After a brief stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that included controversy over his ''non-football injury'' designation, kicker Lawrence Tynes has been released.
Almost lost in the Bucs' flurry of activity on the opening afternoon of free agency Tuesday was their decision to part ways with Tynes. The 10-year veteran was one of three Bucs players to contract MRSA last season, and he vowed to fight Tampa Bay over its decision to place him on the non-football injury list before the regular season rather than on injured reserve, which would have been an admission of fault by the Bucs for the MRSA condition and allowed Tynes to receive more money.
Shortly after Tynes contracted the infection resistant to most antibiotics, he flew home to Kansas City and received a PICC line inserted into his right arm to fight the infection.
He was signed last July as a replacement for kicker Connor Barth, who tore his Achilles tendon in a charity basketball game and missed the entire season. Of course, Tynes never played for the Bucs, and he vowed action against the franchise. A grievance by the NFLPA was filed on his behalf, as announced in a visit by NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith last October.
Now, Tynes' Bucs career is over, and it will be remembered for what went wrong.
You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.
