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00:00We make the decision to make a change to head coach.
00:16This was a difficult decision. We felt awful.
00:20You know, it's been great. It's been fun.
00:21The people of Tampa have been outstanding.
00:24We've had great fan support.
00:26We love Tony. Tony was great to us.
00:28But we had to make a change.
00:31We talked to a number of people.
00:33We had a long search that went round and round.
00:36The big tuna at the time, or the big fish, as you will,
00:39that you wanted to catch was Bill Parcells.
00:42All the speculation focuses on the tuna.
00:45Bill Parcells has been rumored to be heading down to Tampa Bay for the past two years.
00:49At the time, you know, Bill Parcells was larger than life.
00:52One of the best coaches of all time.
00:54He'd be getting like Bill Belichick at his prime.
00:56His success was undeniable.
00:58We pursued Bill Parcells.
01:00We had an agreement with Bill Parcells.
01:02Contract in hand, signed, on the desk.
01:05It was ready to go.
01:07But Bill changed his mind.
01:11Every time we'd meet with him after he had decided he was not going to do it,
01:15he would kind of give the impression.
01:17You'd see it in his face.
01:18He'd struggle.
01:19He'd say, okay, maybe.
01:20Let me call my guys.
01:22We weren't going to give up.
01:22And so we continued.
01:23Even though he had said no, we thought maybe he's going to change his mind.
01:28We called Bill up and said, Bill, we want to talk to you.
01:30He was driving, I think, down to Florida at the time.
01:33And he said, I'll meet you at exit 54 or whatever it was at Denny's.
01:37You know, and that's how Bill was.
01:40This is the first time we met him in person.
01:42It's exciting to meet Bill Parcells, legendary coach.
01:45We walk in to Denny's.
01:47Going to sit down, there's like a lamp hanging over the table.
01:50Bill knocks his head against the lamp.
01:52He's slightly embarrassed, sits down.
01:55We have a lunch with him.
01:57Tried to see whether he'd change his mind.
01:59We pushed and pushed and pushed.
02:01You know that point where someone says, I'm just not doing it.
02:06It's a little disheartening, because you kind of knew on the inside,
02:10kind of felt this was our opportunity.
02:12And we felt as though we were running out of time.
02:15It was a big disappointment, but Parcells spurned this franchise twice.
02:19The first time around with Parcells was the year that Culverhouse said,
02:23I felt jilted at the altar.
02:27We are live at Buccaneer Place.
02:29Hugh Culverhouse, the owner of the Buccaneers,
02:31is in the process of announcing the new head coach, Bill Parcells.
02:34I called him at 10 o'clock last night, had his residence at his request.
02:40And he advised me that he had had a change of heart.
02:45So I say we've, now I feel as though we've been jilted at the altar.
02:51I've been jilted at the altar.
02:53For what it's worth, there's no honeymoon.
02:57This is the first time that Parcells leaves the Bucs at the altar.
03:01So now we have to move on and start our search over,
03:05which is what we did back in the 2002 season.
03:07We had an interest in Steve Spurrier.
03:10Again.
03:11Thought we had a good chance and were excited by him.
03:14He ended up going to Washington.
03:16I became intrigued by Marvin Lewis.
03:19Let's keep humming!
03:20I thought Marvin brought a lot to the table.
03:21I thought Marvin was going to be a really good head football coach in the league.
03:25Marvin Lewis was the defensive coordinator of the Ravens.
03:29We didn't fire Tony Dungy to hire the same defensive-minded coach.
03:33You were looking for someone that had more of an offensive mind
03:35or had a track record from an offensive side of the football.
03:38Marvin Lewis is getting what many thought he long deserved.
03:41The Ravens defensive coordinator is to receive a contract offer
03:44from the Tampa Bay Bucs to be their new head coach.
03:46All of a sudden, they're starting to be reporting
03:48that Marvin was going to be our next head coach.
03:52The Bucs are ready to commit to Marvin Lewis.
03:54ESPN.com's John Clayton reports that the Ravens defensive coordinator
03:58will get an offer by tonight.
03:59Unfortunately, I think Rich at the time felt that we were going to hire Marvin Lewis.
04:06Early today, the Glazers informed McKay
04:09they would not authorize the hiring of Lewis.
04:12Lewis' agent says he feels badly that Marvin was the victim
04:15of what appears to be a power struggle between the Glazers and McKay.
04:19That was what led to the first crack in the relationship with Rich McKay.
