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Ex-Buc is not bitter over trade
By ROGER MILLS
Published December 12, 2004
[Times files]
The Bucs are back today at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, where they won Super Bowl XXXVII over the Oakland Raiders in 2003.
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He remembers how Bucs coach Jon Gruden called him out at a team function after the Super Bowl and asked management to do whatever it took to re-sign him, which it did. He also remembers being traded to the Chargers one year after.
Still, left tackle Roman Oben, in his ninth year out of Louisville, harbors no ill will toward the Bucs coaching staff or its front office.
"I got traded on June 10 and had a month to learn an offense, get ready for camp, find a house, ship my car, find a new preschool for my kid," he said. "It was challenging, but I could handle pretty much anything, besides death. There are people out there dying with cancer so no one is going to feel sorry for someone who is making a $1-million and is moving to San Diego."
After starting all 19 games for the Bucs during their Super Bowl season, Oben's position was targeted for an upgrade at the end of 2003's 7-9 campaign. With Derrick Deese acquired in free agency, Oben was destined to the bench or the waiver wire.
"Taking nothing away from Derrick, he's an accomplished lineman in this league, but I wish I had had the opportunity to reclaim my job," Oben said.
The Bucs didn't give him the chance and opted to trade him to a team that wanted him.
"I'll give (general manager) Bruce Allen one thing," Oben said, "he said because of my reputation, the Bucs wanted to put me in a good situation so that I wasn't sitting there Week 1 without a job hoping someone gets hurt.
"The only thing upsetting was to move 2,000 miles. Anywhere on the East Coast would have been a little bit of a better situation. Not only had San Diego not won in 10 years but it was on the other side of the planet, it seemed like."
Right now, the grass appears greener on the other side of the planet. The Chargers are in the midst of a stunning turnaround, 9-3 and on top of the AFC West, and the 6-foot-4, 305-pound Oben is playing a big role.
"In terms of being angry, it doesn't do any good," Oben, 32, said. "You have to realize that you're never bigger than the game. The NFL is going to be here when the Earth boils over and explodes. Me? I'm only going to be on this Earth for 70-80 years and I'm only going to play football for 10 or 12 years. If I'm known as a guy who was angry, bitter or holding out on a contract or that wasn't coachable, if I was one of those guys it would come back and bite me."
[Last modified December 12, 2004, 00:32:19]
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Bucs at Chargers, 4:15 p.m.