When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and disgruntled quarterback Josh Freeman were butting heads, things got personal. Information about his involvement in the league’s drug program was leaked and many immediately called it foul play on behalf of the Bucs. But this morning, via JoeBucsFan.com, highly reputable Tampa Tribune journalist Ira Kaufman has good intel that the leaks came from Freeman or his camp.
Some of these investigations, Chris, it’s amazing how they dissolve into nothing. I’m going to give you an example: Remember when [Chris] Mortensen reported about six weeks ago about Josh Freeman and he was in that drug program? Chris, the next thing you know [NFLPA director] DeMaurice Smith is on the next flight down here to Tampa. There’s a big grandstand in front of the cameras. “We are going to conduct a thorough investigation! We will find out who leaked this information, this private information.”
Chris, you’re going to never going to hear one further word about that. And I’m going to tell you why: My information — and it’s pretty solid — is the Bucs didn’t release that. It didn’t come from One Buc Place. I think it came from Freeman’s own camp.
Many have suggested or expressed confidence in their knowledge (like founder of TheBayCave.com and current Pewter Report beat writer Gil Arcia) that the leaks came from Freeman and that theory made a lot of sense. If the former Bucs’ quarterback pressed the issue for a release, like leaking drug program info, then he can pick a team that was interested in signing him and pocket the money left on his contract with the Bucs.
As the guys at Joe Bucs Fan echo the words of Ira Kaufman though, we may never hear the words from the NFLPA that one of their own “brothers” was the source of this mess.