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Bucs

Why not Alstott?

It's time to see if the veteran can pull the run game from the mud.

By GARY SHELTON
Published November 9, 2005

At a time when the team seems to be going nowhere, why not turn to the player who has always tried harder than most to get somewhere?

At a time when the fans are increasingly unhappy, why not look to the man who has always made them smile?

At a time when the Bucs are soul-searching, why not depend upon the back who has functioned as its soul for a decade?

Why not give the ball to Mikey?

Following that, why not give it to him again? And a couple of agains after that?

Mike Alstott is no longer young, and he has never been particularly fast. He is not electric, and he has never been elusive. He is not the future, and when you look at the problems of the Bucs, he might be able to do precious little about the present.

That said, it is time the Bucs took Alstott out of mothballs.

In what may be his last half-season ever, it is time the Bucs asked for whatever Alstott has left.

These are difficult days for the Bucs. The running game is stalled. The other backs are wounded. The season is growing dark.

Right about now, the Bucs could use a lowered helmet. They could use a little blood on the knuckles, a little movement to the pile, a little stubbornness at the point of attack. All those days when the situation looked bleak, Alstott never surrendered. All those plays where he was outnumbered, Alstott never went down easily. More than ever, the Bucs could use some of that, too.

Okay, let's be realistic. No one thinks - or, better put, no one should think - Alstott should get the ball 25 games a game. Alstott rarely was that back, and he certainly is no longer. He is 31 now, long past the days of shouldering the heavy load for an offense, and he has only one 100-yard game since Tony Dungy left town.

But for crying out loud, why isn't Alstott touching the ball six times, eight times, 10 times a game? On an offense that can do so little, why is Alstott ignored so much?

He didn't retire, you know. Most plays, Alstott is still in the huddle. He blocks a little, and he shifts a lot, and once or twice every game the Bucs let him take part. It's as if Alstott brought the ball, and if they don't let him carry it every now and then, they fear he will go home.

Against Carolina, Alstott caught two passes, both times for first downs. His only carry was a 1-yard touchdown. Except for that, he was a backup singer.

Against San Francisco, Alstott caught three passes, one for a first down. Except for that, he was an understudy.

So it goes. Most weeks, Alstott has a nice play or two, then he spends the rest of the day doing something else. He has carried the ball 11 times all season, six of those in air-out-of-the-ball time against Buffalo. In the past two weeks, the Bucs have had, what, 10 decent offensive plays? Alstott has had half of those.

In the meantime, the fans stew. If Alstott, good soldier that he is, will not demand the ball, then by golly, they will demand it for him.

From Alstott's first days around here, Tampa Bay has loved him in the same relentless manner with which he has run the ball. He is all effort and willpower, forever struggling uphill and dragging an offense along with him.

The more the offense needs dragging, the more the e-mail fills with messages from fans who cannot understand why the Bucs call on Alstott so seldom. Does Bucs coach Jon Gruden have something against Alstott? Is it money? Is it personal?

Here is the simple answer: Gruden doesn't think Alstott is as good as the rest of you.

It's as simple as that, really. If you talk to Gruden about Alstott, Gruden will tell you he loves the guy. He calls him a throwback, an Anvil, a ballplayer. Judging from his play calls, however, Gruden would rather see a lot of players with the ball than Alstott.

Over his career, Alstott always has been difficult to judge. On his good plays, where he is bouncing off tacklers, you would swear you see greatness. But when the line is overwhelmed and tacklers get to Alstott before he can get his momentum going, he can look slow and ponderous. He is somewhere between fullback and tailback, somewhere between overlooked and underappreciated.

When the season began, then, it was hard to blame Gruden for choosing other options. Cadillac Williams and Michael Pittman were faster, more explosive. Write their names on a game plan, and every play has possibilities. They looked like tomorrow; Alstott looked like yesterday.

But Williams' foot continues to hurt, and these days he looks like a guy who has dressed up as Cadillac for Halloween. Pittman has a bad shoulder.

Alstott? He doesn't have anything to do.

So why not see? Instead of throwing to Alstott twice a game, why not three or four times? Why not let him run two or three times?

Can Alstott still dent a defensive line? Can he still ping around tacklers like a tank in a demolition derby? Can he still make falling into the end zone look prettier than dancing in the hole?

It is time for the Bucs, and for the rest of us, to find out.

After all, when the season makes you want the Advil, why not instead reach for an Anvil?

[Last modified November 9, 2005, 00:55:41]