As last week dawned, you couldn't blame the Buccaneers, pewter
pants and all, for feeling like the hapless Bucs of old.
Skepticism was running wild after Tampa Bay's 13-7 loss to the
Bears on Nov. 23, and more trouble was looming: games at the
Meadowlands against the Giants and the Jets sandwiched around a
home date with the Super Bowl champion Packers.
But these aren't the same old Bucs. Two days after the debacle
in Chicago, rookie running back Warrick Dunn, who was raised by
a single mother, donated more than $100,000 for down payments on
four furnished homes for single-mother families. The gesture was
a notable one for a member of a franchise that has traditionally
struggled for acceptance in its community. The following day the
organization took a big step to secure its future by signing one
of the league's most underrated players, outside linebacker
Derrick Brooks, to a four-year extension. On Sunday the Bucs
made a statement on the field. They went into a hostile
environment, faced a strong defense and a good running game and
beat the Giants going away, 20-8.
"There was a lot of symbolism in this game, and this week," said
strong safety John Lynch, who in September signed a $1.7
million-a-year extension that will keep him in Tampa through
2000. "We started the week with the same end-of-the-world
attitude around town that always exists when we lose a game we
shouldn't have. But instead of figuring the whole thing's
broken, we knew we'd just hit a bump. We came into Giants
Stadium, a tough place to play, faced turnovers and momentum
swings, and every time things started to turn, we met the
challenge."
Dunn followed his magnanimous gesture early in the week with a
120-yard running day against the Giants, and road-grading
fullback Mike Alstott scored two touchdowns, one on a
soft-handed reception of a Trent Dilfer pass, the other on a
Ping-Pong run. Brooks was everywhere, intercepting a feeble
Danny Kanell pass, deflecting three others and racking up eight
tackles. Tackle Warren Sapp terrorized Kanell with four
pressures, while end Chidi Ahanotu had two sacks. (He has a
team-high 10.)
The Bucs have the pieces in place to win 10 games a year into
the next decade. Only two of Sunday's starters, guard Jim Pyne
and free safety Charles Mincy, are free agents after the season,
and the Bucs are confident they can lock up Sapp, their most
significant player who will be eligible for unrestricted free
agency after the '98 season, by next spring.
Last week, as word spread about Brooks's $3.25 million-a-year
extension, coach Tony Dungy tapped the linebacker on the
shoulder during prepractice stretching exercises. "I'm happy for
you," Dungy said. "We're going to grow old together here."
Old and successful.
Issue date: December 8, 1997
|
|
