Count Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano as one who thinks there’s some middle ground between harmless rookie initiations and unfair hazing.
According to the Tampa Tribune, Schiano said he’s OK with veteran players carrying out rookie initiation rituals, but he insists that rookies be treated with respect.
“My thing is you don’t cross the line,” Schiano said. “That’s a man, you’re a man; so let’s make sure we don’t cross the line. I don’t get into, don’t do this, do this, don’t do this. When you start having a thousand different things, you run out of time before you can define all of them. So, I think the Golden Rule is one that you live by. Treat others the way you want to be treated, and I think our guys have been good about that.”
So what constitutes a rookie initiation that doesn’t cross the line? Rookie quarterback Mike Glennon says he was told to sing in front of the team in training camp.
“I sang ‘Build Me Up Buttercup,’” said Glennon, who is apparently a fan of There’s Something About Mary. “It was just me, no one else, and that was a song that I thought everyone would know and would sing along with. When people started clapping and singing along, I figured that was a good sign.”
Glennon described it as “pure and innocent,” an indication that while there may be many problems in the Bucs’ locker room, rookie hazing is not one of them.