Pewter Report weighs in

Pewter Report has been mostly quiet editorially regarding the Stevens signing, but in a piece today that's normally only available to subscribers, Scott Reynolds and team offer what I think is a thoroughly fair, even-handed and smart analysis of the situation. Select highlights:

"...Somewhere at One Buc Place, beleaguered wide receiver Antonio Bryant, who sat out 2007 due to a DUI and a four-game league suspension, is smiling because all of a sudden, none of the negative press is about him. He’s no longer the Bucs’ bad boy, and wisely, Bryant, who had a much-publicized tirade with former Dallas coach Bill Parcells, has yet to grant the first interview in Tampa.

The people that should be out either defending themselves or at least stating the team’s positions – Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen – haven’t been noisy enough and are getting damaged from a public relations standpoint in the media and on sports talk radio, especially WDAE 620 AM....

Don’t blame the Tampa Bay public relations staff for all the bad press the Bucs are getting in the media and on sports talk radio. The staff gets its marching orders from Allen, who does not provide a full understanding of his roster decisions to fans and dangerously leaves them open to interpretation in the media. The outlets that may have a bias against the team or certain members of it understandably run wild with a negative story. Controversy sells, right?

In the end, the negativity that has hit the local press and local sports talk radio has had an effect on Bucs fans’ feelings towards the organization. What should have been a relatively positive offseason with Tampa Bay returning to its winning ways with 9-7 record and third NFC South division title since 2002, has turned sour with the uproar generated from re-signing Stevens and the disgruntled Garcia and Simms spouting off about their respective situations at One Buccaneer Place."

Well done PR, this is why I'm a regular subscriber! Read the full piece.