Tupa back in form at right time

As cutdown nears, Bucs punter thinks he is kicking as well as ever.

Tom Tupa, the Bucs' venerable punter who has seen more seasons in the NFL than any other player in the locker room, can feel it in his leg, hear it at the point of impact, see it when the piece of leather hangs in the air.

For a seasoned kicker coming off double-hernia surgery in the offseason, there can be only one path for the punt - it must be high and it must be deep.

"I've been hitting the ball as well as I ever have and it's a nice feeling," Tupa said. "I've got more pop on the ball. I'm getting up there (in age) and after a surgery, I wasn't sure what it was going to be like. It's been a blessing so far."

And the blessing could not come at a better time. The Bucs, who have 92 players in camp, have to trim their roster to 65 by Tuesday, three days after a preseason game against the Jaguars.

Tupa, who is competing with rookie Andy Groom for the punting duties, is coming into form.

"I think he's been kicking the ball as well as I've seen since I've been around," special-teams coach Rich Bisaccia said. "He's worked a little bit on his drops and a little bit on his body positioning when he gets the ball. I think he's worked pretty hard and is extremely focused and we're excited about where he's at."

Monday night against the Rams, Tupa, 37, had seven punts for 345 yards. His first four went for 40, 49, 55 and 60.

Tupa, a third-round pick of the Cardinals in 1988 as a quarterback and punter, has 681 career punts for 29,728 yards, an average of 43.6. For his career, Tupa has a net average of 35.4 yards, with 86 touchbacks and 193 downed inside the 20-yard line. He has been blocked once.

"I think it's a great accomplishment and I know there are not many guys who have done it," Tupa said. "I started out my first six years as a quarterback and when I got released I needed a job and the special-teams coach in Cleveland gave me an opportunity to try (punting) again. (At Ohio State) I punted all four years. So he worked with me, changed a few things and here I am, 10 years later, still in the league."

Last season, Tupa set a Bucs record dropping 30 punts inside the 20-yard line. He finished with 90 punts and a 42.8 average. But there were moments when Tupa wanted punts back.

"I don't think we ever doubted him," Bisaccia said. "Obviously, all players go through struggles during the course of the year and we thought he was consistent in a lot of places. Yes, he had some bad hits. The one in the championship game sticks out in his mind and sticks out in our mind. But it was a crazy day up there, wind-wise.

"But, we're trying to build off the positive. His average of 42.8 yards proves he can punt the football and his ability to play in the red zone is critical to us because of the way we play defense. We think he's on track to do some things again."

One explanation for any poor kicks was Tupa's groin problem that surfaced the season before he signed with the Bucs and lingered through the championship run.

"It was hampering," said Tupa, who had surgery in February. "I came into training camp and it was there a little bit, but I worked through it through camp and was able to get through the year for the most part."

Content through most of the offseason with the effort of Groom, the Bucs waited until late in the summer to re-sign Tupa.

"I understood why," Tupa said. "I understood that I had another surgery and that they wanted to see me kick before they signed me. It took long because I didn't want to start kicking too soon, not until June. I wanted to give the leg as much time as possible. I came down here, I kicked for them, everything went great and I signed for them that day."

Though still competing with Groom, Tupa is first on the depth chart and has had most punts in the preseason. His 10 punts have yielded 461 yards and two touchbacks. His long is 60 yards.

More important, Tupa is the regular holder for placekicker Martin Gramatica, who missed about 12 days of practice time toward the end of training camp. Now, the duo has to work on getting the timing back.

"We had it going in camp and then Martin took some time off and the last (few) days we've been trying to get the timing back and he's been kicking well," Tupa said. "Obviously, it's important to do it before the regular season to get game ready."

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