Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

A tradition that just won't yield

By JOHN ROMANO
Published September 6, 2005

TAMPA - While there is still time, while there are still pleasures to be imagined, close your eyes.

Picture receivers occasionally going deep and cannons constantly going off. Envision holes for a running back and options for a quarterback. Imagine a world where an offense is balanced, graceful and, above all, entertaining.

Just hurry, because the regular season starts soon.

And if history has taught us anything, it is that a Tampa Bay offense will lack most of those qualities.

Oh, I know, it's the wrong time to sound so cynical. In the hours before a season opener, your mood is supposed to swing between peachy and keen.

It's just that, around here, we know better.

And it has nothing to do with Jon Gruden. Nor is it a knock on Carnell Williams or Michael Clayton. This is something bigger than any individual. Something that can't be bargained with or reasoned away.

It has gotten the better of Hall of Fame caliber coaches and top draft picks. It has outlived an owner, a stadium and a wimpy orange pirate.

It is the Buccaneers offense, and it isn't going anywhere.

Again.

If you have lived here for any length of time, you know this to be true. You know there are forces at work that cannot be adequately explained. You watched Doug Williams leave and you are still waiting for Bo Jackson to arrive. You saw Steve Young tossed aside and Emmitt Smith ignored.

You watched the Bucs finish last in the NFL in scoring in 1976, and again in 1996. And, in between, you know they never wandered far.

While other teams have their ups and downs when it comes to scoring, the Bucs offense remains stubbornly grounded. The Bucs actually dream of being so-so. They light candles in the hopes of mediocrity.

Only once, in their first 29 years, have the Bucs had an offense that cracked the NFL's top 10 in scoring. One time. In almost 30 years. By contrast, they've had 20 finishes in the bottom 10.

Heck, Los Angeles hasn't had a team for more than a decade and it's still scoring at a better pace. I'm not sure, but the Canton Bulldogs may be, too.

And it's not like this is a fluke. It's not like a few points here or there would drastically alter Tampa Bay's legacy. Not when you consider the Bucs have only been in the top half of the league in scoring three times.

You read that right. They've been better than average three times. Which means, naturally, they've been below-average 26 of their 29 seasons. Not even Vegas would touch odds that one-sided.

In a league fanatical about parity, it really is a staggering accomplishment. Almost inexplicable. Like the swallows returning to Capistrano. Or Ryan Seacrest getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

You want to talk glory days? In San Francisco, you'd be talking of Montana, Rice and Craig. In Pittsburgh, it would be Bradshaw, Harris and Swann. Around here, you have DeBerg, Wilder and House. Seriously. The 1984 edition is the only Bucs team in history with both a 1,000-yard rusher and receiver.

You want to talk genius? In San Diego, there was Air Coryell. In Los Angeles, there was Sid Gillman. Around here, you've got Les Steckel.

In his one season as offensive coordinator, Steckel plotted the first known map to an end zone in Tampa Bay. With a 23-year-old Shaun King at quarterback and 83-year-old Randall McDaniel on the offensive line, Steckel directed the 2000 Bucs to a franchise-record 388 points.

For this, he was fired. In his place, came Clyde Christensen.

Are you beginning to understand?

Not even Gruden is immune. His final three teams in Oakland averaged 423 points per season. His three teams in Tampa Bay have averaged 316 points. It's like watching Elvis sing with the rhinestone belt buckle.

Let's face it, any success this franchise has enjoyed is due, almost exclusively, to the defense. The defense has already had one Hall of Famer pass through, and likely will have more in the future. It had an NFL Defensive Player of the Year in the '70s, '90s and again in 2002.

When the Bucs made it to the NFC title game in 1979, they were 21st in the league in scoring, but No. 1 in fewest points allowed. When they returned to the title game in '99, the offense was 27th and the defense was third.

Even the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers of 2002 were offensively challenged. Enough so that Gruden began ripping up the roster a year later.

So how did it come to be this way? Heaven knows. Will it ever end? You might as well be asking the wind.

All we know for sure is the latest edition of the Bucs offense is set to hit the ground running in four days.

Chances are, it won't get very far.

[Last modified September 6, 2005, 20:52:32]