Bucs

QB's story continues or ends tonight

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© St. Petersburg Times
published December 23, 2002

TAMPA -- This is where our story began.

Perhaps, too, where it may end.

A Monday night in December. A team streaking toward the playoffs. The kid from down the street hoping for a chance to leave his mark.

Three years ago, Shaun King made his first start for the Buccaneers on a Monday night against the Vikings late in the season. It seemed a night of possibilities, and they were all shiny and bright.

Tonight, he may reappear for another Monday game late in the season against the Steelers. If so, it could be a night for memories and farewells.

In a matter of weeks, the quarterback will be a free agent. His options will be obvious yet, in no way, simple.

Stay at home? He could do that. Make a pretty nice wage. Be close to his family and the friends he grew up with in St. Petersburg. Continue to be Brad Johnson's backup for heaven knows how long.

Find himself a new team? He could do that. Probably earn a nice raise. Choose a place where he is nearly assured a starting job. Perhaps find himself in one of those hopeless situations with a team that never wins.

If the choices have become a burden in his life, King hides it well. For all outward appearances, he neither anticipates nor dreads the decision.

"It's hard enough worrying about the evening. I can't worry about the morning too," King said. "If I let myself think about what's going to happen down the road, I'd never get any sleep."

At the end of Friday's practice, King sat with Jon Gruden on the back porch of One Buc Place. Five minutes passed. Then 10, then 15. The Bucs coach had a marker in one hand and play sheets in the other. Sometimes he would refer to the papers in his hand, but mostly he talked softly as King listened.

There still is much to learn about where King fits in with Gruden's Bucs. Rob Johnson was this season's experiment. Brad Johnson was the reliable incumbent. King, for the most part, has been along for the ride.

For that reason, along with all the obvious playoff implications, tonight's game could be an important first date in the Gruden-King relationship.

Should he play, King will have his first real opportunity to make an impression on Gruden. There have been preseason games, but those are a tease. There are the videotapes of King's 24 starts from 1999-2000, but those are ancient history to a new coach.

Gruden has watched his quarterback in dozens of practices, but he never has seen the real Shaun King. Not in any way that matters.

King, much like Brad Johnson, never will make heads turn when the bleachers are empty. It is neither the strength of his arm nor the swiftness of his feet that impress you.

What he does best is make things happen. Not all the time, but often when a team needs it most. There is a deftness to his passes, and his demeanor too. He is rarely cocky but always confident.

In a league that judges quarterbacks by their success on the scoreboard, King has fared better than most. The Bucs have won 14 of his 21 regular-season starts and reached the playoffs both seasons he was in charge.

"I've had success in the past, but that doesn't mean anything now," King said. "Look around the league: You've got guys who were marquee names one year and gone the next. They forget about you real fast. So you have to prove yourself over and over again, every year."

This is when you remind yourself that maybe King has grown. There is, after all, a reason he no longer is in charge of the offense.

The Bucs were not overwhelmed by his progress from the first year to the next. His weight had become an issue, maybe his commitment too.

The team was too close to the Super Bowl to let the opportunity pass, so the Bucs spent heavily to bring Brad Johnson to town. King has since been little more than ornamentation. Johnson stepped in front of him in 2001 and Rob Johnson briefly cut in line this season.

So what's to keep King from bailing in the offseason?

The Bucs convincing him otherwise.

Tampa Bay cannot realistically offer King a shot at the starting job next season -- or even in 2004 -- with Brad Johnson playing like an MVP.

And if another team is smitten with King, the Bucs could not afford to go too high in a bidding war for an understudy.

But the Bucs could remind King that, at 25, a long future remains before him. He could spend the next two years working behind Johnson and still have 10 seasons left in the league.

The Bucs might also try to convince him that a starting job in a place like Cincinnati or Arizona might do his career more harm than good.

This is all part of the intrigue of tonight's game.

If King does step into the lineup because of Brad Johnson's ailing back, it will be Gruden's opportunity to see King in his element. It also will give King a better feel for how he fits in Gruden's offense.

Whether he starts or sits, the possibility remains this is his last regular-season game at Raymond James Stadium.

He says it won't be emotional. Says he hasn't really thought about it and has no plans to commemorate it in any way.

Perhaps that is best. The game is too important and his decision for 2003 has not been made.

Even so, you might take a moment to consider King tonight.

And, if you are so inclined, wish him well.