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By all indications, Basil Proctor has played his final game for the Storm. Thumb and neck injuries, coupled with his impending free-agent status, likely will see to that.
But after three seasons in Tampa Bay the veteran fullback/linebacker thinks he deserves a better farewell.
Proctor says coach Tim Marcum sent him off the practice field and threatened to withhold his paycheck until he had an MRI on his neck, injured March 27 at Georgia. Proctor declined, saying he is claustrophobic.
"I am off the team because I stood up to him," Proctor said.
Technically, Proctor is on the Storm's injured-reserve list. But he watches practices from his truck and sat in the stands for Sunday's 58-52 overtime victory over Austin before joining his teammates in the locker room after the game.
Marcum said injured offensive/defensive lineman Evan Pilgrim also did not watch from the bench because the league has been after the team to keep fewer people there during games. Marcum said he doesn't doubt Proctor is claustrophobic and maintains that the player has received "all of his paychecks that are coming to him."
Proctor led the Storm with 95 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in 2002 and was second with 90 yards and seven touchdowns last season. Injuries limited him to 8 yards on seven carries in five games this seasons.
Proctor's most important contributions come from blocking the opponent's top pass rusher and applying pressure from his linebacker spot, not to mention his relationship with fans, whom he regularly greets at practices and games.
Proctor, who played three games with a cast on his left hand, said he had planned to postpone surgery on his dislocated thumb until after the season but now will have it done in a week or two.
He also is rethinking his future. He planned to retire after this season but says he might play elsewhere, listing New York, Austin and New Orleans among possibilities.
"I'm not going out like that," Proctor said. "I've got too much pride for that."
TWO-WAY TERROR: Storm wide receiver/defensive back T.T. Toliver was named the league's ironman of the week after amassing 249 all-purpose yards in the victory over Austin. He had 218 kickoff-return yards, including touchdowns of 58 and 53 yards, and caught three passes for 28 yards. On defense he returned an interception 3 yards and made five tackles.
STILL BATTLING: Lineman Kelvin Kinney (shoulder, groin) and fullback/linebacker David White (hamstring) played through injuries, but perhaps no Storm player withstood more pain than lineman Nyle Wiren, who forced the fumble that led to Lawrence Samuels' winning return after putting off season-ending shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. "That's the story of all stories," Marcum said. TOO LITTLE ... ?: The atmosphere in the St. Pete Times Forum after Sunday's victory was unlike anything since the ArenaBowl win in June. But Marcum said it might have come too late for the Storm, which likely has to win its final five games to extend its record 13-year playoff streak. "We've won games around here like that," Marcum said. "It's just a great feeling, a feeling we know no matter how far we get down, we can win it. It's a confidence builder. If I had my druthers, I'd rather have it in Week 3 than Week 11 or 12."
IMPACT PLAYER: Fullback/linebacker Umar Muhammad rushed for two touchdowns, tying a career high, and made three tackles in his second game with the Storm. He allowed one pressure on 10 offensive snaps and had three pressures on 19 defensive plays. HOLD THAT THOUGHT: Asked about Ignacio Brache's debut, in which the kicker hit the net on kickoffs and made five of six extra points and a 36-yard field goal to force overtime, Marcum stated a long-standing policy. "Don't brag on the kicker," he said.