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Bucs player fields calls on his radio show
By RICK GERSHMAN CARROLLWOOD -- For all his outside interests -- writing books, running restaurants, shopping for earrings -- Keyshawn Johnson is all business on the field. Turns out, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers star is the same way on the radio. The three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, freshly released from Bucs training camp near Orlando, returned to Tampa on Wednesday and got right to work. That evening, he premiered his two-hour radio show at Harpo's, a sports bar and nightclub in the Mission Bell Plaza off N Dale Mabry Boulevard. Johnson took the stage without fanfare about 5:45 p.m. The show, on WDAE-AM 620, the Sports Animal, began at 6. Dressed in a loose-fitting white-and-gray athletic outfit, Johnson quietly autographed souvenirs until he went on the air. "It's the Keyshawn Johnson Show," he announced over the airwaves. "Well, I'm back for a second term. After three weeks of training camp, I'm finally out of the cage. If you can put up with me for two hours, you can put up with me for the rest of the season." Unlike many professional athletes with radio shows, Johnson does not share airtime with a professional broadcaster. Instead, the man who wrote the infamous Just Give Me the Damn Ball does it all, from taking calls to promoting sponsors to pitching bar cuisine. "They're serving a, um, I don't know, six bucks, $6, 20-cent burger plate," Johnson announced, soliciting radio listeners to drive to Harpo's to eat. "And you can come and buy some liquor with it and feel good." Then, quickly, a responsible postscript: "But be careful." Throughout Wednesday's broadcast, Johnson was professional, welcoming and charming. He shook hands and chatted with attendees during commercial breaks, smiled broadly as he embraced fans for snapshots, and seemed to have a good time. A caller said that one of Johnson's most recognizable teammates, defensive tackle Warren Sapp, has a reputation for being rude and insensitive to the public. Although he and Sapp reportedly have had their differences, Johnson responded in fairly diplomatic fashion. "I take a different approach; I don't mind people saying things to me," he explained. "But he likes his privacy; he doesn't want to be Warren Sapp when he's off the field, and that's for him." By the show's second hour, Johnson was in a zone. He got plenty of questions about working with first-year head coach Jon Gruden, who has several Carrollwood connections: His parents are longtime Carrollwood Village residents and his brother Jay, a Bucs assistant, played quarterback at Chamberlain High. "His coaching style works for me," Johnson said of Gruden, whom he repeatedly called "Chucky" and contrasted to former coach Tony Dungy. "Dungy didn't never cuss," Johnson said. "Gruden's going to swear after anything goes right or wrong. He's going to cuss." Johnson got some advice from a caller about how Gruden should use a particular running back. "I'm going to let him know that when I see him tomorrow," Johnson told the caller, laughing. "I'm going to tell him Pat from Sarasota said we need to (run the player toward the) outside, not up the middle." One caller asked Johnson to wave to him at home games in Section 344 of Raymond James Stadium. "Okay, I'll wave to you," Johnson said, chuckling. "I have no idea where you are, but I'll wave. You wave back, and maybe I'll see you."
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From the Times |
