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Bucs
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 11, 2003
Before you decide to run to the store like Derrick Brooks with the ball under his arm, there is something you want to know.
Before you make up your mind to wade through the crowd like Warren Sapp in the trenches, before you grab onto the product like Joe Jurevicius reaching for a pass, before you close the deal like Mike Alstott at the goal line, you want to have a couple of questions answered regarding the Super Bowl XXXVII Champions DVD.
Yes, the Bucs win it.
Again.
Yes, you should buy the DVD.
Twice, maybe.
Around here, where people care a lot more about Jon Gruden's ring finger than they do about Roger Ebert's thumb, this is bound to be the movie hit of the season. It has action. It has drama. When you imagine Al Davis watching it, it has comedy.
In all seriousness, the folks at NFL Films have outdone themselves. In only 16 days, they have produced a highlight film that is as close as most fans are going to get to touching the trophy. Think about it. We have photographic evidence of the Bucs' championship. All in all, you'd rather see it than Daredevil.
This is an impressive piece of work, one that takes fans to places they can't normally go and shows things they can't normally see. That has always been the power of NFL Films. For guys carrying large cameras, they get through a lot of doors. Because of the amazing access, they can show you amazing things.
Gruden, the star of the season, also is the star of the DVD, what with his contorted face, his alarm-clock voice and those plays that take longer to call than Hamlet's soliloquy. Watch, and you get a sense of how he burrowed under the skin and into the skull of his locker room.
One second, he's in the middle of coaching the Super Bowl, the biggest game of his life. The next, while the game is still going on, he's talking to Kenyatta Walker about the future. Or he's smoothing things out with Keyshawn Johnson, or he's warning the officials he's going to go ballistic if a call is overturned. (It is, he does).
Oh, there are good non-Gruden moments, too. There is the Cincinnati game, when Johnson was miked, and the result is hilarious. "You're killing ya'll!" Johnson tells a Bengals player. There is Brooks, looking at an Eagles defender after a regular-season loss, saying, "We'll be back."
Mostly, though, there is the Super Bowl, when both John Lynch and Gruden are miked. Watching the DVD, it's as if you're standing between the two, between the sound and the fury, and you can feel their energy.
No, the DVD isn't perfect.
For one thing, it opens in the finale of 2001 season, when the Bucs lost to the Eagles, and progresses chronologically. It might have been nice to tease with a little Super Bowl footage from the beginning. Face it: By now, the ending isn't a surprise.
I'd also have liked to have seen a little more made of the Bucs as they are now and the orange comedy troupe that used to dress in the same room. Face it: Talking about the Bucs title without talking about how far they've come is like talking about Cinderella without mentioning she used to do the dishes.
If anyone could give that perspective, it should be NFL Films, which must have a wing dedicated to the old Bucs.
"Our original plan was to include some of the past pieces we've produced on the Bucs and the ineptitude of the '70s (through) the '90s," said producer David Plaut, who has been involved the past 18 championship videos. "We did a piece on Bruce the Buccaneer, the Errol Flynn-looking mascot, that was nominated for an Emmy. But Warner Brothers felt we should concentrate on the Super Bowl season instead.
"There is a chance of another production that would tie in the history of the Bucs. I don't want to speak too soon; another DVD could be released."
The biggest problem with the DVD is that, though it measures the moment, it falls short of capturing the varied personalities that made up this team. I would have liked to have seen a featurette on Brooks, the defensive player of the year, or Brad Johnson, the team MVP. I would have liked to have heard Rich McKay's voice commenting over old highlights of his father John.
It would have been nice, too, if NFL Films had backed up a bit to capture some of the silliness of San Diego's Gas Lamp district, the gathering place for fans who dress funny, during Super Bowl week. Or if it could have followed the Bucs home to the jammed stadium and the parade. Certainly, it would have been better than the ghastly "Week That Was" featurette, the worst of the special features.
Don't listen for John Madden's voice, either. Because of broadcast rights and talent fees, the voices come from the radio teams involved. "Gene Deckerhoff is the gold standard," Plaut said.
Again, most of this is nitpicking. People in Tampa Bay know. Around here, we have seen some bad highlight films.
Somewhere, in the recesses of a messy desk, I have the 1992 Bucs highlight film. It has never been opened. In a closet at home, I have the 1996 highlight film. The kids watched that. Once. Most years, those weren't highlight films as much as they were promises that the next season wouldn't be as bad. You couldn't bear to look.
This DVD, on the other hand, you will watch. Let's face it: By June, they might be showing it between innings at Rays games.
As far as the other things you might have wanted included, who knows? Maybe in a couple months, there will be an extended version.
Don't they always do that with these Lord of the Rings movies?