Rookie gets a hand and provides a laugh

LAKE BUENA VISTA - Rookie defensive tackle Dewayne White was fit to be tied at his first practice.

Warren Sapp did the honors.

Frustrated during a pass-rush drill, White yanked his No.70 jersey over his head and threw it on the ground. Sapp, incredulous, threw his hands up, looked to his teammates and declared, "I've seen it all." After rolling on the ground with laughter, Sapp approached the second-round draft pick.

"Why did you take your shirt off?" Sapp said.

"It's too big,' Smith said.

"Ain't you been wearing it all day?"

White complained offensive linemen were grabbing his jersey, which was loose because players did not wear pads for Saturday's opening-day workouts at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex. Sapp was sympathetic and tied the back of White's shirt into a knot.

"In nine years I thought I had seen it all," Sapp said. "But that kid is learning. I remember my rookie year when I was being grabbed and I'm yelling, "Somebody call holding.' But there isn't a referee on the practice field."

Sapp shook his head.

"That was a classic," he said. "That goes in the book right there."

CROWD CONTROL: About 2,500 fans greeted the defending Super Bowl champions as they took the field for the first time. The crowd was enthusiastic but voiced occasional displeasure.

"There's a lot of comments out there," quarterback Brad Johnson said. "The fans feel like it's been a long time since the Super Bowl, and they're excited to see us get back to work. They don't want to see any dropped balls, any bad plays, any interceptions. They're hard out there trying to get you ready for the year."

PROGRESS REPORT: Linebacker Dwayne Rudd left the afternoon practice a few minutes early because of dehydration. But no one was injured despite a hectic two-a-day regimen and extreme heat - the sign of a well-conditioned team.

"With the amount of plays we ran in these two practices, to have no IVs and have everybody moving explosively and finishing plays was impressive," coach Jon Gruden said. "I was very encouraged by that."

But let's not get carried away. When someone suggested the Bucs looked like a team in its fourth week of camp, with little or no rust to shake off, Gruden narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips.

"Ho, ho, ho, ho," Gruden said. "We don't want any reports like that coming out of here. We have a long way to go. We are very pleased with the progress we've made, and a lot of it has to do with familiarity and offseason work."

QUARTERBACK ADDED: With plenty of throws to be made during camp, the Bucs added a fourth quarterback. Shane Stafford, a Tampa resident and former Storm player, was sitting in traffic in Pennsylvania when the Bucs called Friday. He got to Orlando at 11:30 p.m. and went through Saturday morning's practice without having seen a playbook.

He got one at lunch.

"Things like this just happen, and you have to be ready," said Stafford, 27, who threw for 2,934 yards and 33 touchdowns with the Storm in 2001 and '02 and recently returned from NFL Europe. "I'm trying to absorb whatever I can. There's a lot of stuff, but it's exciting to be around Coach Gruden. His football mind is awesome."

The Bucs also signed kicker Ralf Kleinmann, who played seven seasons in NFL Europe.

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