Not done yet

Lomas Brown puts off retirement to help Gruden's Bucs

This is the 10th in a series of postcards Sports Illustrated's Peter King will e-mail from his annual NFL training camp tour.

Friday, Aug. 2

Team: Tampa Bay Bucs

At Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., new site of the Bucs’ training camp. There are some odd camps, like the Cowboy camp in the Alamodome (too loud and distraction-filled), but this is strange from another perspective. Have you been to the Disney wide World of Sports, maybe for a Braves’ exhibition game or with your kids on a side trip to Disney? Well, this was the scene Friday: On the way to the Buc practice fields for the morning workout, I passed high school softball players in town for a tournament on the softball fields, baseball players doing the same, and even basketball players; there’s an AAU boys tournament with teams from all over the country in the gymnasium complex that houses the Buc locker room. While waiting for Warren Sapp to shower, I watched Portland (Ore.) versus Jacksonville (Fla.) for five minutes. Nice offensive rebounding by that Portland club. The Bucs hope to smooth out the wrinkles and make this their home, in part to lure more of the Orlando market an hour west to watch them play on Sundays.

1. I think Keenan McCardell made the best catch I’ve seen in 12 days on the circuit, full-out diving for a deep cross across the middle from Rob Johnson. Caught it on the fingertips and gathered it in, hitting the ground hard. About a 30-yard gain. Wow.

2. I think what I like so much about McCardell showed afterward. He was dripping wet from the 90-degree heat and 96-percent humidity after the 130-minute workout. Literally. The sweat was coming, two drips a second, off his elbow, for the 10 or 15 minutes he talked with reporters, a tribute to the work he just put in. Asked about the best catch I’d see in two weeks, he shrugged. Benn there, done that. “That’s just a catch you’ve got to make," he said. He should know. He’s got 579 of them. Heck of a career for a guy most fans think of as an afterthought receiver. He’s a worker bee and a heck of hard-trying team guy. He’s going to fit perfectly here.

3. I think Jon Gruden is going to shake up this offensive line, which is probably justified. He’s very high on center Jeff Christy and guard Kerry Jenkins, the free-agent import from the Jets. He’s trying Roman Oben, the perennial disappointment from the Giants and Browns, at left tackle and the underachieving ‘01 first-round pick Kenyatta Walker on the right side. His insurance policy, Lomas Brown, looks frisky, and may just win one of the tackle jobs if Gruden thinks he’s better than the other guys.

4. I think most of Buc Nation thinks it’s a matter of time before Rob bests Brad in the battle of quarterbacking Johnsons.

5. I think I’ve been to Orlando 53 times or so over the years and still have no idea how to find my way around.

Ryan Nece, an undrafted undersized (6-3, 224) free-agent linebacker from UCLA, has been cracking heads consistently early in camp. That’s no wonder. He’s Ronnie Lott’s son. Might be a special-teams keeper if he keeps playing every play like it’s his last.

Running the ball was a disgrace last year. Tampa ranked 30th in the NFL in rushing yards, averaging a pathetic 3.4 yards per rush in the process. It’s mind-boggling, considering the Dunn/Alstott combination. Tampa will try to bust Michael Pittman up the gut some, assuming the patchwork line comes together better than it did a year ago. Pittman’s been bugged by a bum ankle early in camp, but he practiced this morning and looked good.

The Bucs have: