The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got their sixth win of the season in a 26-23 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
With that win, the Buccaneers now have the same record as the NFC South leading Atlanta Falcons and are just one spot back in the NFC Wild Card race.
As exciting as the win was, and as important as it was for Tampa Bay, the real fireworks didn't start until after the overtime game had come to an end when one of the Panthers' team captains wasn't satisfied with the results on the field.
After the game, Panthers special teams captain Sam Franklin Jr. was caught on video trying to get into the Bucs' locker room calling out linebacker Jose Ramirez while needing to be restrained.
While it would appear from the game film that the anger was likely over trash-talk and Franklin not being able to take as much as he could dish, the Carolina captain did take a moment on Wednesday to issue the standard post-temper tantrum apology.
"We're all professional athletes, that kind of stuff isn't accepted in the NFL," Franklin said in a follow-up video posted by Sheena Quick. "Regardless of what happened on the field we gotta keep those things in between the lines and it can't spill out into the locker room or afterward, so I'd just like to apologize to the organization, my teammates, and anyone else around the league because that's not how we want to view ourselves as professional athletes."
Franklin was involved in an unnecessary roughness penalty called on himself following the kickoff after the Panthers had taken a three-point lead at the end of the first half. He was flagged for pushing Ramirez and the two were later seen exchanging words following another kickoff play.
Toward the end of the contest, after a missed Tampa Bay field goal try in the fourth quarter, Franklin turned and celebrated toward the opposing sideline, the same side he was closest when the eventual game-winning kick was made in overtime. We can only imagine there might have been some words sent in Franklin's direction from that sideline at that moment, and perhaps a friendly wave good-bye.
Regardless, Panthers coach Dave Canales says he also spoke to his team captain about his undesireable behavior.
“Just know that we talked about it,” Canales said according to PanthersWire. “He and I sat down this morning and just had that conversation. He’ll be the first to tell you that he shouldn’t do that, that it was a mistake.
“And we talked about just wanting to have passion, wanting to have edge and knowing where to tow that edge. And then come back to us, celebrate with us, talk to our teammates, keep our energy going on our side. We don’t have to give the opponent anything and that’s one of those things, too.”
