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JOHN C. COTEYKeyshawn Johnson doesn't reveal much in his TV interview but does share in some of the blame for how things unraveled with the Bucs.
Fox's NFL pregame host, James Brown, promised some "shocking revelations" from Keyshawn Johnson on Sunday, but the Bucs receiver, deactivated for the remainder of the season, offered many of the same explanations that have been reported by local and national media.
Johnson did, however, accept partial blame.
Asked by Brown if he found himself at fault at all, Johnson said: "I do. Definitely."
He then said he could have done some things differently.
"I could have made a lot of things easier," Johnson 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.'
"But Jimmy (Johnson), you know what it's like being a head coach. When a player comes to a head coach prior to a game to tell him something that's going to happen after the game, they simply don't want to hear it. They want your focus on the game. So, I made the decision."
Keyshawn Johnson, though, didn't hesitate to criticize Gruden.
"When you're dealing with Coach Gruden, he has a way of demeaning your skills as a player, not appreciating what you do," Johnson said. "He doesn't show a love for what you do and just acts as if you're supposed to do things.
"It's hard for me to explain it, but it was one of those things where I just didn't feel he respected what I did on the football field."
Johnson reiterated his belief that his deactivation on Tuesday was Gruden's decision: "He had to be in support of it, but (general manager) Rich McKay did not want to do it. Neither did the Glazers. This was totally a Jon Gruden situation."
Johnson faced tough questioning from the Fox crew, including former quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who said he would be embarrassed by what occurred.
"I'm upset, but I don't know if I'm embarrassed because I know both sides played a part," Johnson said. "It's deeper than Keyshawn Johnson and Jon Gruden in that organization, believe me."
Former coach Jimmy Johnson appeared to take management's side: "How can you say that you're totally committed (to the Bucs) when you go in after a midseason loss and tell the head coach that you don't want to play for him and that you don't want to come back next year?"
Keyshawn Johnson said: "So much frustration built up in me that in order for me to get through the rest of the year, I needed to get that out. But I did it one-on-one. I didn't take it to the locker room.
"I thought the best thing to do was to go in there, talk to him and get him to understand where I'm coming from."
NFL Today on CBS also addressed the controversy, with analyst and former cornerback Deion Sanders saying: "Keyshawn has to realize it, he's a good player, but I could get out of this suit right now and cover Keyshawn. And I think he knows that. I'm being honest with you. But Keyshawn will be awakened rudely by his talent level. ... I feel like Keyshawn may retire once he gets out there on that free-agent market and finds out he's not what he thought he was."
Johnson is expected to be a regular contributor to the Fox NFL Sunday show for the remainder of the season.