Buccaneers QB Josh Freeman Suffers Slide Bite

There are a lot of important firearms-related stories out there this morning. “The US Supreme Court declined to take up a potentially important gun rights case examining whether a federal regulation banning loaded firearms from vehicles in a government park violated the constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” csmonitor.com reports. “During the height of [Operation Fast and Furious, Deputy Attorney General Gary] Grindler visited the President on four separate occasions in only two weeks,” directorblue.blogspot.com reveals. “His only documented meetings with the president at the White House.”

But all of that pales in comparison to Thumbgate . . .

Struggling Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman needed five stitches in his right thumb following a gun mishap at a local firing range on Halloween night.

The club acknowledged the incident Tuesday in response to questions by The Tampa Tribune. Previously, the Bucs had only confirmed that Freeman sprained his right thumb in the late stages of a 24-18 loss to the Chicago Bears in London on Oct. 23.

Freeman wore a wrap on his injured thumb during the overseas flight when the Bucs returned to Tampa the next day, team spokesman Jonathan Grella said.

But what exactly happened to Freeman out on the gun range? Here’s the best, indeed only, explanation I could find [via profootballtalk.nbcsports.com]: “A gun unexpectedly recoiled on Freeman.”

Don’t you hate it when that happens?

The fact that the 411 on Freeman’s firearms-related injury was kept under wraps—literally—has pissed off a lot of sports bettors. And Freeman’s opponents.

Freeman was not listed on the original Wednesday injury report for that week, but Saints coach Sean Payton complained to the league office about the omission after seeing Freeman being interviewed on NFL Network wearing a wrap around his right thumb.

Freeman has not worn a protective wrap in Tampa Bay’s past two games.

And you thought the inadvertent attack on Pakistan was important.