Bucs

After return, the deluge

Micheal Spurlock is inundated with calls after his historic day.

By RICK STROUD
Published December 18, 2007

TAMPA - It doesn't stink to be Micheal Spurlock.

The man who will never have to buy a drink in Tampa Bay dropped his parents off at the airport Monday morning.

He drove to the Bucs training facility, grabbed a TV remote and watched himself return the first kickoff for a touchdown in franchise history over and over again.

"You watch it and they talk about Tiger Woods and Randy Moss and you've got your name right there," Spurlock said. "You realize it's not just going to be down south - this is going to be something national. It was good. I'm taking it all in.

"It's been crazy. It's just a dream, and I'm not ready to wake up yet."

Spurlock has had some feats in his athletic career. He threw nine touchdowns in a high school game (and lost), tossed a no-hitter and hit a walk-off home run with a full count, bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth to win a state baseball tournament.

But Spurlock thinks what he accomplished Sunday at Raymond James Stadium was cooler than an igloo's freezer.

To recap: Spurlock returned a first-quarter kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown in Sunday's 37-3 win over the Atlanta Falcons, a victory that clinched the NFC South for the Bucs.

It took 32 seasons, 1,865 tries by 140 players since Tampa Bay's inaugural season in 1976, but Spurlock got it done.

"I knew, okay, once it happened it was going to be a big deal," he said. "But I didn't know everybody in the stands was going crazy. I was like, 'Wow, this is really happening. You did it.' It's been really crazy. It's been just unbelievable."

He celebrated at the Blue Martini with his wife and parents and turned his cell phone off after more than 50 text messages and 20 missed calls.

And to think, the former Ole Miss quarterback never returned a kick until he signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 2006. Heck, he never intended to play football.

Spurlock was a baseball player who pitched, caught, played second base, shortstop and centerfield who was offered pro contracts by the Royals and Brewers. "I'm still a better baseball player," he said.

"To be honest, I didn't like football. I was going to quit playing football going into ninth grade. ... I played my eighth grade year just to do it because all my boys were out there, and I was going to quit. So I went out there and watched them practiced. Back then, all the coaches and teachers knew your parents. I went out there to watch. They were like, 'You can come a little closer.' By that time, I was on the practice field. Then it was, 'Here you go, throw this ball.' I threw it, and then they said, 'At 4 o'clock tomorrow, we're going to have your pads and everything, be at practice.' I was like, 'All right.'"

And when he started fielding kicks, he caught them like an outfielder until he was persuaded to turn his palms up.

Spurlock was cut by the Cardinals at the start of the season and had two stints with the Bucs before they signed him to the active roster Nov.1.

Before every game, linebacker Derrick Brooks would tell him to be special.

"Make history," Spurlock recalled Brooks saying. "He always told me that, and it just stuck with me. If felt like everybody that day was joking about it.

"It couldn't have happened on a better day, winning the (NFC) South. In front of your fans, babies up to the eldest knew this was the first."

Spurlock collected copies of Monday's newspapers. He still has the football.

On Monday, Spurlock was asked what could top his historic kickoff return. Doing it in the Super Bowl, perhaps?

"No, because it's already been done. It would be good to do it in the Super Bowl, to win the Super Bowl and do all that," he said. "But how many times can you say you were the first to do it?"

.Fast facts

Meet Spurlock

Ht./wt.:5-10, 214

Age: 24

Hometown: Indianola, Miss.

College: Mississippi, where he played quarterback, passing for 1,703 yards and seven touchdowns in his senior season, 2005.

Pro: Made his NFL debut for the Cardinals last season. Caught four passes for the season, all in a game Dec. 31 against San Diego. Signed with the Bucs as a free agent. His touchdown Sunday came in his 14th kick return as a pro.

[Last modified December 18, 2007, 00:14:36]