Garcia was cut from the Eagles last month, weeks after he asked to be released by the Raiders, and while he waits for Tampa Bay to call him again, he is just out giving interviews about how promising young Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell sucks and none of the Raiders wanted to win as much as Jeff Garcia did.

"It was to a point where I felt like guys who walked through those doors that just were there to collect a check and not really interested in putting everything that they had within themselves on to the football field," he said. "And that was the frustrating thing for me to see.

"There were a lot of good young guys in that locker room who really want to do whatever it takes to win, but unfortunately it's not everybody," Garcia added. "In order to compete at this level in this game, everybody needs to be on board."

"Maybe it's because how things have been for a number of years now out there and they just don't see the hope," he said.

Garcia said the idea of spending an entire season in Oakland backing up Russell "broke my heart." After his release from the Buccaneers, Seahawks, Redskins, and the Los Angeles Vikings, Garcia is expected to lead the Calgary Stampeders to the 2013 division semifinals.

News of poor morale in the Raiders locker room should stun observers of that storied franchise. Reached for comment, owner Al Davis said "up, up, and away, in my wicked doom balloon!"

• Tampa Bay has a huge divisional game this afternoon against Atlanta, but they'll be without Jeff Garcia thanks to a bum calf. Brian Griese will get the start for the Bucs who need a win to hold off the 8-5 Falcons. Luke McCown was being considered for the starting role before it was decided that Griese is the significantly less crappy option.

• Frank Gore is out today (oh fuck, I think I have him in my lineup) so DeShaun Foster will get the bulk of the carries for San Francisco.

• Daunte Culpepper is officially out for the Lions, but if you were counting on him for your fantasy team then you probably didn't have much of a chance to begin with. Dan Orlovsky will be the one heaving the ball in the general direction of Calvin Johnson.

• Ced Benson is slotted to start today in Cincinnati against a tough Redskins defense (minus standout rookie Chris Horton), but you should see what he could be doing if he were still in Chicago! Dumbfuck.

• The Tennessee defensive line will be shorthanded because Kyle Vanden Bosch will be out once again this week. The good news is that LenDale White is expected to play in all of his puffy glory.

• Vernon Gholston has been deactivated presumably because he's amassed a staggering 4 solo tackles thus far this season. Seriously, he's been fucking useless. Blame Larry David.

• Adam Schefter is speculating that Sam Bradford could very well be Detroit bound (he's getting all the breaks!) despite the facts that Bradford, a third year sophomore, has yet to announce his future plans. But yes, they do enjoy the occasional Heisman winner, and if for some reason he does go back to school they can just take him number one in 2010. Schefter also reports that Rich McKay could be the man running Detroit's draft. Princeton men like McKay and Bill Ford Jr. always stick together. Shit, they might even start an acapella group or an eating club. Perhaps they could even hire Jason Garrett away from Dallas!

• Here are today's coverage maps for those of us without DirecTV.

Enjoy the games, and I'll be back with some updates at the half.

Yet, here he is, once again, shirtless and scowling, trying to keep the Bucs atop the NFC Winter Vacation division. But to do so, he'll have to get past the Carolina Panthers and their frisky defense and suddenly unstoppable DeAngelo Williams. This will be one of the better MNF games of the year, as you have two first place teams, division rivals, all sorts of playoff implications and, of course, Jeff Garcia's wily quarterbacking skills.

******

TONIGHT: Bucs/Panthers on Monday Night Football.

Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin. Please support Kissing Suzy Kolber and their noble, angry cause.

The NFL season has officially started, so it's time to finish the impassioned season previews from various writers, bloggers, diehard fans, cooks, TV personalities, and numerous other walks of life whom consider football the only sport worth watching. Clearly, these previews will be running until, oh, the first round of the wild card playoffs based on how quickly they've been coming in. So, for the next few days, expect a lot of these. Actually, let's see how many we can get out in one day.

Today: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Your author is Josh Zerkle.

Josh Zerkle is one of the weekend contributors here, and also does his thing on KSK and occasionally for With Leather. He lives in the Palmetto State, home of the most overrated rivalry in all of sports, Clemson vs. South Carolina.

Only recently was I certain of how to spell Buccaneer (that's with two Cs and two Es), which might be all the blinding insight you'd need into a team that you'll probably never talk about, wager on, or even see on TV. But the NFL is one of those sports where if you follow one team, to some degree, you're following every team. So let's brush up on what makes this team relevant, both historically, and today.

—The Bucs had American sport's first openly gay mascot.

Say bonjour to "Bruce," as he was affectionately called when the expansion Bucs began play in 1976. And to ensure that Tampa Bay would be remembered as the Mecca for man-love, their uniforms were Some people called him "faggoty" and "a bad influence on hetero children everywhere," but he was proud! And, sadly, when the Buccaneers updated their uniforms in 1997, poor Bruce suffered a miserable and undeserved fate. Rest in peace, Bruce.

Some speculate that the real reason Tampa Bay changed uniforms was to make way for the league's first openly gay team — the Dallas Cowboys.

—The Buccaneers have a fucking pirate ship in their stadium!

