Gerald McCoy wants to talk to fans face-to-face to discuss frustrations

ByABC News
September 26, 2017, 10:24 AM

— -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is fed up with fans who hide behind social media to criticize him and his teammates. So McCoy had a message for them Monday: Say it to my face.

Frustrated by what he saw online after the Buccaneers lost 34-17 to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, McCoy discussed the matter with reporters on Monday.

"There's a bunch of people out there that say a lot of terrible things that I know they wouldn't say to our face," he told reporters. "These social media tough guys, I would love to meet them. Just being honest. I probably wouldn't have said this last year, but I'm saying it now: I would love to meet you. I work at One Buccaneer Place if you would like to talk to me. I'm not going to give you my home address, but I'll meet you up here anytime you want to talk about it."

He said the comments made about his teammates bother him more than the ones directed at him.

"I can deal with me," he said. "I get very frustrated when you talk bad about people I care about, which is my teammates."

McCoy made it clear he wasn't making a threat, saying he would "never put my hands on anybody." He said Monday that he tries to stay off social media because the negative comments he sees stick with him.

"I get so frustrated with it. It's not a threat to anybody. [But] the disrespect has to stop," he said. "If you're frustrated, that's fine, but disrespecting us, then you're crossing the line. It's no longer football. Now you're disrespecting us as men. If we disrespected them as a man, they wouldn't like it.

"You calling out my name over a football game? A football game? You serious? It's one game. One. We have 14 more! One game, and you're going to disrespect us like that?"

The Buccaneers (1-1) will host the New York Giants (0-3) on Sunday.