04:23It's always an unusual time in this league when change happens,
04:33and it certainly was in that offseason.
04:35A little friction now between us and Rich.
04:40We decided to take the search on ourselves,
04:42and Rich was not as much part of the process going forward.
04:45So we just kind of picked up the ball ourselves
04:48and just started setting up interviews.
04:51Which led us to Mariucci.
04:53We had a good meeting with him.
04:54We were also very interested in Nick Saban.
04:58Butch Davis had just come off a monster contract.
05:01And when we talked to Nick's agent,
05:02he says, you wanted Butch Davis money.
05:04We just, you know, listen,
05:05this guy hasn't done anything in the NFL up until this point.
05:08That point is like, if we're going to pay Butch Davis money,
05:11we're going to get the guy, and that's John Rudin.
05:13Good evening, everyone.
05:27Tonight, the Patriots against the Oakland Raiders
05:29in the AFC semifinals,
05:31and the snow is coming down into winter wonderland
05:34at his Foxborough Stadium.
05:37I'm sitting there watching on that snowy night,
05:40knowing our only chance for John Gruden
05:44is if they didn't win that playoff game.
05:47I'm head coach of the Raiders,
05:49and we're playing New England in a blizzard,
05:51and we're going to beat the Patriots.
05:53The game's coming to the end.
05:54It's a close game, and I will never forget
05:57the puddles of sweat in my hands
06:00knowing what was potentially on the line
06:02the result of that game.
06:04Patriot first down at the Raider 41-yard line
06:07with a minute and 50 to play.
06:09They need a field goal.
06:11Woodson showing blitz.
06:12Here he is bearing down.
06:14And Brady calls the fumble.
06:15Beaker dives on the ball.
06:19It's hard for me to talk about that game.
06:22The Raiders have the ball.
06:24Charles Woodson came on a corner blitz.
06:27But that was the end.
06:28There was no doubt that it was a fumble,
06:32and according to even Walt Coleman,
06:34the referee in the game,
06:36it was a fumble.
06:37The play is going to be reviewed, though, Greg.
06:39Why?
06:39He does bring it forward,
06:41but that's not to pass the ball.
06:42He pumped it.
06:44And then, obviously, the league called in
06:47and said that was an incomplete pass.
06:50After reviewing the play,
06:52the quarterback's arm was going forward.
06:54You talk about shooting a Goodyear blimp out of the sky.
07:02It's been demoralizing to the Raiders.
07:04That's what they did to the emotions of the Raiders
07:06and the franchise and the fans.
07:09Snap, ball down.
07:10Kick is up.
07:11Patriots win!
07:15Patriots win!
07:15I was really upset how the season ended.
07:23And you lose on a tuck rule game,
07:25and then your contract gets all wormy and screwed up.
07:31I mean, you're worried about
07:33which direction your career is going.
07:36And then, all of a sudden,
07:38like a light, man, everything changed.
07:41And it happened so fast, it's hard to believe.
07:44So much swirling speculation.
07:47The media speculation is
07:48there might be some friction between him and Al Davis.
07:51And there was a standoff on his contract.
07:54John was a young, dynamic, super successful coach,
07:59offensive-minded.
08:01You know, my brothers were masterful in this negotiation.
08:03Everyone assumed we were hiring Mariucci.
08:06Unbeknownst to anybody else,
08:07we were not interested in hiring Steve Mariucci.
08:09At this moment, the outside world thinks
08:12the Buccaneers are going to hire Steve Mariucci.
08:16And we felt that if that's what the world thought,
08:19that's what Al Davis thought.
08:22When everyone woke up the next day
08:23that it was going to get out there
08:24that Mariucci wasn't coming,
08:26we would loosen our leverage with John Gruden.
08:28We have one night here
08:29where Al Davis thinks
08:31we're signing Steve Mariucci.
08:33And then he would have the fear
08:35that John would not do a new contract,
08:38and the next year he would leave
08:40to go to San Francisco.
08:41John Gruden goes across the bay
08:43to your arch-rivals, the 49ers.
08:45Because that's probably what will end up happening
08:46if we hire Steve Mariucci.
08:48So I called him up.
08:50He was relatively late at night.
08:52And I said to him,
08:54listen, before we go forward
08:57with what we're about to do,
08:58I just figured I should give you
09:00one more phone call
09:02and see if there's something we can do.
09:05He told me, yes, I will do something.
09:09Now, Al asked a price
09:12that he thought we'd probably hang up the phone.
