TAMPA, Fla. -- It's no secret that Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Chris "Swaggy" Baker is one confident man and will do just about anything for a laugh from teammates.
On the third episode of "Hard Knocks" that aired Tuesday night, Baker was caught dancing suggestively on a palm tree outside the team hotel in Jacksonville.
"We locked eyes and we kind of fell in love with each other as soon as we saw each other and one thing led to the next," said Baker. "The palm tree started talking into my ear and I just started dancing on it."
How did he think his performance was received by the masses?
"[That's] great hippage," said Baker, who began to dance once again. "You have to have great hips to be a defensive lineman."
Tight end Cameron Brate wasn't sure how to receive Baker's dance moves when he first arrived from Washington. And he's still not sure what he was doing with that palm tree.
"I thought I was a bad dancer before I saw that, and that kind of gave me more confidence because I actually think I'm a little better than Chris," Brate said. "So maybe I'm actually an all right dancer."
Baker thinks a bit more highly of his dance moves. And he thinks teammates think a bit more highly of them too, even if Brate doesn't.
"They think I'm the best dancer on the team," Baker said. "[Defensive tackle] Gerald [McCoy] can dance and [running back] Doug [Martin] -- he breakdances and does his stuff.
"They talk a lot of trash to me but none of them can dance better than me," Baker said. "I can probably 'Milly Rock' the best on the team."
As Baker began to demonstrate his Milly Rock, stepping backwards and swaying from side to side while moving his arms in various directions, McCoy tried to get him to stop. Baker's been fighting some strep throat (it is not known whether the palm tree was responsible).
"Hey, hey, you're sick," McCoy shouted. "Zero reps. Zero. Zero!"
Baker laughed, shouting back, "Stop. Stop. This is my Milly Rock."
"I'm confident. I'm probably the most handsome guy on the team. They just don't know it yet."
Brate wasn't so sure about that.
"He's top 90," Brate said, fully aware that training camp rosters consist of 90 players. "He's definitely top 90 for sure. I won't say where."
That trash talk, which is all in good fun, is the same type of trash talk Baker gives his teammates on a regular basis, like when Roberto Aguayo and Nick Folk were competing for the kicking job. Baker would do everything in his power to try and distract the two.
Baker also does it to opponents. You could hear it on "Hard Knocks" when he was going back and forth with the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line and then with Jags fans.
When defensive end Noah Spence blew by Jaguars offensive guard Jeremiah Poutasi in one-on-ones, Baker shouted, "Somebody call a stretcher."
He then told the fans, "Y'all are crazy. We're out here destroying y'all. You have got to be the angriest fans in the world 'cause every year y'all gonna get at least three wins."
"You've gotta have a little bit of fun," Baker said. "I've always been a trash-talker since I was little, growing up in Hartford, Connecticut, and playing basketball, you had to be a little bit of a trash-talker, so I'm pretty good at it."
