Receiver Clayton restarts at the bottom

By RICK STROUD, Times staff writer
Published August 25, 2007

Michael Clayton lined up wide left, exploded off the snap and headed upfield with precision and purpose.

Just another pass route for the Bucs receiver, who took the league by storm as a rookie four years ago?

Hardly. While most of the team's other receivers were cooling their heels on the sideline during a recent practice, Clayton was giving up his body as an edge rusher on the punt block team.

"I'm just trying to get in where I fit in," Clayton, 24, said.

At a time when the 15th overall pick in the 2004 draft should be flourishing, Clayton is foundering as a volunteer member of every special-teams unit except kickoff return.

Before David Boston was charged with driving under the influence Thursday, Clayton was buried on the depth chart behind four other receivers, including Joey Galloway, Maurice Stovall and Ike Hilliard.

Boston, who was found passed out at his steering wheel at an intersection in Pinellas Park on Thursday night, according to Pinellas Park police, practiced Friday and was expected to accompany teammates to Miami.

Boston, 29, was rescued from obscurity by the Bucs and had been penciled in as a starter despite not having caught a pass that mattered in three years.

The player who stands to benefit the most if Boston falters on or off the field is Clayton. But for the moment, he's focused on just earning a spot on the roster and that means getting on the field anyway he can.

That's what happens when a player goes from leading all rookies with 80 catches for 1,193 yards and seven touchdowns to one who has combined for just 65 receptions and one score during the past two seasons.

"I was getting 80 snaps a game as a rookie, too," Clayton said. "After Joey went down, we really didn't have any help. I was doing all the banging, all the blocking, all the catches I could get. It was tough.

"I had to have a couple of surgeries. I put it to the metal, I pushed it my rookie year because we were losing and I was having some success and wanted to try to win football games. I didn't want to come out, and fought through it. Now it's all about staying healthy, because once you get banged up, it's hard."

A knee injury derailed Clayton before the start of the '05 season. A shoulder injury last preseason hindered his efforts. He gained more recognition for drops at Pittsburgh and against the Giants than his last-second winning touchdown against Cincinnati.

Clayton admits he let the pressure get to him. It was a vicious cycle. The worse things got, the more reckless he played to get noticed, the more he got injured.

"The more time you spend in this league, the more you figure out who you are as a person and who you are as a football player," Clayton said. "I'm a dogfighter, I get in there and it gets your blood flowing, you get to go out on kickoff (coverage) teams and those are the kind of things that kind of jump-started me. My intensity level is so pumped up. If I can help, you're d--- right I'm going to do it."

The fascination with Boston and Stovall aside, Clayton may have been discarded too soon. Don't buy into the speculation of his release. Clayton isn't. Traded would be more likely. But why would the club devalue a first-round pick by stuffing him at the bottom of the depth chart and on special teams?

Clayton shrugs. For the first time in years, he feels healthy entering the season and is just waiting for another opportunity.

"As a player, you really don't worry about it," he said. "You just know that anything can change. It's just a blessing to be out here."

Rick Stroud can be reached at stroud@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 24, 2007, 23:31:23]