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Return Elevates Spurlock's Profile

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By ANWAR S. RICHARDSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 18, 2007

Updated: 12/17/2007 11:47 pm

TAMPA - Micheal Spurlock finally had to stop answering his telephone Sunday night after making history a few hours earlier.

Spurlock amassed nearly 20 missed calls and more than 50 text messages. If President Bush had called to congratulate him, or Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio wanted to let him know she was giving him a day, Spurlock would have answered.

But it was impossible for the Bucs' kick returner to keep up with the well-wishers.

"I've gotten calls from people who I don't even know how they got my number. I didn't even know who was on the other end," Spurlock said. "I just had a conversation and they said, 'Congratulations.' I just knew they were from back home because it was a 662 northern Mississippi area code.

"It's been crazy."

Such is the new life for Spurlock after his score on a 90-yard return Sunday against Atlanta made him the first player in franchise history to return a kickoff for a touchdown. People locally want to speak with him. Others want to hear him talk about the historic run that helped Tampa Bay defeat Atlanta 37-3 and clinch the NFC South.

The craziest text message Spurlock received came from a childhood friend in Miami who wanted to know if Sunday's kickoff return topped when they won a Pony League baseball state championship when they were 13.

"I was like, 'I'll let you figure it out,'" Spurlock said.

Spurlock has gone from obscurity to notoriety in a little more than the 13 seconds it took him to score and break into Tampa Bay's record book.

When Spurlock went to the Blue Martini bar/restaurant at International Plaza on Sunday to celebrate, it marked the first time he was recognized for a sporting achievement since being a standout quarterback at Ole Miss.

"It was funny because there were TVs on in there and I thought, 'Nah, they won't show it,' " Spurlock said. "Then all of sudden it started coming on and everybody was looking at me and saying congratulations."

And, he thought, "Oh, let me sit down before everybody starts to come over."

Willie and Patsy Spurlock, his parents, celebrated their wedding anniversary on Friday and attended Sunday's game. Micheal was unsure how many years they have been married, but he was positive the number is nowhere near 1,865, the number of kickoff returns by Tampa Bay before finally scoring, or 140, the number of different kickoff return men used by the Bucs.

Patsy Spurlock usually attends all of her son's games, but this time Micheal insisted they both attend. As Micheal drove to Tampa International Airport at 7 a.m. Monday to drop off his parents, his mom asked to stop at a store for the newspaper. She was hopeful her son's achievement would be mentioned and they would have a small memento. But the Spurlock family found more coverage about the kickoff return than what most newspapers devote to their election coverage.
Micheal Spurlock later went to another store with his cousin and bought every newspaper available before heading over to One Buc Place to watch his return once again on ESPN.

"I'm going to watch it until they take it off television," Spurlock said. "I hope they never take it off."

When the replay is no longer shown, Spurlock probably will be able to answer his phone again.

Reporter Anwar S. Richardson can be reached at (813) 259-8425

or arichardson@tampatrib.com

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