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Smackdown: Best Family Lineage

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By ANWAR RICHARDSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 14, 2007

Smackdown Results: Offense 8, Defense 5

TAMPA – There are certain children born into legendary sports households and still thrive despite the pressures they face when trying to carve their own athletic niche.

Former Dallas running back Calvin Hill's son Grant Hill became an NBA All-Star; quarterback Archie Manning's son Peyton has surpassed his father's achievements, while brother Eli starts for the New York Giants; Lee and Richard Petty are among NASCAR's best all-time drivers; Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. were the first father-son duo to play on the same team and are legendary baseball players; and Bobby Hull scored 610 goals, while son Brett scored 741 goals.

This week's Smackdown pits Tampa Bay quarterback Luke McCown against Bucs linebacker Ryan Nece to determine who has the ''Best Family Lineage.'' No matter who wins, each will have to take out the trash when they visit mom.

Luke McCown, Quarterback

Sometimes the apple does not far from the tree, but three McCown's fell and landed comfortably under center.

Randy McCown was the family quarterback pioneer and started at Texas A&M from 1997-99. Josh McCown followed and quarterbacked three seasons at Southern Methodist University before transferring to Sam Houston State. He threw for 3,481 yards and 32 touchdowns as a senior and was drafted in the third round (81st overall) by Arizona in 2002.

Luke McCown was the last quarterback apple to fall. Luke set Louisiana Tech records for completions (1,088), attempts (1,827) and yards (12,994), plus threw 88 touchdown passes (eighth in Division I-A history). He was eventually a fourth-round draft pick (106th overall) by the Browns in 2004.

''When it came down to it, Randy was the oldest, we're all two years apart, and when he hit seventh grade and the coach asked who wanted to play QB, Randy stood up. We just kind of followed him from there,'' Luke McCown said. ''Randy has been the guy who has shown Josh and myself, and even my sister [Amy], how to do things in life. He's always been the first one to go through things. He has always been influential in how we approach situations in life because of the example he set for us.''

Josh and Luke learned from their older brother and have used those experiences to their benefit.

This season, Josh has started eight times for Oakland and led the Raiders in two of their four victories. McCown has completed 92 of 158 passes for 1,011 yards, with nine touchdown passes and 11 interceptions, for a 67.2 passer rating. He opened the season atop the depth chart and started the first three games before suffering a toe injury that sidelined him for nearly a month.

Luke resurrected his football career recently after falling to third on Tampa Bay's depth chart following the season opener against Seattle. He completed 29 of 37 passes for 317 yards and touchdowns in a victory against New Orleans, plus was 25-for-38 for 266 yards in last week's loss against Houston.

''During the season, we're very supportive. We do whatever we can,'' Luke said. ''I talk to Josh once a week and Randy once a week, my sister as well. It's very supportive. Very helpful to have all of them because we've all been through the same type of things.

''In the off-season, it gets way competitive again. It's back to playing 1-on-1 basketball in the driveway and playing football in our front yard. It's back to Josh and I working out together and competing, whether its weights, throwing the football, or accuracy. We get to talking about who had the best high school. It's always been very competitive and always will be.''

Ryan Nece, Linebacker

Most people would expect Nece as a young child to pound his chest about being the son of a Hall of Famer, but he was taught at an early age not to let heredity affect him.

''When I walked out the door, my mom would say you're carrying your family's name. You're carrying your name. You're carrying what you represent,'' Nece said. ''Every time I walked out of the house, I was thinking I had to carry myself in a certain way to bring honor to my family. Whether it was my dad or my mom, it wasn't about the last name, per se.''

Nece's family tree is rooted by former San Francisco standout cornerback/safety Ronnie Lott, his father, who is arguably one of the greatest to ever play the position. Lott, a former first round draft pick from the University of Southern California, had five seasons with at least 100 tackles, and surpassed 1,000 in his career. He was an All-Pro eight times and named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team.

Although proud of his father's achievements, Nece was determined to create his own legacy when he began playing football.

Nece was a standout linebacker at UCLA and Butkus Award semifinalists his senior year. Although undrafted, Nece signed with Tampa Bay in 2002, and after 10 starts in 2003, he started in 25 of 31 games between 2005 and 2006.

''I'm happy with trying to be the best player I can be,'' Nece said. ''I'm not trying to compare with the accolades of my father he accumulated over his career versus the accolades I have accumulated … well, Super Bowl Rings, you can compare that [Father 4, Son 1]. I'm going to get a couple of more of those.

''Honestly, it's about trying to be the best player I can be. Whether that allows me to be a difference maker on this team, a difference maker myself as a player, that is what I'm striving to be. It's not about trying to be him. I'm just trying to be myself.''

Nece's individual path has led him to become a special teams contributor this season, and although those were not his father's footsteps, creating his own legacy was a huge accomplishment.

''When I was kid, he was just my dad. I didn't look at him as one of the greatest. I just looked at him as my dad who just happened to play football on Sundays,'' Nece said. ''Now playing at this level, I now understand the demands this job requires of you and I understand what a difference maker he was on the field, and to be able to do that from his position of safety, my hat goes off to him.''

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