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Stecker jumps at the idea of scoring in his hometown

By ERNEST HOOPER

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 21, 2000

TAMPA -- If there's one Buccaneer who could risk performing the Packers' famed Lambeau Leap, it's Green Bay native Aaron Stecker.

"Being from there, I think they would allow me to jump into the crowd," Stecker said.

The kick returner has to score to celebrate, and the Bucs have had 1,488 kick returns without a touchdown.

Nothing would please Stecker more than to snap that dubious streak before friends and family.

"That would be so unbelievable I wouldn't even know what to do," Stecker said. "I would probably pass out from excitement."

Stecker played football and baseball at Ashwaubenon High in Green Bay. As a senior, he rushed for 2,157 yards and 37 touchdowns in helping his team reach the state championship game.

This season Stecker has 29 returns for 663 yards, including a 48-yarder, the Bucs' longest of the season.

But he has missed the past three games since hurting a knee Nov. 26 against Buffalo. Now healthy, he hopes to be active so he can complete a lifelong goal.

"It's always been a childhood dream of mine to one day play at Lambeau Field," Stecker said. "I've been there for games, and I've always told myself one day I'm going to be out there playing. Now it's a reality, and it's happening. Hopefully I'll be up this week and get an opportunity to go out there and play."

SOUND BITES: ABC and NFL Films had a microphone on Derrick Brooks for Monday's game against the Rams. It caught heated words from the linebacker, including when he told Rams receiver Torry Holt, "You won't get up next time."

"I actually thought they cut that thing off after pregame," Brooks said. "I found out they didn't. My mom didn't know I talked so much. That's the only bad part about it. I didn't know until after the ballgame when she told me."

REWIND: In 10 of their 15 games, the Bucs have entered the fourth quarter with the lead. They have won nine. In the other games, they trailed four times and were tied once.

They won one of those, 16-13 in Miami after trailing 13-10.

Tampa Bay plays a style that at least allows it a chance at victory. But though the formula has paid dividends, coach Tony Dungy can't help but look back and wonder what if.

"It's kind of disappointing now that we're 10-5 with that in mind because we have been in every game, and that's kind of the way we play," Dungy said. "Maybe some of the wins that we've had we could have lost, too, because they're close games, but I know we can look at the five losses and say a play here or a play there ... .

"But that's the way you'd like to be. You want to be competitive in every game, and this year we have been."

The Jets game, in which the Bucs had a 17-6 lead before losing 20-17, haunts them, as does the Soldier Field Bears game, which was tied 10-10 before Chicago won 13-10.

If the Bucs had won either, they would be 11-4 and need only a victory Sunday to win the NFC Central. Instead, they also need the Colts to beat the Vikings.

A Chicago victory would have changed the Bucs' division record from 4-3 to 5-2, meaning the Bucs could have lost to Green Bay on Sunday and still had a chance to win the division.

But maybe what has helped the Bucs is that they have always looked forward instead of back.

"Our approach has been real good," safety John Lynch said. "Instead of trying to sit back and prognosticate about what has to happen and all the different scenarios, we've got ourselves there. Now we try to better our position by fighting to get a game at home and possibly have a (playoff) bye."

INJURY REPORT: Linebacker Al Singleton, recovering from a sprained knee, is the only player expected to miss Sunday's game.

Receiver/returner Karl Williams has a sprained thumb, but Dungy said he was encouraged because Williams was able to field the ball in Wednesday's practice.

Tackle Pete Pierson, who missed the Rams game with a strained hamstring, is listed as probable, and Dungy said he believes Pierson will play.

For the third consecutive Wednesday, the Bucs did not practice in full pads. Dungy said he thinks that was why practiced concluded relatively quickly.

Recent coverage

Schedule deals a cold shoulder (December 19, 2000)

Dive into playoffs (December 19, 2000)

Here's what Bucs win means (December 19, 2000)

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