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Bucs/NFL

For many, preseason games are everything

By JOHN ROMANO
Published August 13, 2006

TAMPA - It is when the stadium has thinned out, and enthusiasm has done the same, that you can see them in all their glory.

These are the players loitering on the outskirts of the NFL. They have been given uniforms and playbooks but no promises. They are, proudly, August's heroes.

You see them every preseason and rarely anytime else. They were not the high draft picks, nor were they the expensive free agent acquisitions. In a way, they are the NFL's version of the silent majority.

Sure, preseason games are largely meaningless.

Unless your livelihood depends on them.

"I've been able to make a living off what I've done in training camp and preseason," running back Earnest Graham said. "If I didn't have that, I wouldn't be here."

Graham was at it again Friday night. He led the Buccaneers in rushing against the Jets, which is nothing new for him. Graham was Tampa Bay's leading rusher in the 2005 preseason. In 2004, too.

If it is his destiny for 2006, or '07 for that matter, Graham is not going to bellyache. For he has learned his place in the game. And it is not in the headlines or on the highlights, but in the details.

The willingness to sacrifice your body on special teams. To learn the assignments of more than one position. To understand that a month's worth of games in August can foster an impression that lasts an entire season.

This is the secret of the preseason. It may not convince you that Chris Simms is about to have a breakout season or Shelton Quarles is still a step ahead of Father Time, but it could open your eyes to a Kalvin Pearson or a Carey Davis.

"The second half of a preseason game, when all the starters are gone, is when it really gets good," running backs coach Art Valero said.

"You've got a group of guys doing everything they can to ensure they stick around for another week."

It would not be a stretch, on a team such as Tampa Bay's, to say 40 or more roster spots are already spoken for in late July. That means about 50 players in camp are trying to win around a dozen jobs.

For some, it is a lesson that never sinks in. The majority of these guys were stars, to one degree or another, on their college teams. The idea that they have to reinvent themselves as role players can be humbling.

It is not uncommon to find those who are too proud, or too delusional, to recognize that their careers are dependent on special teams workouts in training camp or the garbage time they get in preseason games.

"The preseason is huge for guys not at the top of the depth chart," Graham said. "It's a chance to show them you know what you're doing and you're a physical player and you're willing to compete. You want to show them they can trust you."

Graham, 26, is one of the rare ones. A player with both the smarts and the toughness to adapt to a new role in the NFL.

When he left the University of Florida, Graham was No. 5 on the school's all-time rushing list. The four players ahead of him - Neal Anderson, Errict Rhett, Emmitt Smith and Fred Taylor - all went on to become 1,000-yard rushers in the NFL.

For Graham, similar glory was not meant to be. And he figured it out quickly when he went undrafted in 2003. So Graham made himself valuable in other ways. By being unselfish. By contributing on special teams. By being a standout in those few chances to shine during the preseason.

He was waived twice in 2003 but has stuck with the Bucs the past two seasons. Graham has gotten far more playing time in the preseason (407 career yards) than the regular season (156 yards), which has made him appreciate these inconsequential games far more than most. No one seeks table scraps, but a hungry man would be foolish to push them away.

Graham has, at various times, been an understudy to Thomas Jones, Michael Pittman, Mike Alstott and Cadillac Williams. If you've watched him in the preseason and wondered what he might accomplish behind the first-team offensive line on Sunday afternoons instead of summer nights, he has had similar thoughts. But he has not allowed them to obscure his role.

"As a competitor, you want to know what you can do and, at some point, maybe I'll get that chance," Graham said. "But right now, you take what you can get. I'm still playing football, and there ain't nothing wrong with that."

Even in situations that appear hopeless, when there are no apparent openings on a roster, a preseason game can save a player's career.

A videotape, Graham said, is an NFL player's resume.

So a player such as Davis, a little-known fullback who was pressed into tailback duty Friday night and gained 67 yards on 14 carries, not only made an impression on the Bucs staff, but on the staffs of 31 other teams.

"We might have Carnell Williams and Michael Pittman and Mike Alstott, but other teams don't," Valero said. "So it's crucial for some of these younger guys to show what they can do when they get the chance on film."

It's worth remembering the next time you sit down to watch a preseason game. The score might not matter, and the statistics are forgotten a day later. And the starters, well, they usually quit watching before you do.

But somewhere on the field, there are players who care.

Players who, really, have no other choice.

[Last modified August 13, 2006, 02:55:13]