Bucs/NFL

The final gripe about One Buc

By RICK STROUD
Published August 19, 2006

TAMPA - Before the parade, a little rain must fall.

Before they hammer another nail into the Bucs' shiny new $30-million facility, a little whine to go with the champagne toast.

Seriously. What took so long?

Look, as a resident of One Buc Place since 1990, they can't dynamite it fast enough.

Unfortunately, it will be several weeks - or months - before anyone not working in the club's football operation can leave the eyesore on West Shore because the new building is not complete.

But in the next few days, while the Bucs are busy patting themselves on the back for a job well done, they might want to offer some apologies to all the players and coaches who will never get to enjoy it.

When the half-cent sales tax was passed in '96 to build Raymond James Stadium, it included $12-million that was earmarked for a new training facility.

Admittedly, that falls short of the price tag for the new complex, but then, gas wasn't almost $4 a gallon, either, in '96.

And we are told that ultimately, the Bucs used none of the money escrowed for that purpose.

But for the love of molasses, why were the Glazers so slow to get this project done?

There were no major delays on the completion of Raymond James Stadium, perhaps because it's a big revenue producer. Training complexes guarantee no such windfall, save for the eventual naming rights.

Spare the talk about zoning issues, architects and development opportunities. It took 10 years? Ten years! Democracies are built in less time.

In the past decade, One Buc Place was a disgrace, an embarrassment, a health hazard. What a credit to the men and women who helped build a championship franchise there. What a surprise nobody took a match to it.

"It's really a shame that players like Paul Gruber or John Lynch had to spend their entire careers with the Bucs in that place," tight end Dave Moore said.

TAMPA TOO PROUD: It's hard to be branded in the NFL. But when you have the league's best defense during the past 10 seasons, it's deserved.

Everywhere you look, another team is playing the Tampa Two, a version of the Bucs' defensive scheme named after its two-deep zone. Often imitated, never duplicated.

"They call it the Tampa Two because we've played it here a lot. But Tony (Dungy) and I played it up at Minnesota," Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "If you talk about the Tampa Two, you've got to talk about Tony Dungy because we ran it at Minnesota and maybe took it to another level here.

"We point out that every year, some defenses play really well and the next year they fall way off. It's not so much where you're ranked but are you really playing good defense year in and year out. I think that goes back to the leadership on our defense, the accountability here. It goes back to the Lynches and the Sapps and the Hardy Nickersons and now the Brookses and the Quarles and now comes Nece and you go to the Ronde Barbers and Kellys.

"I really believe in the chemistry of your football team, being accountable. It's Buc ball. Buc ball is not for everybody."

HEAD GAMES: Dolphins quarterback Daunte Culpepper has not taken a hit since tearing three right knee ligaments 10 months ago. It's miraculous he has made it back on the field this soon and a testament to his desire and hard work.

Here's a tip for Culpepper:

Forget about the knee. That's what Doug Williams says.

"That knee injury is a mental game," the Bucs' personnel executive said. "I've had a couple. Somewhere along the line you have to say to yourself, 'I can get this done.' You've either got to say it's either going to withstand the beating or get hurt again. But if you go there half-cocked, it's going to be hard to play the way you always played because you're going to be scared of that pressure. As a quarterback, it's almost like you've got to take it for the team.

"It's not the hit as much as the mind-set of the hit. And he's not the only guy who's had a knee injury. You've got to get away from thinking, 'I might get hurt.' Somewhere along the line, you've got to let it go ... it's game time, not knee time."

Williams marvels at the medical advances that would make Culpepper's comeback possible.

"If they'd had that when I was playing, I might still be playing," the former Bucs and Redskins QB said. "I would've played probably 15, 16, 17 years. They laid me up for six or seven weeks. I admire what Culpepper did. Is he 100 percent? No. But it shows he's willing."

[Last modified August 19, 2006, 08:07:49]