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On off day, Bucs left to reflect

Without NFL game, players, coaches fall in line as citizens who grieve Tuesday's attacks.

By RICK STROUD

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 16, 2001

TAMPA -- NFL stadiums sit empty and silent as church prayer today.

Instead of games, there is only grief after the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.

"I think it'll be a day of thoughtful prayer for me, but it will be a day of thanksgiving, too," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said. "I think one of the things this has taught me is that you've got to be thankful and count your blessings every day because tomorrow is not guaranteed. We've seen a lot of bizarre ways that tomorrow can be ended for people and this is just one of them."

For most of the week after the Tuesday hijacking of planes that slammed into the World Trade Center, then the Pentagon and into a field in Sommerset, Pa., the Bucs and the rest of the NFL prepared for games that nobody wanted to play.

On Thursday, commissioner Paul Tagliabue canceled games today and Monday night.

One thing is clear, when the Bucs return to the playing field, in 70,000-seat arenas that long have been feared to be targets of terrorism, the game and the world never will look the same.

"You'll wonder, "Is somebody going to fly this plane into the stadium?' Because it's now happened," Dungy said. "It's not something you would ever have thought about. You've seen Black Sunday in the movies, but that was only a movie. Now that you've seen it happen, you will wonder. It'll go through your mind."

Behind their face masks and pads, it's easy to forget that players are husbands and fathers, neighbors who love their nation, spiritual and patriotic.

Here are just a few of their thoughts on a solemn Sunday of remembrance for the victims of Tuesday's tragedies:

The team captain

Safety John Lynch is one of the most violent players in a violent game and he mentally tried to prepare himself to play today against the Philadelphia Eagles.

At first, Lynch believed playing today would follow President Bush's lead in proving the attack had not compromised U.S. freedom or way of life.

But as the week wore on, his resolve had worn out.

"This has been different than anything I've ever faced," Lynch said. "I've faced a lot of issues, from a friend dying. Things of that nature. I was hoping that no one was involved that I know. Then my heart went out to anyone, whether I know them or not, they're people, they're countrymen and women."

Lynch is the 29-year-old father of a 21/2-year-old son, Jake. Like many parents with young children, he struggled to find the appropriate words to explain the events.

"He probably doesn't understand what's going on," Lynch said. "But he understands because I'm watching TV that a plane flew into a building and that's not supposed to happen. "Why did the plane fly into the building, daddy?' What are you supposed to tell your son? Those are the issues we're facing as a country and that's difficult. You don't have any answers. You've got to trust your instincts that you're doing the right thing."

The void left by football today will be filled by worship for Lynch and his family.

"It'll be odd," Lynch said. "I guess you just spend time with your family and take advantage of it and go to church. I guess if there is anything positive, it brings people together. You've seen the flags up. In a terrible act of cowardice, you're seeing heroics and people uniting in standing for what we're all about."

The quarterback

Before Tuesday, Brad Johnson expected to be throwing touchdowns at Raymond James Stadium, not home in Tallahassee with his wife and new baby.

He turned 33 on Thursday, but didn't feel much like celebrating.

"It's been a strange week. I think I was worn out Tuesday emotionally just watching the whole thing," Johnson said. "I probably watched and stayed glued to the TV all day just like everyone else. When you sit there and think about what you've been through, the things that have taken place. For me, family-wise, everybody has been pretty healthy in New York. But there's obviously guys on the teams that have people who were actually involved in the tragedy."

Johnson also has a home in North Tampa, and he awoke to the sound of jet engines overhead.

"I know last night I came outside my bed and my room at 11:30 because I heard some planes flying overhead," Johnson said. "Usually I try to sleep through.

"I think you kind of look at everything a little different now. You probably always will. With security, everywhere you go, you're going to be thinking about it constantly. So it's pretty scary."

The union representative

Punter Mark Royals spent much of past week performing his role as team representative for the NFL Player's Association. On Wednesday, NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw told league officials that safety concerns and compassion for the victim's families required the games be canceled.

Royals called a meeting of Bucs players, seeking their thoughts, and they agreed to support the decision of the league.

Then, in a conference call with Upshaw and other representatives Wednesday night, Royals listened to impassioned pleas by members of the Jets, Giants and Redskins to cancel the games.

Royals said football will not be a concern today.

"I know I'm going to be at church and thinking about the people that are going through a lot more important issues than we're dealing with here," Royals said. "Every time I go home and see my wife and daughter healthy, it's a perspective check. It's almost like for the last couple of days I've been sitting at the AMC theater watching a movie. You want to wake up and leave the theater and say, "Oh, wow, that was an interesting movie.' But unfortunately, it's reality."

The coach

Tuesday is the day NFL coaches work feverishly on their game plans while the players are off.

But shortly after Dungy arrived for work that day, it became nearly impossible to focus on X's and O's.

"It was difficult for me in that during all your breaks, you're watching TV," Dungy said. "I watched Peter Jennings for I don't know how long. You're staying up late at night and watching, trying to find out what went on. Then when you go back to your meetings, you're trying to put your concentration back on that. So it was a long week. You're trying to know if we're going or not going to play and talking to the league back and forth. So it was different."

Dungy's coaching career has spanned a series of interruptions: the strike-shortened 1982 season, the replacement players in 1987. This, however, was something for which no one was prepared.

"It's unlike anything that I've ever experienced," Dungy said. "But I liken it on a greater scale to the Minnesota Vikings, where you have a player die on the practice field and you've got to figure out when is the right time to go back and go to work. And when you go back to work, how do you get focused and do your job? They did a great job of it in the preseason, but there's no handbook or guide on how to do it."

He was not alone. Dungy's thoughts last week were of friend and former assistant head coach Herman Edwards, now coach of the Jets.

"I've not talked to Herm, but I could imagine it would be particularly tough," Dungy said. "You're right there, you can see it, you can smell it. There's no way to get away from it. As much media coverage as we've had, they've had more. But it would be tough, I would think, if you were in D.C. or New York."

A spiritual man who always has put faith and family ahead of football, Dungy will not have the distractions of coaching today.

"It'll be for me probably a chance to sit back and reflect on the whole thing and probably have my whole mental process on what happened in New York as opposed to split 50-50. I'll think back on it and what it means and where we go from here."

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