Tuck's Takes: Super Bowl serves as tough reminder for most players

Linebacker Takeo Spikes has played 11 years in the NFL and never made the playoffs. Icon SMI Ross Tucker's Mailbag Ross Tucker will answer your questions every Friday in his mailbag. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Ross Tucker on Twitter

The greatest spectacle in American sports, the Super Bowl, also represents the greatest disappointment for most NFL players. A lot of excellent pros have never even played in the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl. Think of guys like San Francisco's Takeo Spikes and Buffalo's Aaron Schobel, just to name a couple. In fact, there are players for teams like the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals for whom the Super Bowl is like a forbidden fruit that they feel is virtually unattainable. (Oops: Scratch the Cardinals from that list. Bad habit.)

As I have written a number of times, the NFL is first and foremost an occupation; players compete primarily for the income. The second greatest motivating factor, however, is the thought that maybe, just maybe, they will get to play in a Super Bowl. Just being a part of it one time is an honor that stands the test of time.

The reality, however, is an overwhelming portion of NFL players never get to have that honor bestowed upon them, and thus this week serves to remind them of what could have been but never was. Ask most retired NFL players what their biggest disappointment was, and the top response will be I never got to play in a Super Bowl.

I went out to San Diego for the week leading up to Super Bowl XXXVII but did not go to the game, even though all NFL players have the ability to purchase two tickets at face value every year. Like most players, I never went to the game because I wanted my first experience to be running out of the tunnel, not sitting in the stands. That never happened. I thought I was going to get my chance when I signed with the New England Patriots in 2005 as they were heading towards their third straight Super Bowl, but we lost to the Denver Broncos.

Many players head to the Super Bowl city to make personal appearances and attend the many parties leading up to the game. They often fly back home before the ball is even kicked. The game itself can be difficult for current players to watch. It is not easy to watch your peers experience a dream come true that you potentially are so far away from, depending on your team or likely career path. My experience and conversations with players tell me that most veterans decide to play one more year as much for the possibility of playing in the Super Bowl as they do for the salary and benefits.

For former players, it can be worse. The reminder that you will never get that opportunity rears its ugly head every year as the game begins. I am not asking you to feel sorry for these guys. I am just trying to impart what this week and Sunday's game are like for them.

Most boys grow up dreaming of playing in the Super Bowl. Most boys, however, do not have what it takes to make it in the NFL. They don't go toe to toe in practice or games against those lucky few that make it to the league. Watching a colleague play for the ring is much more painful then watching some guys you have only read about and watched on TV play in the Super Bowl.

Spicy Peppers

The recent comments from Julius Peppers and his agent, Carl Carey, concerning his desire to leave the Carolina Panthers still bother me immensely, and they are over a week old. The news is fresh given that every critical member of the 2008 Panthers' defensive coaching staff has now officially landed elsewhere. That means there will be, at a minimum, a significant retooling on that side of the ball for a team that finished 12-4 and was picked by many to get to the Super Bowl.

I certainly hope the puzzling comments from Peppers and Carey had nothing to do with the mass exodus, which included Mike Trgovac, Sal Sunseri and Tim Lewis. I had never heard of Carey, and based on his handling of the Pepper's situation thus far, I think I understand why.

Peppers is from North Carolina. He played football and basketball for the Tar Heels and was selected second overall in 2002. He has been compensated extremely well during his tenure in Carolina. Yet Peppers and his agent are not happy. They have publicly stated that he wants to leave so he can play in a system that "maximizes his abilities." They have referenced the fact that he would be open to play for a 3-4 team.

This, to me, has everything to do with money and nothing to do with the style of defense in Carolina. Hence the need to include all the 3-4 teams as possibilities. It gives them more potential suitors. But if it is about money, why eliminate the hometown team desperate to keep him in the fold? He would have more leverage among if the Panthers were actively in on the negotiations. My guess is that Peppers' camp is weary of having the franchise tag placed on him by the Panthers, so they chose to fire a pre-emptive strike. The tag would only be about $17 million and would preclude him from getting a long-term deal with significantly more guaranteed money.

Their claim about wanting a system that would maximize his abilities is completely unfounded. I watched one game against Oakland where they lined Peppers up over a different Raiders offensive lineman on seemingly every play and he thoroughly dominated the game. I mean, the guy had a career year this season with 14.5 sacks. To be fair, the Panthers don't have a very good complementary rusher to Peppers, but that would be a far different claim than the one he is making.

I certainly hope Peppers and Carey get whatever it is they are looking for. I just wonder if it's worth alienating his home state and the Panthers in the process.