Dunn Out To Prove He's Not Back For Part-Time Duty

TAMPA - Welcome to the homecoming that really isn't. At least that's how Warrick Dunn sees things upon his return to the Bucs after six years away.

Tony Dungy was Dunn's last coach in Tampa. He practiced at a rat-infested hovel out by the airport. He shared backfield time with Mike Alstott, and the quarterback was Brad Johnson.

"There are only two guys here from before," he said.

That would be Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber. Neither had a Super Bowl ring when Dunn left town.

But as Dunn came off the field at the Bucs' new training facility after an optional workout last week, it was clear that one important thing hasn't changed. He still wants to play and produce, and he has an unmistakable message for anyone who thinks the Bucs brought him here to be a spare part.

"I would never consider myself a third-down back. It's not my mentality. I don't play the game that way," he said. "I don't think Coach Jon Gruden brought me here just to play on third down. He believes in me, and I just have to go out and prove it."

He will get his chance.

"I see him as being a front-line guy," Gruden said. "He is going to play a lot."

Moved Quickly

The Bucs wasted little time signing Dunn after the Falcons released him in early March. He became expendable after Atlanta signed former San Diego running back Michael Turner to a $34 million deal.

The Falcons, trying to rebuild from the fiasco wrought by Michael Vick and Bobby Petrino, had no need for a 33-year-old running back with a 3.2 yards-per-carry average, even one who has amassed more than 10,000 career all-purpose yards.

Ask him about last season and you'll get a wry smile and a look that says "don't go there."

"I want to try and stay positive - that's how frustrating it was. It was a tough situation. I've learned a lot from that situation, and I'm just trying to move forward," he said. "I try not to reflect too much on last year, because I want to stay positive. I'm in a new situation with new teammates."

Dunn spent five years with the Bucs before signing with Atlanta right around the time Gruden was taking over for Dungy. Gruden openly campaigned during his first hours on the job in Tampa to keep Dunn, but Atlanta offered a lot of money and the Bucs were in a tight fix on the salary cap.

He was productive with the Falcons, rushing for more than 1,000 yards in the three seasons before 2007. Back problems, combined with the Falcons' organizational pratfall, limited him to 720 yards last season, but now he is playing for a coach who has longed to use all of Dunn's skills. And we know how Gruden loves veterans.

"I'm very happy to have him back," Gruden said. "We need him. We need a guy who can make plays. That's the kind of player he is. He is a heck of a receiver, a heck of a running back. He can run it, catch it, pick up a blitz."

Fitting In

The Bucs are going to need what Dunn brings. Cadillac Williams' future is murky as he continues a laborious recovery from a torn patellar tendon, and Earnest Graham's contract situation could explode from an offseason nuisance into a team-altering problem.

Graham has elected not to join the optional workouts while all this gets worked out - if it ever does. It's only May, but Graham's uncertainty puts more of a spotlight on the newcomer.

He's trying not to rush it.

"There's a lot of material there; the verbiage is complicated," he said. "To be able to pick it all up is tough. I think even the quarterbacks have trouble sometimes."

But we know Warrick Dunn around here. We know his skill and what his presence means. He makes plays, and he makes the players around him better. He has made a career of proving doubters wrong, so when he says he didn't come here to be a part-time player, it's just what everyone wants to hear.

And when he says he likes what he sees in his new/old home, you like that, too.

"It's different here than it was before, but it's good to be around some younger guys who are enthusiastic about the game, who are passionate," he said. "You see them out here at practice, trying to get better and be the best they can be. And when you see the veterans here who have played at a high level, it's a good mix."

That mix just got better with the homecoming that really isn't.