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Former Bucs Sideline Reporter T.J. Rives Speaks Out August 26th, 2026A lot of Bucs fans are wondering, now that the Bucs have played a couple of worthless preseason games, what happened to the team’s former sideline reporter T.J. Rives. Well, Rives, who was a finalist for the Bucs’ radio play-by-play gig that eventually went to Tony Castricone in the wake of long-time Bucs voice Gene Deckerhoff retiring, surfaced this week to explain why he’s no longer with the Bucs. Simply put, Rives is puzzled why he did not get to succeed Deckerhoff. He says he left the Bucs because he thought it was the proper thing to do for all parties. And, Rives said, he wanted to keep his options open in case another play-by-play job opened up, whether that is an NFL gig or college football. Rives is adamant he left the Bucs without any rancor, but while discussing not succeeding Deckerhoff, Rives did come across a bit frustrated. After all, Rives put in years working in a secondary role as a sideline reporter in hopes of someday being the Bucs’ radio voice. So why speak now (he appeared on the “J.P. Peterson Show”) when he had months to talk, Rives was asked by Peterson. “There needs to be awareness that I am not there. … And the why,” Rives said. Rives said fans still ask him if he is working Bucs radio broadcasts and why he didn’t get Deckerhoff’s job. This, he said, motivated him to come out of the shadows. “I could sit here for an hour and tell you the entire truth,” Rives said. “I don’t need to tell you the entire truth because you are going to get the truth out of the picture that I tell. “Just know there is a full truth that doesn’t have to be aired out publicly.” Rives noted he worked with the Bucs for 20 some years because he knew Deckerhoff would retire, someday. At age 80 last season, Deckerhoff finally packed up his headset. So Rives very much had Deckerhoff’s seat circled for many years. Rives stated he could have been an NFL play-by-play man 15 years ago but he coveted Deckerhoff’s seat and wanted to work in his hometown and passed on the opportunity. Tampa is his home, he said, and he wanted Deckerhoff’s job. “There was no formal agreement,” Rives said, referring to whether he was promised Deckerhoff’s gig. (Rives didn’t mention anything about an informal agreement, either.) But Rives added it is “fantasyland” if the Bucs ever suggest they didn’t know he wanted to replace Deckerhoff. “Obviously I wanted the job,” Rives said. Deckerhoff had told his colleagues on the road trip to Miami last season, which included Rives, he was throwing in the towel on his spectacular career once the Bucs’ season ended. Rives waited for the Bucs to interview him. February came and went. And then into March. Rives said the Bucs told him twice, “Sit tight,” that the interview process was about to start. “The more truth I tell, the worse it gets,” Rives said. “As March becomes April, and now [the Bucs] have hired a consultant and I am told, ‘You need to talk to the consultant.’ In another market. Who has no idea who I am. “And I’m on the phone with the consultant who three minutes into this says, ‘You are the ideal type candidate they are looking for.’ No kidding.” Rives suggested that after speaking to the consultant the Bucs hired to find Deckerhoff’s replacement, it seemed like a dead end. “I really believe, and I guess this is wrong and this is naïve, I really believed once I and the others had talked to the consultant, the process would escalate at that point. And then they would look to make the hire. “That did not happen in April.” As the process dragged into May and Rives learned the Bucs were holding auditions — which did not include him — Rives said he had family members tell him, “This is not good. You gotta find something else.” Rives said when he returned from a family cruise in mid-June, he learned Castricone was hired. Joe has to be fair to Rives and the Bucs here. Why would Rives need to audition? And why would the Bucs have him audition? The Bucs have tape of him calling real Bucs games live, working alongside Dave Moore, on a live broadcast. Deckerhoff missed games here or there and Rives pinch hit admirably with maybe just hours to prepare, which is tough. Rives did say the Bucs invited him to keep his old job as sideline reporter, but he chose to leave not out of spite or any ill will, but because he wants to do play-by-play. If that means for another NFL team, then that means he would leave the market. “It needed to be a clean break, he said. Rives was also very direct about having zero hard feelings for Castricone, whom he said he has never met nor spoken to. Rives wants Castricone to be the best he can be for the Bucs and Bucs fans. Rives says he has been humbled by the supportive feedback from “hundreds” of Bucs fan since the team made its choice. “I can’t respond individually to everyone,” Rives said. Peterson tried to get Rives to speak freely about the Bucs with inside stories. Rives wouldn’t take the bait because, he said, if the feedback was positive, people would dismiss it as Rives trying to kiss up to the Bucs to get a job. Or, if Rives’ stories were viewed as negative, people would dismiss him as having sour grapes and having an ax to grind. Castricone is a full-time Bucs employee, and perhaps that affected Rives candidacy for the play-by-play gig. Rives is a freelance broadcaster with his hands in a lot of things, including play-by-play of college football, college basketball and boxing as well as various podcasts. Rives also hosts the Big XII’s in-house Saturday morning football pregame show. If the following helps clear things up for fans, so be it: Roughly a few days prior to the Bucs announcing Castricone would succeed Deckerhoff, Joe received a text from an acquaintance who is one of the premier national sports media writers in the business and a friend. This source told Joe the Bucs were down to Castricone and Rives and it was a toss-up. So it appears that not getting an audition was not some dealbreaker for Rives. The Bucs have auditioned a pair of candidates for Rives’ old job as radio sideline reporter. Each has worked a preseason game this summer. Former WDAE-AM 620 host and current local podcaster Jay Recher is one candidate. The other is former Tampa Bay Times multimedia producer and former Tampa Bay Lightning reporter Rachel West. Joe’s guessing one of the two will begin work Week 1 at Cincinnati. Earlier Tuesday, I appeared with my 30 year friend @JPPetersonshow to discuss why I have left my role with the #GoBucs after 21 years due to being passed over for the radio play by play job. WATCH a portion of the comments here (see link in the comments for the full 25 minutes… pic.twitter.com/ddh6fbeasY — TJ Rives (@ItsTJRives) August 26, 2026