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Those with talent to burn often fizzle

SHELTON E-mail: Click here Archive

By GARY SHELTON

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 7, 2001

The legend traveled on the wind, the way most legends do.

Tony Dungy isn't sure who the first person was to tell him about Willie Spencer. He does know the tales of Spencer, like most creatures of mythology, reached him long before his eyesight became involved.

Talent? Spencer had talent. He was 6 feet 4, 235 pounds and carved out of a mountainside. He ran so fast that stopwatches burst as he flashed by. He could pluck the ball from the air with one hand and stop a linebacker with the other. He was going to start out by being Earl Campbell, then progress straight on to being Jim Brown.

Spencer was such a force he didn't need to go to college. He went straight from Massillon High to the Canadian Football League, then on to the World Football League. Finally, Spencer was ready to make his arrival in the NFL, with the Minnesota Vikings. And the league had just better watch itself.

It was a quarter of a century ago, and Dungy was in college at the time, at the University of Minnesota. Still, when he tells the story, Dungy smiles at the memory.

Spencer, thanks to his great talent, gained 4 yards on two carries for the Vikings in 1976. And then he disappeared.

Talent, Dungy says.

And he shakes his head.

It is a strange word, talent. It suggests skills that are not ordinary, size and speed and grace and power that have been bestowed by the angels. It makes coaches drool and fans talk and agents multiply.

And, usually, it doesn't mean as much as you think.

Talent. The graveyards are full of the talented. Goliath was talented, and you read about what happened to him. Samson was talented, and even a late comeback couldn't keep him from dying bloody.

As the most talented team of Tampa Bay Bucs ever assembled begins its season, this is something to consider. In a world based on production, talent doesn't automatically mean triumph. Are the Bucs one of the most physically gifted teams in the NFL? Yes. Does that mean they'll wind up in New Orleans in the Super Bowl? No.

"Talent is a big part of winning, but a small part of winning championships," Dungy said. "I'd say it's 10-20 percent. You have to have talent, but just because you have it doesn't guarantee you anything. Chemistry is what leads to championships."

And so you look across the room, at Sapp, at Brooks, at Lynch. At Jones, at Johnson, at the other Johnson. At Dunn, at Rice, at Abraham. At Alstott, at McDaniel, at McFarland. At Walker, at Coleman, at Gramatica.

Yep, there is a lot of talent there.

But when the ball is in the air, who comes down with it?

Warren Sapp is sitting at his locker, thinking about the first time he saw Pat Riley.

"You saw him and you thought "Can't miss,' " Sapp said. "He was 6-6, 290 and ran a 4.5 40. He was as strong as all outdoors."

Sapp chuckles softly. "He was one of those guys on the All-Airport team." In other words, a player who looked great as he walked through the airport.

When it comes to squandered talent, everyone has a name. Tony Mandarich. Brian Bosworth. Lawrence Phillips. Aundray Bruce. And a few dozen Bucs No. 1 draft picks that might come to mind.

Then, of course, there was Tommy Booker.

When Bucs safety John Lynch played in high school in Southern California, Booker was the star at Vista High. Lynch still remembers how his team printed T-shirts that read "Cook the Book." It didn't work.

"He cooked us," Lynch said.

Lynch also will tell you about Cecil Collins, the troubled back from LSU that Lynch bounced off of in a preseason scrimmage a couple of years ago. Or the late Demetrius DuBose, a friend who Lynch was convinced had the talent and work ethic to be an All Pro linebacker.

General manager Rich McKay will tell you about Allen Carter, a player from Southern Cal who was going to be great. Instead, he ended up watching Anthony Davis play. Personnel director Tim Ruskel still rolls his eyes at how Mandarich dominated as a college player. Offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen didn't think ex-Virginia quarterback Matt Blundin could miss. Linebacker Derrick Brooks talks about Butch Riley, a guy from his high school team, the only player he saw cut at full speed while running barefoot without slipping.

None of them ever made it big.

Why, then, should we believe the Bucs are going to, simply because there is talent in the locker room?

"We shouldn't," Brooks said. "We went through that last year. It isn't about how talented you are. It's about what kind of team you are."

Okay, fine. Change Willie Spencer to the '90 Buffalo Bills, Pat Riley to the '69 Colts and Tony Mandarich and Tommy Booker to the '98 Minnesota Vikings. Just like players, teams can underachieve.

How talented are the Bucs? Forget about the Pro Bowl, which can be based on reputation as much as results.

Most scouting directors would tell you the Bucs have a half-dozen A players: Sapp, Brooks, Lynch, Keyshawn Johnson, Dunn and Martin Gramatica. They have another seven or eight B's: Jeff Christy, Brad Johnson, Simeon Rice, Mike Alstott, Donnie Abraham, Anthony McFarland, Marcus Jones and Randall McDaniel. Players such as Kenyatta Walker and Cosey Coleman could find their way onto either list.

In a league spread thin, that's a lot of honor-roll players.

Still, you don't know what happens on third and short. You don't know how good the offense will be when behind by 10 points in the fourth quarter. You don't know if the defense will remember how to close the door. You don't know who says what about whom when things go badly. You don't know whether the talent will be a blessing or a reason to curse.

Either the Bucs are going to look awful good in New Orleans ... Or they're going to look impressive at the airport.

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