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As Fate Would Have It

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 6, 2008

Dog-Day Afternoon

Falcons QB Michael Vick was indicted and eventually incarcerated for his involvement in a dogfighting ring, pretty much ruining NFC South rival Atlanta's season before it even started.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Free-agent quarterback Jeff Garcia was in Oakland and minutes away from signing with the Raiders when his cell phone rang. Jon Gruden was on the other end. The rest, as they say, is history.

Best Buy's Loss Is Bucs' Gain

A year ago, Greg White was working at a Best Buy store in Orlando and playing for that city's Arena Football League team. The coach of that team, the Orlando Predators, is Jay Gruden, brother of Jon Gruden. Jay finally convinced Jon to take a chance on White to help Tampa Bay's pass rush - and White became one of the surprises of the season.

Mr. August Becomes Mr. October

When Cadillac Williams went down with a serious knee injury in the fourth week of the season, and Michael Pittman followed with an ankle injury a week later, things could have fallen apart in the running game. As it turned out, the Bucs finally found their all-purpose back in Earnest Graham. The former University of Florida back had excelled in the preseason for three years but was relegated to special teams once the real season started. He would have rushed for more than 1,000 yards if the coaching staff hadn't decided to rest the starters the last two weeks.

Backup QB Bonanza

Because of a rash of injuries, the Bucs faced eight backup quarterbacks this season: David Carr (Carolina), Quinn Gray (Jacksonville), Kurt Warner (Arizona), Byron Leftwich (Atlanta), Sage Rosenfels (Houston), Chris Redman (Atlanta), Shaun Hill (San Francisco) and Matt Moore (Carolina). Of course, Gray, Rosenfels, Hill and Moore actually led their teams to victory.

Starting QB Breaks

The Bucs faced the Rams a week after Marc Bulger received a rib injury that all but prohibited him from throwing the ball as Tampa Bay easily beat St. Louis. And, Tennessee's Vince Young was chased out of bounds on a third-quarter play and pulled up limping. Young, who suffered a quad strain, never returned and the Titans lost.

What Was He Thinking?

With 3:36 remaining, a first down near midfield and the Bucs out of timeouts, all the Saints, leading by 3, had to do to secure a victory was have quarterback Drew Brees hand off for three straight plays, then punt and pin Tampa Bay deep in its territory. Instead, New Orleans coach Sean Payton got cute, had his team attempt a reverse and disaster struck as wide receiver Devery Henderson could not handle Reggie Bush's errant toss. The Bucs recovered, scored five plays later and had beaten back the one team that may have had a chance to catch them in the division.

Soft Schedule

A Bucs schedule judged 27th in the league in terms of difficulty heading into the season lived down to its billing. The NFC South was the worst division in football. Tampa Bay played only one other division winner (Seattle) and defeated only two teams (Tennessee and Washington) with a winning record.

What A Turkey

Three days after Thanksgiving, Washington coughed up the football four times in the first half against Tampa Bay to fall into a 19-3 hole. Then, as the Redskins attempted to rally in the second half while holding the Bucs to 15 total yards, their effort fell short as quarterback Jason Campbell underthrew two passes for two late interceptions.

Weather Report: Sunny And Warm

The Bucs, who still are no friends to the cold, were blessed with pleasant weather or domed stadiums for all of their games.

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