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No. 19 needs to become the Bucs' No. 1 option
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 30, 2000 Come on, Key. Say it with me. Just ... Keyshawn Johnson looks at you quizzically, as if you have grown a third eye in the middle of your forehead. Johnson may be the most handsomely paid cornerback-blocker on the planet, but for those of you keeping score, he cannot name that tune in one note. Just give ... Slowly, a smile creases Johnson's face. He recognizes the words now. His words. He knows what you want to hear. The laughter starts to come. Just give me ... He shakes his head. He is laughing louder now. Time was, he would have stood on his chair and led the chorus. Not now. His team is winning. He is happy. Just give me the damn ball. This is what you are waiting for, isn't it? You are waiting for Johnson to explode. You are waiting for the two-catch-a-week receiver to sound off, loud and long. You are waiting for adjectives to flow, for metaphors to rain, for pleas and politics and promises. Instead, Keyshawn sits, shaking his head still, the smile frozen on his face. He looks at you as if publicly asking for the ball had never occurred to him. "Why should I say anything?" Johnson said. "I don't have to say anything. Why should I be the squeaky wheel? As long as we're winning, I don't care if we even throw a pass. That's the truth." Fine. Then let's say it for him. Just give him the damn ball. In a strange, disappointing season by the Tampa Bay Bucs, this has been the strangest, and most disappointing, aspect. Keyshawn Johnson, the best offensive player the Bucs have -- maybe the best offensive player they have ever had -- seems to have become invisible. He is the best weapon the team has, and for some unfathomable reason, he never seems to leave the holster. Instead of other teams trying to figure out what to do with Johnson, however, it has been the Bucs trying to do that. Two catches against Buffalo. Two catches against Chicago. Are you kidding? You could put Frank Middleton in the slot, for goodness' sake, and he could catch two passes. Yet, there is Keyshawn: decoy, blocker, afterthought. It is tragic how badly the Bucs are underusing Johnson. It is sadder still that as they enter December, when teams tend to go conservative, there seems to be no urgency to change things. For all he is used, Johnson might as well be a free agent out of Peoria Tech. For the life of me I cannot understand this. It seems to me the ultimate definition of coaching is using your best players in the best ways possible. Yet the Bucs seem reluctant to make getting the ball to Johnson a high priority. What's that? Yeah, yeah. Other teams are looking for Johnson. Big deal. They've always looked for Johnson. And he's always caught the ball anyway. Consider Eric Moulds, a receiver few would consider to be in Johnson's class. When Buffalo took the field Sunday, everyone in the stadium knew the Bills were going to throw to Moulds. That guy sitting next to you a half-mile from the field knew to yell "Watch out for Moulds!" whenever Rob Johnson retreated. And against a pretty good Bucs' secondary, Moulds still managed to catch eight balls for 102 yards. That's what receivers do. Don't you think opponents are aware Randy Moss goes deep? Don't you think they know about Tim Brown? Opponents always knew Jerry Rice was coming. And Rice always finished with 10 catches for 150 yards. Because it isn't just the player defenses have to guard; it's the real estate. (For the record, opponents always knew Indiana Jones was going to use his whip, too.) Why, then, isn't it happening with Johnson? Is it double teams? No, not really. Johnson usually is doubled on third downs but not on first and second, when teams still play the run first against the Bucs. Is it the quarterback? Well, it doesn't help that Shaun King is in his second season. But consider that Johnson has caught most of the passes over his career from mediocre quarterbacks, Rick Mirer and Tom Tupa and Ray Lucas. More than anything, however, there is a lack of emphasis on getting the ball to Johnson. Lately, he seems to get four plays, five plays a game. Seldom more. Other receivers get three times that. Last week, Johnson says, that bothered him. This week, it doesn't. The difference is that this week, the Bucs won. "When we lose, I'm disappointed, I'm frustrated, I'm all the bad words," Johnson said. "I don't sleep for two, three nights. I ask "Why did we do this? Why the hell didn't we do that?' But when we win, I'm happy. I don't care if I caught a pass. I had a blast blocking against Buffalo. "I could have gone to Seattle, or Baltimore, or Washington. I could have caught a lot more balls. But I thought Tampa Bay was my best chance to get a ring that I could flash in the face of half the nation." That said, this isn't about whether Johnson is happy or unselfish. This is about the Bucs' best chance to straighten out an awful offense (and Buffalo didn't change that). They have to start by getting the ball to their difference-maker. They have to realize Johnson is something special and start scheming that way. History tells us this: For a team to win in December, it has to get the best from the best. For the Bucs, that's Keyshawn. Psst. He's number 19. Recent coverage
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