Players' secrets are no longer safe after their coach gives an in-depth interview to Playboy.
By ROGER MILLS
Published July 25, 2003
[Times photo: Toni Sandys]
General manger Rich McKay gives Jon Gruden a thumbs up, hopefully not encouraging his coach to dance on Dale Mabry in a jockstrap.
LAKE BUENA VISTA - When you're one of the sexiest men in America, the Super Bowl winning coach, a millionaire and the talk of the National Football League, what do you do for an encore?
Well, you can always threaten to dance down Dale Mabry Highway in a jockstrap.
Or you can reveal some intimate stories about your sex life and talk about watching adult films and making Chucky faces in private.
Or you can take a few comical jabs at some of your players' bodies and their lack of rhythm.
When you're Jon Gruden, you can get away with just about anything.
In the September issue of Playboy, which goes on sale Tuesday, Gruden outdoes himself. In an in-depth, intimate and intriguing confessional, the Bucs coach offers his takes on a range of topics, some football related, others simply outrageous.
His conversation ranges from death, to overwork, to Brett Favre, to people who chew gum, to reminding the team not to make him irritable and thereby "disrupt the beauty I have established."
"I was just having a little fun with the guys, that's all."
In doing so Gruden joined a list of some of the nation's most famous personalities who have let Playboy into their lives, and their lives into the public eye. That list includes the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Marlon Brando, George Burns, Francis Ford Coppola, Sammy Davis Jr., Bill Gates and Muhammad Ali.
"Can you believe that (list)?," Gruden said. "I just wanted to do it before Warren Sapp. He'll get his. I tell you what, I was nervous. I hope it comes out okay. It's not your normal interview, that's for sure."
Not at all. Here are some of the more memorable takes:
Playboy: It didn't make your broadcast, but one highlight after the Super Bowl was Warren Sapp dancing in your locker room.
Gruden: Yeah, that's horrifying. But it was appropriate. Winning the Super Bowl - it's the best feeling in life. And I will dance in a jockstrap on Dale Mabry Highway if we do it again.
On the field Thursday, a number of his players were eager to get that on record.
"I don't know if we want to see that," receiver Keenan McCardell said. "But when he says it, then we have to hold him accountable for it. It could be another (ploy to motivate people)."
Safety John Lynch said he was not sure how credible Playboy was, but felt that Gruden could not back out of the promise.
"I'll go with it," Lynch said. "If he said it, then so be it. We'll have to put him on the spot (today) in front of the team. Hey, (Devil Rays manager) Lou Piniella dyed his hair and stuck to his word. We've got to hold him to it."
When told the players were aware of his statement, Gruden began backpedaling.
"I was being sarcastic there," he said. "Oh no (laughing). I guess I'm going to have to do it. I might have done it anyway. People don't know what I would do to win a Super Bowl. I was trying to create an analogy. I was trying to convey that it's the most exciting time of my life and I would do just about anything to get there again."
There is more, lots more.
Playboy: After Sapp, which Buc is the scariest naked?
Gruden: I can't say I study our players carefully when they're naked, but we've got some candidates. It's got to be one of the offensive linemen. I'll go with Kerry Jenkins. He's probably got the funkiest body naked. You would have to see it to believe it.
Jenkins, a 6-foot-5, 305-pound guard, defended himself.
"I don't know why he would say something like that," Jenkins said. "I feel like I'm all right. I have a couple of pounds that I could lose, but I wouldn't put myself in that category."
Playboy: In your pregame speech you mentioned Viagra?
Gruden: Geez, how does this stuff get out? That was a private team meeting. We'd beaten Philadelphia and I said, "You think last week was exciting? This is the Super Bowl and you shouldn't need any Viagra. ... '
Playboy: You quote rappers in your pregame speeches. How do you keep up with the genre?
Gruden: I'll grab a player's headset and listen. Sometimes there's a lyric I can use to connect with the guys. Tupac, I like what he did. I'm not on the cutting edge of rap, but I know Eminem, Snoop Dogg ... .
McCardell said that his coach being "down" with the hip hop scene should not come as a complete shock.
"That's that Oakland tie that he has, man," McCardell said. "That's California. He tries to stay in the mix so that he can relate to his guys."
Added defensive tackle Anthony McFarland: "Coach is human. He lives in the world and has experience in all fields. He knows about that stuff. He was on the West Coast and Tupac and Snoop are West Coast."
Playboy: What do your players think of your (dancing) style?
Gruden: Lynch might be critical of my dancing, but if so, I'll critique his too. (Mike) Alstott, same thing. Neither of those (guys) can dance. ... Just stay the hell out of (Alstott's) way. Alstott needs a lot of room. But he's got some beat. He's a lot better than Lynch.
Lynch, an 11-year veteran, had his own version of the truth.
"Jealousy rears its ugly head," Lynch said. "We had a foundation dinner and he started cutting the rug and it looked like he was still in that 1978 prom thing."
Gruden said he is prepared to stand by his rating system.
"They are bad, man, real bad," he said. "If this starts a team mutiny then it starts a team mutiny. I want to point out to the readers that I can dance better than them."
