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Yes, It Really Was 5 Years Ago

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 6, 2008

TAMPA - Warren Sapp, who helped start it all, retired this week. John Lynch, whose hits still echo, might be next.

"That would be something if those two go off together," said Bucs cornerback Brian Kelly, who helped make a championship season with those men of steel.

Was it really five years ago?

Kelly, in his 10th NFL season, turns 32 this month. He smiled. His 10th season lives.

"This story isn't quite done," he said.

The story is the story of the Bucs defense, an endless story, one once written by big stars and now aided by no-names, but whose common threads have names like Kelly, Barber and Brooks.

And so the 17th-ranked defense in the NFL last season is the second-ranked defense in the NFL this season, one more piece of Monte Kiffin magic. So 4-12 became a playoff game today. So some Super Bowl veterans get another chance, knowing the chances are dwindling.

Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber, 32, set you straight.

"When you've played this long, the winning is the only thing."

Derrick Brooks, 34, future Hall of Fame linebacker, loves this journey.

"It's about memories still out there," he said.

Bucs Started With Questions

Barber caused a stir in the New York tabloids - and New York Giants locker room - with his comments about New York quarterback Eli Manning. Actually, it was tame stuff.

Barber all but shrugged - and commented some more.

"Eli looks good at times and he looks bad at times," he said. "I'm not going to lie. That's who he is. His completion percentage speaks to that."

What do you want, anyway?

"I don't mind having some confidence going into the playoffs," Barber said. "We've been loud and boisterous for a long time now."

Was it really five years ago?

"We just had so much fun and fireworks," Kelly said.

He can still see each of his eight interceptions that 2002 season. He sees Barber running down the field in Philly with that history-changing interception, and Brooks taking one home in San Diego, and Simeon Rice getting the quarterback, and Lynch knocking heads off and Sapp doing all that stuff and dancing at midfield.

"We laid down some pretty legendary work that year," Barber said.

Was it really five years ago?

It sometimes seemed like a hundred years for Barber, Brooks and Kelly in the middle of 4-12. Barber can imagine how Sapp was tired of losing in Oakland.

"Playing on bad teams will do that to you," Barber said. "It will instantly make you consider what the hell are you doing with your life?"

This Bucs defense came to training camp with questions everywhere.

"Rightfully so, because of the unknown," Brooks said. "You go 4-12, you don't have questions. You got a problem."

"I didn't know where we were going to be," Barber said.

It came together. It was the coaching, the talent, the chemistry, everything. They knew it was a different kind of defense, with fewer A-listers, with younger guys, some from absolutely nowhere. Let it be known that Greg White led two teams in sacks this year, the Arena ball Orlando Predators and the NFL Buccaneers.

"That 2002 defense was a veteran defense, but this defense is a bunch of no names," defensive coordinator Kiffin said. "Greg White? Greg Who? ... Greg White, he was living in Orlando. It was like, 'Hey, what's your name, want to come try out with the Buccaneers?'"

"When you go down this journey ... I feel it's going to mean a lot more because everybody has to pull their weight," Brooks said. "You don't have to depend on your A-listers as much and if another guy slacks up, everybody genuinely has to pull their own weight. To me that makes it extra special."

Barber smiled.

"We saw it through and stayed who we are."

And earned a day like today.

Getting Old, But Still Having Fun

The Bucs haven't won a postseason game since San Diego.

Was it really five years ago?

"Playoffs never get old," Brian Kelly said. "All week you can envision plays. We're all walking around asking what uniforms we'll wear so we can see ourselves out there on the field."

"We're still laying groundwork," Ronde Barber said. "We're passing on some of our ways of doing things to the guys who'll be doing it years after we're gone."

Part of Derrick Brooks plays for his friends Sapp and Lynch.

"Warren says it all the time, as long as Brooks is there, I'm there."

Was it really five years ago?

And does it matter?

"We're getting old," Brian Kelly said, "but we're still having fun."

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