No More Games

[Gunzlingr]

Shortly after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost a pivotal game to the San Francisco 49ers last month, wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson stopped asking for the football and started asking for his freedom.
On Tuesday, the Bucs took the first step in granting the flamboyant three- time NFL Pro Bowler his wish.

In a likely precursor to an off-season trade or release, the Bucs told Johnson they will deactivate him for their remaining six games this season and that he is no longer welcome at One Buc Place

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[honey]

I, for one, do not like Keyshawn's attitude. It seems selfish to me. Kinda like Randy Moss' attitude. ;)

[Gunzlingr]

Keyshawn Johnson is still willing to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- despite differences with coach Jon Gruden.


The star wide receiver spent his first Sunday since being deactivated in a television studio instead of on the practice field, where the Bucs prepared for Monday night's game against the Giants.


"I didn't ask to be sitting here with you guys," Johnson said during Fox's weekly NFL pregame show.


The Bucs deactivated Johnson for the remainder of the year last week, saying his desire to leave Tampa was a distraction the team could no longer ignore.


Tampa Bay (4-6) has lost three straight games, and Johnson was frustrated with his role in Gruden's offense.


The two-time Pro Bowl selection said it was Gruden's decision to deactivate him, but that he shared responsibility for being shut down at a time when the Bucs seemingly need him most.

MORE (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1669309)

[Gunzlingr]

Keyshawn Johnson didn't run any routes Sunday. He didn't catch any passes. But he was the most popular player on the pregame shows.
Johnson, who was deactivated Tuesday by the Bucs, was a guest analyst on the ``Fox NFL Sunday'' Los Angeles set. He also was a big part of ``The NFL Today'' on CBS and ``Sunday NFL Countdown'' on ESPN.

``You had an eight-year, $56 million contract with the Bucs, a $13 million signing bonus, you're a three-time Pro Bowl player, and [Coach Jon Gruden and General Manager Rich McKay] made you look to be a major malcontent. What went wrong?'' Fox host James Brown asked.

``I don't think so. I think they were simply explaining [what happened],'' Johnson said. ``Anytime a head coach feels that you're a distraction in the locker room because you're unhappy and you're throwing off a certain vibe or body language, it's going to be an issue. And we've been having this issue for a year and a half.''

Brown followed by asking whether Johnson saw himself at fault at all in this.

``I do. Definitely. I could have made a lot of things easier,'' he said. ``For instance, when we were in San Francisco [Week 7], instead of getting on a plane and just leaving, I should have just went to Jon and said, `You know what, Coach, I'm going to stay with my family.' ''

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