of sense to get rid of the quitters?