Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

After 12 seasons, goal No. 2 reached

Miami's Trace Armstrong is enjoying his first Pro Bowl.

	Click here for the main Bucs page. Click here for the Bucs forum, including the Armchair QB.

By RICK STROUD

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 3, 2001

HONOLULU -- There's nothing as exquisite during a flight to Hawaii as first spying the emerald necklace of islands below. From Miami, perhaps the most distant NFL city, it can be at least a 12-hour trip to the Pro Bowl.

For Trace Armstrong, the journey has taken much longer.

At 35 and having finished his 12th season, the Dolphins defensive end is making his first appearance in the NFC-AFC all-star game.

"It's a tremendous experience. Better than your first trip to Disney," Armstrong said. "It's a tremendous honor, especially at this point in my career. I think every player, especially when you come into this league, your first goal is to get to a Super Bowl and your second is to get to a Pro Bowl.

"I joked with (Raiders coach) Jon Gruden that I'm just a couple years younger than him. I'm trying not to let people know this is my first Pro Bowl. The new guys think I've been here before."

Instead, Armstrong tied Carolina quarterback Steve Beuerlein (2000) and St. Louis Cardinals guard Bob Young (1978) for most seasons played before a Pro Bowl selection.

By rights, Armstrong should have been here before. But in the third down of his career, Armstrong is the NFL's version of the designated hitter, a sack specialist who plays primarily passing downs.

Of his 33 tackles last season, 16.5 were sacks, tying the Bucs' Warren Sapp for second in the NFL behind the Saints' La'Roi Glover (17). Armstrong has topped the Dolphins' sack chart four of the past five seasons, including 10.5 in '98.

"He definitely deserved it," Dolphins Pro Bowl linebacker Zach Thomas said. "I think because he wasn't an all-down player is the only reason he wasn't going (to the Pro Bowl before). Shoot, I think the last few years he should've been out here. He got passed at the end of the year, but I was hoping he'd lead the league in sacks."

The bookend tackles for the Dolphins will represent the AFC in Sunday's game -- Armstrong and 26-year-old Jason Taylor (14.5 sacks), a professional model in the off-season who also is playing in his first Pro Bowl.

"There's a couple of things. First, I have great guys around me," Armstrong said. "We have, I think, the best group of cover guys in the league. We probably could've had two more over here. There's just so many good guys around me, and that helps. It creates more opportunities for you. And then the type of year Jason had on the other side is obviously big."

When Armstrong entered the NFL from the University of Florida with Chicago in '89, he never figured on playing 12 seasons.

"I don't think anybody does coming in," Armstrong said. "I think you get to a point where you realize you're getting close to the end and you're just not ready to let it go. I savor every minute. I know I'm a lot closer to the end than I am to the beginning.

"To get a chance to be around great players in the game and a great coaching staff this week, it's a wonderful reward; it really is."

But for all Armstrong's accomplishments on the field, his real mark on the league might be what he has accomplished as union representative and president of the NFL Players Association.

The youngest member ever to serve on the union's six-member executive committee, Armstrong became active in 1990.

"It kind of happened. It happened my second year in Chicago when being a union representative was not the best career decision," Armstrong said. "And I pretty much got corralled into it by the other guys on the team. I got more and more involved. When you look at where we started 10 or 12 years ago and where we are now, it's pretty amazing. It's been very rewarding to be a part of all that.

"In many ways, I've found that part of it to be just as rewarding, if not more so, than playing. ... And a lot of guys don't realize but we've been able to help thousands of players, and that's pretty gratifying."

The only thing better for Armstrong would be making the Pro Bowl again next season.

"I'll tell you what," Thomas said. "He's got only one move. Every player knows that move, and he still beats them every time. Because it's a power rush. I don't think he has another move. But he's got the best power rush in the business. I'll tell you what, to be his age and still going? It's pretty amazing."

But don't look for Armstrong to retire soon.

"I'm going to play forever," he said.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright