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In The End, Griese Showed Icy Resolve

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2008

CHICAGO - We now bring you a late entry for understatement of the year:

Late Sunday afternoon. I asked a Bucs public relations assistant when Brian Griese would be coming out to talk.

"It'll be a while. I think he needs a little ice."

A little ice.

We believe the Bucs put in a takeout order with Antarctica.

The age of Air Griese began on a hot, hazy afternoon in the Windy City.

What wind there was generated by Griese, which threw a near-record 67 NFL passes. More important to Griese and the Bucs, of course, is that they came from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to win in overtime, 27-24.

Still, 67.

Wasn't this guy on a pitch count?

This is how little Jonny Gruden must have drawn up a football game when he was playing in his bedroom when he was 10.

It was madness.

It was insane.

And it worked.

"This is not a recipe for winning," said Griese, who completed 38 of those 67 throws for 407 yards and two touchdowns.

But it happened Sunday.

And it happened to win.

Suddenly, nothing else mattered. Not the missing running game or the defensive lapses that let the Bucs fall behind in the second half.

All that mattered is that this team is 2-1 heading home to play Green Bay.

All that mattered is Griese himself was ice down the stretch. Never mind that he lousy at times Sunday, throwing an interception on his second throw of the game, and two more picks after that. He missed a lot.

But when the Bucs were down, and his teammates were exhausted -- pass blocking blocking and running all those routes 67 times -- they looked at the man who just last week replaced Jeff Garcia and they calmed down.

Griese had never been more tired after a game.

"I've never played in a game like that," said Bucs receiver Ike Hilliard.

And he played for Steve Spurrier at Florida.

"I can't comment anymore, I'm kind of tired," Gruden said.

He's tired?

Griese was so tired, his arm stayed behind in Chicago to sleep over. It'll catch a flight to Tampa on Monday morning.

But the man wasn't so tired that he didn't savor his return to Chicago, which traded him away when it decided Griese was better than neither Kyle Orton nor Rex Grossman. It stung. He has never hid that fact.

And now he doesn't have to hide it.

"This was a big game for me," he said.

He's right. This is no recipe for winning. The Bucs will have to run the ball, as if Gruden ever truly will, and they'll have to settle in on defense. Have you ever seen Ronde Barber beaten like he was a few times in the second half?

But this was an anomaly. Not only that, it looked as if was going to land smack dab in the middle of a quarterback controversy as Griese and the offense muddled along for nearly three quarters. Jeff Garcia, one of the team captains, was listed as the third quarterback and was used only during the coin tosses.

But then Griese and the Bucs went to the no huddle, to the two-minute drill, and it all started to work. They drove down for a field goal and then, in the waning seconds of regulation, a touchdown throw -- Griese to the newly returned Jerramy Stevens, of all people, to force overtime.

Like we said, Griese didn't always look great.

He was penalized for intentional grounding on the opening drive of extra time, and it killed what was a promising drive.

But he kept throwing.

And throwing.

And throwing.

"I've never been in anything like that," he confessed.

The biggest of the 67 landed perfectly in the hands of new Buc Antonio Bryant, who had 10 catches in the game. His last went for 38 yards to the Chicago 6-yard-line. A play later, Matt Bryant kicked it through and the Bucs had their springboard.

And their quarterback, too.

The Ice Man cometh.

Then he leaveth for the ice bath.

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