09:15Ton of draft picks.
09:17They wanted Warren Sapp.
09:19Not happening.
09:20Wanted a lot of money.
09:21We negotiated back and forth.
09:23And we said, but we got to sign this tonight.
09:25And it's now or never.
09:27Al was stuck in what he wanted for compensation.
09:30Two ones, two twos, $8 million.
09:32Giving up two first-round draft picks,
09:34two second-round draft picks at $8 million.
09:36Which was unheard of at that point.
09:39That had never been done before.
09:41I got traded.
09:43John, we hadn't talked to John.
09:46He hadn't talked to John.
09:47The only person that ever called
09:49after 11 o'clock at night
09:50was my friend, Mr. Davis.
09:53And he says, do you want to talk to the Glaziers
09:55about the Tampa Bay job?
09:57I'm just thinking, I better talk to the Buccaneers
09:59because I may not have any place to go.
10:02So I called John up.
10:03It's the middle of the night now on the East Coast.
10:07John, love you to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
10:10Interested in doing it?
10:12You know, John Gruden fashion.
10:14You know, damn right I want to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
10:16And we said, but we got to sign this tonight.
10:19We sent him over a document that we wrote up ourselves.
10:22And I have to sign this contract somehow.
10:26Our agent had got us a fax machine as a gift like the year before.
10:30We had never used it.
10:32I don't even know where the paper goes.
10:33Thank God for my wife at 2 o'clock in the morning.
10:36And my brothers were somewhere where they didn't have a fax machine.
10:38So the contract had to go to me and then I had to get it to my brothers.
10:41I mean, this was out of a TV show, what was happening at 3 in the morning.
10:45We figure this fax machine out and we sign a contract in the middle of the night on a fax machine.
10:54We're very, very happy and we want to introduce John Gruden, our new head coach.
11:05So I can say thank you very much.
11:08I woke up this morning.
11:12I had no idea how I got here, but I would like to thank Mr. Glazier and obviously Brian and Joel Glazier
11:21for finding a way to get me here in Tampa, Florida.
11:25I couldn't believe that I was a coach of the Raiders the night before.
11:29Here I am in Tampa.
11:30And I just met Malcolm Glazier for 15 minutes.
11:34I really don't have an exact feel for his vision.
11:37It was just a lot happening, man, in a short period of time.
11:41Our coaches are a little bit in doubt as to what's going to happen to them.
11:46This happened so sudden, but nothing's going to happen to them.
11:49I wasn't allowed to bring one assistant coach with me.
11:52Who am I going to hire as a line coach?
11:54Who am I going to get as a running back?
11:56Who am I going to get to help me with the quarterbacks?
11:58So I was a little bit frayed, to say the least.
12:05But I watched the tapes.
12:07Are you kidding me?
12:08I knew how good they were.
12:09I knew how good Sap was.
12:11Barber, Lynch, Rice, Brooks.
12:14I knew we had the makings of something great.
12:18And all I can guarantee is a lot of hard work and effort in trying to put the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into championship form.
12:26Thank you very much.
12:32Must have been the summer of 1983 season.
12:36My dad came here coaching running backs, and that was still the greatest year of my life.
12:42I was a backup quarterback at Dayton.
12:44I got to go to training camp.
12:45I got to get in some of the drills and throw passes to James Wilder, Jerry Eckwood.
12:52John Gruden, I've been knowing all my life, ever since he was about 16, 17 years old, because his daddy was one of my assistant coaches.
12:59And I remember Doug Williams coming up to me one day saying,
13:02You better put some pepper on that ball.
13:04You're going to get somebody killed.
13:05It was awesome.
13:07That was the greatest time of my life.
13:08That's what really, I think, fueled me to want to be a coach and really pour it on and try to be as good as I could be someday.
13:17The Bucs give up two number one and two number two draft choices, plus $8 million in order to sign Gruden, a Tampa native.
13:25I remember when Gruden first got the job.
13:27He called me into his office, and he said, We're going to win a Super Bowl this year.
13:31But first of all, we're going to declare war on our defense.
13:33How's Monty Kiffin, and Rondé Barber, and Warren Sapp, and John Lynch, and Simeon Rice, how are they going to stop, blast off the Joker right, X short, 22 X drive, halfback burst?
13:41So we finally put the pads on, and we go to a period where we run the ball every single play.
13:54Just a run drill.
13:55We're going to hand the ball off no matter what.
13:57It's a physical run period only.
