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Bucs Name Little-Known Spurlock Kick Returner

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By ROY CUMMINGS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 3, 2007

TAMPA - The Bucs plan to break out something of a secret weapon for Sunday's game against the Cardinals. They're also hoping to have a couple weapons back that they have been without the past few weeks.

With their two top kick returners out for the season with injuries, the Bucs are planning to use little-known Micheal Spurlock as their kick returner for this week's game.

Bucs coach Jon Gruden also said there is a good chance that tight end Alex Smith (ankle sprain) and cornerback Brian Kelly (groin strain) will be back in the lineup Sunday and ready to go.

Spurlock, meanwhile, is ready to fill the newest void on the team, the one that has opened up when returners Mark Jones and Torrie Cox went down with knee injuries in successive weeks. He's also ready to do something no other Buc in history has been able to do - return a kickoff for a touchdown.

"Every year there's a player or two or 10 that explodes onto the scene in the NFL, and this is this kid's opportunity to do that," Gruden said Friday in announcing the news.

Spurlock has bounced on and off the Bucs' practice squad all season and was finally signed to the active roster on Thursday after the Bucs placed Cox on injured reserve.

He played his college ball at Ole Miss, where he was recruited by Bucs special teams coach Richard Bisaccia, but returning kicks is something relatively new to him.

A quarterback in high school and college, he didn't start returning kicks until he caught on with the Arizona Cardinals, for whom he returned three kicks for 54 yards as a rookie late last year in the season finale.

"He has had some experience doing this - in his back yard," Gruden cracked. "But you have to be confident in your players. And we're going to be confident that he'll do a good job."

Spurlock, who has that one game against San Diego to draw on, spent extra time in shoulder pads after practice Friday working on receiving kicks. He said he also is confident he can give the Bucs a weapon at the position.

"Being an athlete, I feel like anything can be done," he said. "If you teach it to me, I can learn it. And when your chance comes, it's a small window of opportunity, you have to take advantage of it."

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