Stevens: A Question Of Character We could ask how creepy is too creepy for the Bucs, but we probably don't want to know the answer. If you're a good football player - tight end Jerramy Stevens is surely that - who is down to your last, last chance, come see Bruce Allen, the Father Flanagan of Bad Boys Town. He always has room for one more. This is the place where they see no evil and hear no evil, provided you have size, speed and can catch passes over the middle. But please, can we at least wish for vipers to spring from Bruce's mouth if he ever again tries to sell the snake oil that character matters when he is looking for Bucs to sign? That tripe is half-past tired now. They want football players, period. If they happen to be good people, it's a bonus but hardly mandatory. Bringing Stevens back for another season was just asking for it. The Bucs got it, too, when the NFL suspended him Wednesday for the first two games of the upcoming season - punishment for his 2007 arrest in Arizona for what cops said was "extreme DUI." We knew he was way too familiar with his Miranda rights when the Bucs signed him last year after various run-ins with the law. That was kid stuff, though. The Seattle Times ran a story in late January that included allegations of rape against Stevens when he was a player at the University of Washington. It happened eight years ago and charges were never filed, but he did pay $300,000 to settle a civil suit in the matter. The Seattle story, filled with chilling details, was news to most people around here, but Allen says he knew all about it last year. Well before last year, actually. "We knew in 2000," Allen said. "Every NFL team knew in 2000 before he entered the league." But only one NFL team signed Stevens when he was cut last year by the Seattle Seahawks. He is back here again because no team signed him this offseason. The Bucs may not even need him. They already have Alex Smith and signed Ben Troupe and John Gilmore as free agents. So why, Allen was asked, bring Stevens back? "We feel our character here can help people better themselves. Put them in the right environment, with the right infrastructure, they'll excel," he said. "Last year, Jerramy was a good teammate on and off the field. We did not have any issues with him whatsoever." A lot of folks around this town do have issues with this. It has been the hottest of topics. Interestingly, a lot of people also don't care. Those people say it's the media's fault for making an issue of this. They say the Bucs need him and that's all that matters in their pathetically narrow worlds. Be afraid. Most of these people have a license to drive, and some of them even vote. Stevens met with local reporters who had all sorts of questions about his various problems with the law. It was, as you can imagine, not pleasant. "The most important thing I've learned is that perception is the reality when you deal with someone in the public eye," he said. "Regardless of the person I am, you have to be really guarded about what you do in public and your actions and realize those actions have consequences and are further-reaching than you understand. And I didn't understand some of the consequences when I made those mistakes." Specifics, please. "That's something that's in my past, and that's where I'm going to keep it," he said. "None of this is new. A lot of it is false." False, you say? "I don't think I've ever been involved in anything that is actual that was hurting another person. I'm not going to address allegations or any of those things," he said. "Obviously there is plenty of stuff out there that could be addressed, but I don't feel I need to do that. I've dealt with that and I don't feel like I owe that explanation. I know what I've done and I know what has been alleged and what has actually happened." That's when the thought occurred - is Jerramy Stevens worth all this? Need we even ask? This is the group that signed Darrell Russell and David Boston. Stevens was rising to leave when someone asked him the money question. Why had he paid that $300,000 if he wasn't guilty? He walked away without answering. That's the way it works at Bad Boys Town, where no one answers for anything and the welcome mat is always out. Just don't miss any blocks or drop any passes and everything will be just fine. Joe Henderson, The Tampa Tribune 5 June 2008