14:01And on the first play.
14:02Gruden said, Brad, we're going to get them right here.
14:05We're declaring war, and here we go.
14:07I was underneath center, I do a reverse fake, I roll out to my left, I throw a little pass in the flat, and he scores a touchdown.
14:17Boy, it pissed those guys off on defense, and I'm running down there.
14:20Oh, yeah!
14:21Ooh, I like that!
14:22God damn!
14:25Ooh!
14:25Love that!
14:27John Lynch.
14:28What the hell is this?
14:30Ooh, in the hell he think he is.
14:32So I turned to Gruden, I said, yo, man, if you scared, say you scared.
14:36He said, scared?
14:37They've been running boot up your ass for the last three years.
14:41I turned to my two ends, Greg Spires and Sibiot, I said, you got boot, and you got boot.
14:45The rest of us, let's go.
14:46Now I might just go crazy.
14:48Lose my mind.
14:50It was like a mutiny.
14:52Defense was furious.
14:53I loved it.
14:54I think Saf was pissed, but I think he appreciated it.
14:57Hey, I'm not going to be a real patient guy now.
15:00Dance the red right.
15:02The ex always goes away from the call, man.
15:04He gave everybody a crash.
15:06Shit talking.
15:06Kick in the ass.
15:07I need a Z!
15:09God dang it, Daryl!
15:11He was wilding at that point.
15:13We got the Tasmanian devil with us now.
15:16905.
15:17Crazy bastard.
15:18We knew the arrogance with which he operated.
15:21We didn't really want him in our room.
15:22You go coach the offense, you go fix those guys.
15:25Why shift the green right open?
15:27It was about everybody being accountable, especially offensively.
15:31You always run the what?
15:33The what?
15:34The over.
15:35I knew that our offense had a long, long way to go on the tapes that I had seen.
15:39There were a lot of things that had to go on in order for us to have success.
15:43So John was always trying to stoke that fire.
15:45We're working all three levels.
15:47Fullback, you're in the flat.
15:48You got me, Mike?
15:49You guys remember that, fullbacks?
15:51All right.
15:51My agent calls me up and says, hey, do your thing this weekend.
15:55And I'm like, well, why are you telling me this?
16:00Coach Gruden doesn't know how to use you.
16:02So basically, this is a tryout.
16:05Six years in the league already.
16:07Toledo.
16:08There you go, Adrian.
16:09All stop.
16:10Airboard.
16:11That is a pro ball.
16:12He's going to the pro ball.
16:13That is no fullback.
16:15He's more than a power back.
16:17I think it was a six-time pro ball, but I think it was selected as a fullback.
16:21People need to wrap their mind around that a little bit.
16:29I don't know.
16:30I think Mike wanted to be the feature back.
16:32Deep down, he probably wanted to be the guy.
16:35Mike Allstine is a man.
16:37He's a champion.
16:38And once he starts feeling like the A-train, that's what gets his team fired up.
16:43The most popular Buccaneer, maybe, of all time.
16:46I don't think he was really a John Groot fan, but I can't really speak for him like that.
16:50You would have to ask him, but I don't believe he was that, you know, jumping for that.
16:56There was no connection.
16:58Oh.
16:59Oh, really?
17:00There was really no connection.
17:02From my playing days, what if I could assume?
17:06One of the best offensive threats that I've ever played with and against.
17:11The A-train was unstoppable then.
17:13If you don't know who he is, kids, now go watch his highlights.
17:17I think Mike felt pigeonholed a little bit at times, not being the go-to guy.
17:25He's not the first player that felt that way, I promise you.
17:27But you just have a little bit of a built-up, you know, aggression.
17:31Because, you know, you just got to prove somebody else wrong.
17:35I got a lot of friends out there, okay?
17:37I don't need any friends here.
17:38I remember telling the defense, you guys are really good.
17:41You guys have done a hell of a job here.
17:43But if you're so good, why don't you start scoring points?
17:46Break defense and score.
17:47I want nine touchdowns out of you guys.
17:49And then he looks at me.
17:51You've never won defensive player of the year.
17:53So I go in his office and I say, Coach, I'm not a selfish player.
17:58You got to love your teammate.
18:00I'm going to play the game to get my teammates better.
18:02And whatever success I have, I have.
18:05But it's about the team.
18:06And he said, man, shut up with all that blah, blah, blah.
18:10I was like, what?
18:11And he said, if you're elevating your play to be the best defensive player in this league,
18:17by who you are naturally, you're going to elevate everybody else's play to come along with you.
