After an initial they did what?!!!, the news made you smile. Maybe even chuckle in that special way only justice being done in a most ironic and satisfying manner will make you chuckle.

Yep, the Bucs just showed Keyshawn the damn door.

So what if the defending Super Bowl champs are 4-6 and in danger of missing the playoffs? On Tuesday they at least won back some respect.

Enough is enough.

Tampa wasn't L.A. and Jon Gruden wasn't Bill Parcells. The Bucs playbook wasn't geared toward Keyshawn.

Did anyone ever suggest otherwise?

With Johnson, that never mattered. It seems he had grown unhappy, so nothing else was important. We now learn that Johnson spent much of this season missing team meetings, breaking curfews, telling anyone who listened he absolutely would not return next year to honor his contract, and basically turning his back on all things Buccaneer.

``You finally come to a point where you say, `OK, that's enough.' Now it's time to act,'' General Manager Rich McKay said.

So on Tuesday, the Bucs gave Johnson his wish.

Keyshawn, go long.

``It was made very clear by Key that he viewed this as his last season here and felt he needed to move on,'' McKay said. ``He made that very clear to us.''

Keyshawn is like the guy with a winning lottery ticket in his hand who's complaining about not getting a tax break. With Johnson, it was never a matter of the glass being half empty or half full, just as long as he got the first refill.

What About Me?

For some people, it's never enough. They can lead a 100-instrument orchestra, but they must always be the one-man band. If it's all not about me, then it must be what you think about me.

``When you have a person who is not happy where he is while he's there, the performance is not going to be all it can be,'' Gruden said. ``I've been told he was not thrilled with the offense when he got here. He wasn't thrilled with the offense the year before I got here. And I know he wasn't thrilled with the offense with me calling plays.''

So now we know it was never about ``the ring,'' last year's Super Bowl title that Johnson believed solidified his greatness as an NFL receiver. It was never about team or one for all and all for one. It has always been only about Key, which rhymes with Me.

Odd coming from a receiver upstaged in New York by the great Wayne Chrebet.

``You're trying to compare a flashlight to a star,'' Johnson said a few years ago when talking about his former Jets teammate. ``Flashlights only last so long. A star is in the sky forever.''

Unless, of course, it burns out and falls to earth.

Or is declared inactive.

He'll Be Back - Somewhere

Make no mistake, the NFL has not seen (and certainly not heard) the last of Johnson. He can block, goes over the middle better than most and can take a hit. It's the NFL; if Charles Manson could catch 100 balls a season, somebody would negotiate for his rights.

However, by declaring Johnson inactive, and by all indications preparing to honor a $1 million roster bonus that comes due in April, the Bucs do control the eight-year veteran's future. And for now, that future is to be left to sit. And stew. A result that can only make every man or woman with a job and a boss, stand up and cheer.

``I remember him telling me he did not feel our relationship worked or our styles and philosophies meshed,'' Gruden said. ``All I know is we did everything we could. We have other players here we are going to try to get the ball to as well.''

Not good enough, at least for Johnson, who showed up Tuesday night on television to say his problems had nothing to do with football and all to do with Gruden seeking to keep him down.

``I think it was personal from the time he arrived,'' Johnson said.

Now we know. Gruden's plan all along was to torment Keyshawn for being Keyshawn. That Super Bowl thing was just an accident.