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Griese Back In His Comfort Zone

Tribune photo by CLIFF McBRIDE

Brian Griese fires a pass against the New England Patriots in preseason action.

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2008

TAMPA - It does not have a dramatic nickname, because those tend to be reserved for moments that define championship seasons. This one defined only a career.

Fourth quarter, 1:52 to play; the Bears had the ball on their 3-yard line trailing the Eagles by four points on the road with a raving Philadelphia crowd. That's how it started. By the time it ended, it had become the stuff of legend. So had Brian Griese.

Some in Chicago will go to their graves saying he engineered the drive virtually by himself after the headset connecting Griese with Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner suddenly went on the fritz, forcing Griese to call most, it not all, of the plays.

Griese doesn't want to get into it. He doesn't have to. What Griese did in a minute and 43 seconds on that drive, taking the Bears 93 yards in 11 plays to a winning touchdown on 15-yard pass to Mushin Muhammad, pretty much speaks for itself.

"It was amazing," said John Gilmore, a Bucs tight end who watched that drive from the Bears' sideline last Oct. 21. "Whether Brian was the guy calling the plays or not doesn't matter. Your job in that situation is to put your team in position to win, and that's what he did. But that's the type of guy he is."

Gilmore's last point is debatable. After all, there must be a reason Griese has played for four teams in his 11-year career.

But there also is a reason Griese is back for a second stint in Tampa Bay, scheduled to start today's critical home opener against the Falcons in place of Jeff Garcia. Griese is a brainiac quarterback, the type who processes information quickly and makes smart decisions.

Just the type of quarterback Coach Jon Gruden likes. "He's a hell of a football player," Gruden said. "He's confident, he's smart - third-down-and-4, he's got a plan. He's always thinking ahead, and he's got a real good clock in his head, a good playing clock. He doesn't take a lot of sacks, he's got great anticipation ...."

Gruden doesn't stop there. He continues gushing over Griese for another minute or so, saying what a tremendous situational player he is and pointing out the fact Griese completed 67 percent of his passes his first time around as a Bucs quarterback. He could throw in the fact the 97.5 passer rating Griese posted in 2004 is the highest in Bucs history for quarterbacks making 150 pass attempts, but he doesn't. He doesn't have to. You already get the idea.

Gruden is fascinated with Griese. Listen to him long enough and it seems he is more enamored with Griese than with any quarterback he has coached. The only possible exception is Rich Gannon, whose career Gruden revived in Oakland, with emphasis on the word possible.

Mention Gannon and Griese in the same sentence and Gruden doesn't wave off the suggestion they are similar. All he says in dispute is Gannon was 34 when Gruden first got him, and Griese is now 33.

"He sees it fast," Gruden said. "He has this ability to get up there and read the defense and see the play and make the play. I mean, we were 5-1 when he got hurt here the first time."

The first time. The Bucs brought Griese in to be a backup in 2004, too.

That came after it became clear he was not the next John Elway in Denver, where he played his first five seasons, and not the next Griese in Miami, where he played one season attempting to follow in the footsteps of his father, Bob, who quarterbacked the Dolphins in the 1970s. Both teams released him.

But after five games with the Bucs in 2004, Griese became the starter. He played in 11 games, posting a 97.5 passer rating despite the team's 5-11 record. The 2005 season began 4-1, and Gruden still marvels at it.

"Not to knock any of the guys we had then, but let's face it," he said, "we didn't have the offensive line we have now. Alex Smith was a rookie. B.J. Askew wasn't here. He still moved the team."

Yet, the Bucs let Griese go at the end of the year, refusing to give him the salary bump he wanted after he tore apart his knee in the sixth game of the season.

Gruden still winces at the mere mention of it. So does Griese. He never wanted to leave the Bucs. He says he found his comfort zone here, with Gruden, with Gruden's system.

"I've always felt comfortable with Jon," Griese said. "I've always felt comfortable in his system. I think we have a mutual respect for each other."

In 17 games for Tampa Bay, including 16 starts, Griese had a 10-7 record while completing 345 of 510 passes for 3,768 yards and 27 touchdowns. It's no wonder Gruden is eager to put him back in his lineup.

"There were days in camp this year where he was on fire," Gruden said. "I've just always liked him. And if you ask our players what they think of him, they'll tell you, this guy can play."

Though Griese was never really given a chance to beat out Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton in Chicago, at least one teammate was impressed.

"He brings a lot of energy to the table, and he knows how to keep the guys going," said Gilmore, the former Bear in his first season with the Bucs. "The thing that I've always noticed about him is he's very poised."

He certainly was poised running that two-minute drill against the Eagles last year. The drive was comprised of nothing but pass plays. Griese completed seven, threw two incompletions and spiked the ball twice. He was unflappable.

"You make your name as a quarterback by what you do in the fourth quarter, especially when you're down by four with a minute-and-a-half left and you're on your own 3-yard line," Griese said. "That's as tough it gets for a quarterback, because you have to execute and you have to convince your team that you're going to prevail in that situation."

He's already convinced Gruden. Starting today, he gets the chance to convince everyone else.

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979 or rcummings@tampatrib.com.

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