18:23I think the great players, the gold jacket type players that I've been around,
18:30they respond to constructive criticism.
18:33This wasn't something that I pulled out of my ass.
18:36I wasn't just trying to speak off the hook.
18:38I watched the tapes.
18:40He's Tony Dungey, reincarnated as a sailor that wants to go 150 miles an hour offense.
18:46If Tony's here, Gruden's here.
18:48And Coach Gruden was able to push buttons of mine that Coach Dungey probably would have never been able to do.
18:53You know, John took something that Tony built, but he challenged us to take it up a notch.
18:57And I got up.
18:58And I said, I appreciate you, Coach.
19:01He said, now go score nine touchdowns as a defense.
19:04It's just crazy.
19:06Nobody gets nine touchdowns on defense.
19:08We got to score.
19:08He challenged us.
19:09He challenged us.
19:10We got to score.
19:10It didn't happen week one.
19:11We lost week one at the house.
19:13Hey, we don't know what the fuck we're doing.
19:16There's a touchdown on the interception.
19:18I remember walking off with Gruden, looking at him.
19:20I'm like, ah.
19:21But the next week, we went to Baltimore.
19:26Kill him up.
19:29That was kind of our way to jumpstart our season as a defense.
19:32We had never had a challenge that we didn't meet.
19:34Derek Brooks, he could go.
19:36He might go.
19:37He will go.
19:38All the way.
19:39So now we're cooking with fish grease.
19:41Our defense got some turnovers and shut down the Rams on Monday Night Football.
19:46One throw.
19:48Intercepted.
19:48Brooks.
19:49Two weeks in a row.
19:52That defense was rolling.
19:54It was clicking on a different level than it ever had because of John Green.
19:59I remember that ball going to land up in there and I grabbed it.
20:02And you got to understand, me and Brooks, Brooks, his voice is almost like my wife's.
20:09He a doom, doom.
20:10I just flicked the ball.
20:11I mean, I know he's going to catch it.
20:13Intercepted.
20:14Shaft's got it.
20:15And when I'm getting stuck to the ground, I see he got it, I'm like, oh, this is going to be fucked.
20:19Touchdown, Derek Brooks.
20:20Four games in a row.
20:21The Bucs have scored an offensive touchdown.
20:23It just springboarded us.
20:24It just gave us a whole new life and a whole new challenge that John put to us that we had never had before.
20:30One of the most pivotal moments in John Gruden's first year was going back up to the House of Horrors, veteran stadium, against the Philadelphia Eagles.
20:51The build-off Eagles had been the hurdle we couldn't get over.
20:54That's the measuring stick game, you know.
20:56How good is this Gruden guy?
20:58What difference is this guy going to make?
20:59Under pressure.
21:00Big name, under.
21:01Oh, it's loose.
21:02It's loose.
21:03It's going to be picked up by Brooks.
21:05Touchdown, Taylor.
21:06The Bucs are better on both sides of the football than the team that the Eagles have knocked out of the playoffs the last couple of years.
21:15You run into teams that just seemingly have your number, and it doesn't matter what you're doing against everyone else.
21:34I got sacked five times.
21:38I had my ribs cracked.
21:40It was living hell.
21:42That was an eye-opening, bone-crushing loss.
21:47It was humiliating.
21:49The Bucs had every reason to think they were going to end this hex, but it doesn't happen.
21:53He's in!
21:55Touchdown!
21:57I was so confident that we'll see him again, that I'm going on the field, and I'm telling him we'll be back.
22:04We'll be back.
22:05Trust me, we'll be back.
22:07And so we knew if we were going to win the Super Bowl, we knew it was going to have to go through Philadelphia.
22:10They had been our nemesis.
22:13We get on the bus, and I want to explode at this point, because how do we keep losing this game to them?
22:19John Gruden gets on this bus.
22:21He didn't say, Captain.
22:22I got him.
22:25We ain't got shit.
22:26I remember telling Sap, though, we're going to come back here one more time this year, and I promise you, we're going to get after their ass.
22:34We're going to get after these guys.
22:35I started working out of Philadelphia on the plane ride on the way home that night.
22:39I had this thing where every four games, I would assign a different coach, kind of like he was the head coach.
22:50And I remember when Marinelli did his presentation, our D-line coach, one of the best coaches I've ever been around.
22:56He had this thing about pound the rock, and the rock is the opponent.
