News | Bucs

Gold ready to prove his worth

The 2004 season is something of an audition for new Bucs linebacker.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published July 6, 2004

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Ian Gold

TAMPA - Ian Gold proved himself in the NFL.

In three seasons Gold went from the draft to special teams to starting outside linebacker for the Broncos. Entering 2003, Gold hoped another impact season, combined with unrestricted free agency, would equal a big-time, long-term contract.

Until he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Speed is the 6-foot, 223-pound linebacker's best asset - or was, until the injury.

Now the surgically repaired, fifth-year pro finds himself in new surroundings, on a new team, learning a new defense, but faced with a familiar situation:

Gold has to prove himself again.

He'll get that chance with Tampa Bay, which signed Gold on April 28 to compete for the strongside linebacker job.

"Last year I was coming into the last year of my contract," said Gold, 25. "I was looking forward to getting an extension, and to getting an increase in pay ... and playing some football.

"But this year there's not a lot of stability. I'm in a contract situation where it all depends on how well my knee holds up and how well I perform. So it's kind of like I'm back at the bottom of the totem pole again.

"But you know, I'm hungry, and I'm looking forward to getting out there and contributing any way that I can."

Think of Gold's upcoming season as an audition, both for the Bucs and the NFL.

He signed a seven-year deal worth more than $38-million - but the only guaranteed money is the $1.4-million signing bonus, according to USA Today. Gold's big payday could come if the Bucs keep him for 2005, when he would receive a reported $9.6-million option bonus. Or the team could release him back into free agency. So he needs a strong season to convince Tampa Bay, or another team, that he's worthy of a lucrative deal.

Drafted in the second round in 2000, the Michigan product made the Pro Bowl as an AFC special-teams performer in 2001. His first season as a starter, 2002, was his best. He was the second-leading tackler with a career-high 166, and had a career-high 6.5 sacks as well as five passes defensed, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He had double-digit tackles in 10 games that season, and five times finished with 13.

He started 2003 off right, making 10 tackles and returning his first career interception for a touchdown in the season-opening 30-10 win at Cincinnati. He went down in the sixth game, injured on a special-teams play in a 17-14 win Oct. 12 over Pittsburgh.

Denver made Gold its Walter Payton Man of the Year Award finalist, even as his future with the team was tenuous. It wasn't until April 24, during the draft, that Gold knew he wouldn't be back. Final contract talks fell apart 20 minutes before the Broncos selected Miami linebacker D.J. Williams 17th overall.

Now in Tampa Bay, Gold is expected to challenge returning starter Ryan Nece for the strongside job. Gold had the same position in Denver, only the terminology is different. "He's an explosive, exciting, sprint-to-the-ball-on-every-play and knock-people-out-when-he-gets-there type of player," Tampa Bay linebackers coach Joe Barry said. "You can just go into our video room and pick any of the games he played in last year. You put it on and you would not even know what Ian Gold's number is, and after watching a quarter you would say, "Is Ian Gold No. 52?' "

What do the Bucs like about Gold? What they like in all their linebackers: he's athletic, quick and dangerous. His size isn't a liability on Tampa Bay's lightweight linebacking corps (actually, 6-3 rookie Marquis Cooper is the lightest at 213 pounds). Gold has all the tools: he can tackle in space, he can run from sideline to sideline, he can drop back in coverage and he can rush the passer off the edge.

Barry said the soft-spoken Gold will be heard in the fall. "When you sit and talk to him, he's just a nice guy," Barry said. "But I think he's one of those guys who's a madman when the pads come on."

A madman who plays beyond his size. "He's not a big guy," Barry said. "But you would not guess that watching him on tape because he knocks people back. I'm talking about lineman, I'm talking about 250-pound fullbacks, I'm talking about tackling 250-pound tight ends on check downs.

"He strikes your butt and knocks you down."

Based on 22 game films, that is. Gold still has to prove he's the player he was.

His surgery was Oct. 17, and Gold's rehabilitation is ahead of schedule. He was sprinting even as contract talks with Denver fell apart. He made a surprise on-field appearance at the Bucs' June 22 minicamp session, taking reps with the defense weeks before his original target date, the July 31 start of training camp.

"I kind of got the green light to go ahead and get out there and run around, and it felt pretty good," Gold said. "It held up pretty well, and as far as I can tell, I'll definitely be ready for training camp and I'll definitely be ready for the season."

So will his trademark speed, he said.

"I feel like I'm a lot faster," he said. "I feel like I'm not there as far as the agility goes, but that will come with the more reps I get, the more I'm out there."

Yet Gold is still behind. He may have come back ahead of schedule, but he missed 13 "voluntary" offseason workouts. That June 22 minicamp was the 14th "practice" for most players.

"If you're watching, if your watching your position, if you know what the defense is, if you see the action in the back, if you see what the route is, you can get better mentally even though you're not physically doing," Barry said. "And Ian, he's done it, he's really been wired in. And it's hard for him, he really wants to be out here practicing. I don't look at him as the bottom of the totem pole, I think he's a kid who has come in and has great expectations of himself."

Gold is proving he has the attitude to succeed.

"My biggest challenge this year is to be able to overcome this adversity that I'm faced with that I haven't faced (before)," he said. "A lot of people are doubting me, have doubted me, throughout this whole ordeal I've been going through. But I've kept the faith. I know that I can overcome anything if I put my mind to it."

MEET IAN GOLD

MIDDLE NAME: Maurice.

BORN: Aug. 23, 1978.

HOMETOWN: Ann Arbor, Mich.

NFL CAREER STATISTICS: In 54 games and 22 starts, Gold has 174 tackles, 26 assists, 11.5 sacks, two interceptions and a touchdown.

PERSONAL: The Gold family's Michigan ties run deep. Twin brothers Jason and Jeremy played football at Central Michigan, while their parents graduated from Michigan. Ian Gold was born at the University of Michigan Hospital.

gs,1 f,8.5,ux0,,10.8 SPECIAL TEAMER: Gold got a head start on his NFL special teams career in high school, returning two punts for touchdowns his senior year as a SuperPrep All-American at Belleville (Mich.) High. Named to the 2001 AFC Pro Bowl as a special teams player, Gold has 32 career special teams tackles, five fumble recoveries and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown in his rookie 2000 season.

- Compiled by Jamal Thalji.

[Last modified July 6, 2004, 01:00:19]

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