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End Of The Line?

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By ROY CUMMINGS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 10, 2007

Updated: 08/10/2007 12:23 am

TAMPA - This time, Mike Alstott didn't vow to come back and play again. He couldn't - perhaps because he can't.

A second injury to the discs in Alstott's neck almost assuredly has brought an end to the 'A-Train's' glorious 11-year career. But the Bucs fan favorite who couldn't even say 'I can't' without choking back tears on Thursday wasn't ready to say 'I quit' either.

'It's maybe something that's a block in my mind right now,' Alstott said of contemplating retirement. 'I just have to cope with the situation at hand.'

The situation at hand does not seem as dire as it was four years ago, when a hit he took during a game against the Indianapolis Colts led to surgery on two herniated discs and Alstott's first stint on the injured reserve list.

Though this latest setback has forced him back onto the injured reserve list, thus ending his season, Alstott's latest neck problem will not require surgery to correct, he said, and could heal over time with rest.

That's just one reason why any decision regarding Alstott's future is at least a few weeks, if not a few months, away. The other reasons are not tied to Alstott's physical state, but to his emotional state.

At a time when other players might be walking away from the game, when friends, family and doctors may be suggesting that Alstott do just that, the six-time Pro Bowler all but admitted he still needs what the game provides.

'When you put that helmet and jersey and pads on and you run out of that tunnel in front of 70,000 or 80,000 people - the truest fans in the world - and they're screaming and hollering your name, there's no better feeling,' Alstott said. 'So I'm going to be a part of this football team. It's my team. It's Derrick Brooks' team. It's Ronde Barber's team. We grew up in this organization together. The thing is, they need me and I need them.'

Alstott, 33, will fill a need this year. He said he plans to work with the Bucs running backs and linemen - rookies and veterans alike - in an effort to push the Bucs back toward prominence. It's a role similar to the one he was preparing for anyway. A player whose workload in recent seasons has been roughly half of what it was previously, Alstott was slated to be little more than a specialist.

But with a new one-year, $1.5 million contract, he came to training camp two weeks ago with the same attitude he carried when he was one of the offense's main cogs.

'I was ready to play football this year,' he said. 'My mind-set was, 'I'm playing this game; I'm helping this team; I'm going to do what I have to do.'

'It's not like I went out there and the body wasn't working for me. Camp was going great. I was playing well. But some things in life don't allow you to do some things some times.'

When that something actually occurred is hard to determine. All Alstott knows for sure is that after a few days in pads, he started to feel some general soreness throughout his body. When that general soreness began to subside and the soreness in his neck remained, Alstott became concerned. So did the Bucs, who immediately began running Alstott through a battery of tests.

After conducting a series of exams, including MRIs, Bucs medical officials conferred with Alstott's personal neck surgeon, Dr. Joe Maroon, who advised Alstott sometime Wednesday.

'It's fortunate - a blessing in disguise as far as the symptoms and stuff like that and to catch it,' Alstott said.

Other than to say it was in 'a new spot,' and the result of stress in the neck area, Alstott did not provide much detail on the latest injury. He did say, however, that it was not associated with the injury he suffered in 2003.

That injury was diagnosed as a compressed disc lodged between the C5 and C6 vertebrae. A cadaver bone was put in its place and a small titanium plate was inserted to hold the pieces together.

Bucs coach Jon Gruden, who has been criticized for his use of Alstott in recent seasons, said in a statement that the loss of Alstott is a 'difficult situation.'

'His loss will be felt not only on the field, but in the locker room,' Gruden said. 'We benefit from his steady influence on a lot of our younger players. He will remain a valuable member of our team.'

'We have to pick up the slack,' Bucs general manager Bruce Allen said. 'Alstott is a key player on our football team. And as a football player, his leadership role won't change. His effect on the team emotionally won't change. But we will be missing the football player.'

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979 or rcummings@

tampatrib.com.

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