It is an issue Bucs fans remember well, a chapter in the franchise’s storied history of bumbling. The story makes Bucs fans ill just thinking about it.

It was 1986, following the Leeman Bennett-led 2-14 season, which Bucs coach Lovie Smith just matched for futility. Like 28 years ago, the Bucs won the first overall pick in the draft.

Tampa Bay had its sights set on the best player available. That would have been Bo Jackson, the exhilarating running back from Auburn.

But to hear Jackson later tell it, it was a set up by then miserly Bucs owner Hugh Culverhouse, who purposely hatched a scheme to wreck Jackson’s baseball aspirations.

(Jackson was flown into Tampa by Culverhouse who, per Jackson, had the trip cleared with the NCAA. Jackson was still playing baseball for Auburn. But the trip, in fact, violated NCAA rules and Jackson lost his baseball eligibility.)

Jackson was so enraged that he told the Bucs if he was drafted by them, then he would never sign. Culverhouse, ignoring Jackson’s words, still drafted Jackson, who took his baseball talents to Kansas City.

Jackson never wore a Bucs uniform.

Joe never thought that would happen here again with the Bucs on the cusp of drafting a needed quarterback in Aprial. But in a hilarious diatribe of a letter to Bucs-uniform-frowning, Allie-LaForce-smitten, Big-Ten-Network-hating, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading, NPR-listening, filthy-hotel-staying, fight-instigating, barista-training Peter King and theMMQB.com, a letter that was also laced with the truth, a man from Oregon suggested Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota should pull an Eli Manning and give Bucs coach Lovie Smith the finger because of Lovie’s documented history of offensive offenses.

FORCED DRAFT-DAY TRADE? When Eli Manning refused to sign with the Chargers and forced a draft-day trade, I thought it was an unnecessary move. However, we now have a situation where I believe Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston should absolutely refuse to play for the Bucs. More specifically, I would refuse to play for Lovie Smith if I was either one of them. In his 10 seasons as a head coach, Lovie has demonstrated a stunning lack of understanding of offensive football and the quarterback position. I would be surprised if he did not ruin the quarterback he drafts within two years. That leads me to two questions: do you think either one of these QBs would refuse to play for Lovie? And if you were in the position to counsel them, would you recommend they hold out and force a trade if drafted by the Bucs? —Jared, Portland, Ore. I wouldn’t be as concerned about Lovie Smith being the head coach as I would be with knowing who the coordinator and quarterbacks coach will be. The Bucs are in the market for a new offensive coordinator after the departure of Jeff Teford earlier this month. Smith is not a guy who’s particularly hands on with his quarterback, and so I don’t view the influence of Smith as the most important element in whether a quarterback succeeds or not. The Bucs offense stunk this year for several reasons, and I don’t think a primary one was because Lovie Smith was the head coach. Tampa was without the ailing Tedford, who was the only experienced offensive hand on the staff in terms of calling plays and creating an offensive structure. (Tedford had a heart ailment that limited his participation in team activities for most of the season.) An assistant ill-suited to be Tampa Bay offensive coordinator this year, Marcus Arroyo, was the biggest reason for the poor offense, followed by poor quarterback play most of the year, and a leaky offensive line. I also think you have to remember that very seldom does a franchise quarterback entering the draft go to a good team. If I were Mariota, I’d actually want to go to Tampa with a relatively small media presence and its offensive weapons (Vincent Jackson, Mike Evans, Austin Sefarian-Jenkins).

Well, at least Joe has a new nickname to work with, “ill-suited” Marcus Arroyo.

Joe never considered the Bucs could have another Jackson moment on their hands, but what the letter-writer spelled out makes all the sense in the world. And as King states, that is why the offensive coordinator hire is so, so critical.

If the Bucs hire Mike Tice — which Joe fears could happen — the agents for Winston and Mariota would have every right to tell their clients not to put pen to paper with the Bucs.

The ghost of Bo Jackson lives.