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With Mike Alstott out for the season with an injury, it didn't take long for WDAE-AM 620's Steve Duemig to find another Buc to fawn over - Keyshawn Johnson.
And in rather disgusting style this week, Duemig defended his best new buddy with such fervor it made him look foolish and overly defensive.
For two days, Duemig told listeners there was another side to the Johnson story, and boy, when that came out, you'd see just how wrong Jon Gruden was. As is his way, Duemig claimed he knew the other side, but you would just have to trust him on that.
It was a fine time in the world of Duemig Discourse. Agree that Johnson is the victim and you get a pat on the back. Disagree and you're a "fricking jerk," or worse yet, an "a------."
Sadly, Duemig's limited vocabulary means falling back on expletives and hanging up the phone like a petulant child.
Duemig defends his actions by accusing offending callers of not knowing their stuff. But when another caller bows down to Duemig by prefacing his comments with, "I know we're not in the locker room like you are," where was the host with the correction?
Fact is, Duemig is renowned for not spending any time in the Bucs locker room.
Duemig demands you back up your claims with facts, but he continued to spew propaganda for Johnson as if he never dropped a pass.
As he will remind you over and over and over again, he is connected, and that makes him right. In case you didn't catch the show Tuesday and Wednesday, Duemig and Johnson are tight. Heck, said Duemig, if you listened to his show, Tuesday's deactivation should have been no surprise, as if he had predicted it.
Pompous, arrogant, full of himself and, quite frankly, a little dishonest. Duemig and Johnson are two blowhards in a pod.
Nonetheless, Duemig's pandering paid off. Wednesday he landed an interview with Johnson. A great coup? Nah. It was a brilliant move by the savvy Johnson, knowing that over on WQYK-AM 1010 he was being skewered.
Johnson played Duemig like a harp. Duemig shamelessly obliged. He told Johnson it seemed Gruden was picking on him at news conferences. He said he heard Johnson was tired of Tampa, but before letting Johnson respond, exclaimed, "I know different."
We get the idea, Steve - you guys are tight. You know things. And you'll tell us after the information all comes out.
We're still waiting, by the way.
Duemig had a chance to step up and get to the bottom of the story, as he vowed he would, but that's not the bottom he was interested in.
He applauded Johnson, as if he was the only wide receiver in Bucs history to catch balls over the middle.
As if he is without question the "best receiver this team has ever had" (Jimmie Giles had more yards on fewer catches and twice as many touchdowns, so he might have an argument there.)
As if he delivered the Super Bowl to Tampa Bay on a platter last season.
Duemig is a take-no-prisoners radio host, and sometimes that serves him well. He often takes sports' more unsavory characters to task.
But this week, he proved himself to be nothing more than a shill. Keyshawn Johnson, according to his coach, his general manager and respected teammates like Ronde Barber and Derrick Brooks - they are in the locker room, by the way - was a distraction.
And why? Because he wouldn't shut up. When it's Warren Sapp doing the talking, Duemig can fill a whole show ripping him.
When it's Johnson, when callers try to explain to Duemig that maybe all the mouthing off is a bad thing, his ridiculously inept response reeks of all that is bad with sports:
"If he's a good player, what does it matter?"