Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There was a time, not long ago, when a Bucs player would shudder at the thought of making the police blotter. Tony Dungy, devout Christian and coach who loved ¨character guys,¨ would not tolerate much in the way of bad behavior. General manager Rich McKay was on the same page. Then came Gruden. We loved him at first, loved his fire and his mug and his barbed sense of humor. We loved him most ´cause he brought the Super Bowl trophy to our long-suffering environs. But then came the following year, and 7-9, and front-office infighting, and the Gruden-McKay feud. Chuckie brought in his own guy, Bruce Allen, and damned if the Bucs didn´t start to resemble the Raiders. They cut John Lynch without a hint of ceremony, flirted with free agent quarterbacks to the consternation of Brad Johnson and, most emblematic of all, brought in Darrell Russell, who´s been charged with sexual assault and twice suspended by the league for substance abuse, to replace the departed Warren Sapp. It´s a new Buccaneer era, to be sure, more cutthroat, with none of the warm-and-fuzzies left. But here´s a prediction: If the made-over Bucs get back to their winning ways, fans won´t hesitate to love their warriors in pewter and red.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2004.