Well, hang on. It's not a REAL pirate ship. It doesn't sail the stormy seas, it partakes in neither raping nor pillaging, and I'm quite certain that no timbers have been shivered to date. But it is 103 feet long, and the fake cannons on board fire when the home team scores. Still, it's not like the Cowboys have a replica of the Alamo in their new digs. That's because the Cowboys are neon-nightclub-flaming gay.

— The Buccaneers have players and coaches with whom you're actually familiar.

They signed head coach Jon Gruden to an extension in the offseason. They signed 362 quarterbacks in 2007, but all of them combined were still cheaper than Donovan McNabb. Out of that fray emerged Jeff Garcia, who completed 64% of his passes in the 13 games that he played.

And anyone playing fantasy football this year is by now familiar with the meteoric rise of Earnest Graham last season, with his 10 TDs in a 13-game span. Graham restructured his deal so that he received $1 million just for getting into camp. Oh, and his 2008 salary is guaranteed. Dexter Jackson, one of those speed demons coming out of Appalachian State, was taken by the Bucs in the second round of the draft, and he expects to contribute on offense and special teams right away.

—The Bucs won their division last year; they're good!

They did shit the bed at home against the Giants in the wild card round last year. But, as you know, that Giants team ran the table for their third Super Bowl victory just weeks later. The meat and potatoes of this team has returned for 2008 (plus they got rid of Chris Simms! Fist pump!) and they'll look to repeat as division winners in a relatively weak NFC South.

For many decades now, the state of Florida has been a haven for retirees looking to escape the unpleasant changing of seasons in the northern states. If you're a fan of one of the 29 teams that aren't located in the Sunshine State, or one of the other two that are, give this team some consideration for you time and attention.

Or you can watch the Dallas Cowboys up until they buttfuck themselves out of the playoffs in January. Your call.

“[I'm] going to choke it to death until somebody pulls my grip off of it," Garcia told the assembled beat writers at his first day of training camp. He sounds serious. " If (Favre) comes in, as much as the accolades are huge on that side, I’m the starting quarterback, and it’s going to be a battle."

You kind of feel bad for Garcia, who, barring a couple bad seasons here or there (and Detroit purgatory), has always produced at this level, but still has to prove himself every season. Not only is he looking for a new contract from Tampa Bay, Garcia is also battling about 24 other quarterbacks at camp this year in addition to the threat of a Favre arrival.

But he's undeterred. And he knows that Jon Gruden is an unabashed quarterback whore, so he deals. “He loves quarterbacks. But he likes to just date. He doesn’t like to marry, " Garcia said at the press conference.

Jeff Garcia: perennial bridesmaid.

"Choke It To Death" [Atop The Crow's Nest]

The Bucs yesterday continued to corner the market on middling QBs. With Chris Simms and Bruce Gradkowski already in the mix, they signed Jeff Garcia and traded for Jake Plummer. That's going to leave one of those gentlemen in the pitiable position of being cut in favor of whatever three guys they decide to keep. I don't know if the Bucs are any better today than they were two days ago, but they've certainly upped the number of different ways in which they can lose.

Much of yesterday/today's free agent money was spent on linemen. The Chargers kept Kris Dielman, the Bengals' Eric Steinbach jumped to Cleveland, and ESPN says that Dallas is coming to terms with Leonard Davis. All of these deals, by the way, are going to equal or exceed the deal that Seattle refused to give guard Steve Hutchinson last year. What seemed like a ridiculous deal just a year ago can be had by any old starting guard this year. Go figure.

Drew Bennett was signed to a big deal by the Rams, who feel like they need more help at receiver, instead of a frivolous luxury like, oh, I dunno... defense. Travis Henry was released by the Titans. They owed him $8.3 million if he stuck around. Word is that he's talking to Denver. The Lions signed pass-rushing defensive end DeWayne White to a 5-year, $29 million deal, despite the fact that he's started five games in three years. Andre Johnson re-upped with the Texans, Terry Glenn's sticking with the Cowboys, and the Patriots are expected to sign Wes Welker to an offer sheet.

Free Agency Roundup [FOXSports.com]

As Garcia Mania continues to sweep the greater Philadelphia area — if just because "Westbrook Mania" doesn't have the same indelible linguistic flow — we point out to you the spoils of quarterbacking an NFL team that is the company in a company town: Incredibly awkward local television commercials! (Thanks to The 700 Level for the finding.)

As for the game yesterday, for a matchup of two teams in the supposedly inferior conference, it was incredibly well-played — both the NFC games were decidedly more entertaining than their AFC counterparts this weekend — and even allowed the losers to come away with their dignity intact. (We would have not expected Eli Manning's stock to come out of the weekend higher than Tony Romo's ... but we'll get into that in a bit.) Mostly, though, we'll remember Tiki Barber after the game, with a shit-eating "what, you think I'm gonna miss getting pummeled into the ground every Sunday and then having to talk to you people afterwards?" grin. Being a football player is considerably less fun than we think it is, and we admire a guy who admit it, and gets the hell out while he can still walk.

Jeff Garcia Mania! [The 700 Level]