23:00It may never, ever break, but you've got to believe that it's going to break.
23:04If I toss a hammer to Lynch?
23:06Stay in the moment.
23:07Pound the rock.
23:08If I toss a hammer over there to Sap?
23:10It's hot.
23:11We're going to pound the rock.
23:12Simeon?
23:13It's cold.
23:14We're going to pound the rock.
23:16We freaking pound it every day in practice.
23:18We all start pounding that rock, that opponent together, we will pound a rock, and we will crush that opponent.
23:24Just think about the rock and pound it.
23:27So we had a rock.
23:28Pound the rock!
23:30It was brought everywhere.
23:32I mean, it was brought on a way trip, spent its time in our locker room, and kind of hard to walk by it without noticing it.
23:38So that entire season, that rock spent a lot of time with us.
23:42We kept pounding the rock.
23:43We kept running the ball.
23:45We kept throwing the ball.
23:46The defense played great.
23:47Get that train going.
23:48Get that A train going.
23:50260 pounds playing running back.
23:52I've never seen people bounce off him like that.
23:55He went from right to left to right to left, and it was one anvil smash after another.
24:01Mike was a great competitor.
24:03Phenomenal.
24:05You've got to believe in each other.
24:07You've got to believe in the system, and then you've got to get it done.
24:09But you've got to keep pounding.
24:10You cannot quit.
24:11Brad ended up leading the NFC in passing efficiency.
24:15We in the Sark tank now.
24:16We all Sarks.
24:19One thing that was different was you could see the way John put that offense together.
24:24And, you know, he needed a quarterback to pull the triggers.
24:26Brad Johnson was definitely that.
24:29That throws all the ends.
24:30Oh!
24:30Brad Johnson.
24:32Touchdown!
24:32He was everything in that huddle.
24:37Perfect guy for that team.
24:38Brad Johnson throws the pass.
24:39Caught!
24:40Touchdown!
24:41Tackle away!
24:42Brad Johnson has thrown five touchdown passes.
24:47Great call.
24:47Great call!
24:48Keyshawn had no fear, none.
24:50Zero.
24:51I loved his swagger.
24:53But the combination of rice and sap, that pocket would collapse quickly.
24:59That quarterback would have to move.
25:01He'd run right into Simeon.
25:02They were awesome together.
25:04Let's go do what we do.
25:05Dominate on three.
25:06One, two, three.
25:06Dominate.
25:07I came from a team that didn't love ball.
25:11We had some great players, but as a collective, we didn't love ball.
25:16I'm around guys now that legitimately love ball.
25:20Michael Vick was on fire, and we completely shut him down.
25:24John had complete command of this team.
25:28But I can't even shut him through it.
25:30Vick lets it go, and it's tipped and picked off by Jackson.
25:34Let's go, Vicko.
25:36Let's operate.
25:37Defense may have been similar, but on the offensive side of the ball, this was a completely new team.
25:42Touchdown, Tampa Bay!
25:44John went out and got this talent with Rich McKay and built something special.
25:51I thought our defense all week, you kept your cool.
25:54They talked about the great Michael Vick.
25:56He's a great talent.
25:57How you gonna stop Michael Vick?
25:59How you gonna stop him?
25:59Not one word was said about how somebody's gonna stop this defense.
26:04Remember that.
26:06The greatness of this defense is ahead, or we're gonna finish strong.
26:12John Gruden with a franchise record 12 victories, and he has the Bucs winners of the South
26:17with a first-round buy all rested and ready to go against the 49ers.
26:22You jerk misses!
26:24You jerk misses!
26:25As an offense, we've been in Gruden's system for a while, but it took us that while to understand
26:31exactly what Gruden wanted from us, and we struck lightning in the bottom.
26:37Mike Allstock gets the ball, runs left.
26:39Touchdown, Tampa Bay!
26:40And Brad Johnson and Jurevicius had a great connection.
26:45It is all caught!
26:45Yes!
26:46Touchdown, Tampa Bay!
26:48Touchdown, Joe Jurevicius!
26:50We had a couple interceptions.
26:52We were cooking, man.
26:54We beat San Francisco up, man.
26:56We beat them good.
26:57Now we gotta have our best week of football, and again, it's about us, nobody else.
27:02This is what we've all been waiting for, Philadelphia Eagles, at the vet.
27:10This is our time now.
27:15This playoff football, things are going really well for us, and then life kind of hits the
27:21pause button on us.
27:21My wife, Megan, was pregnant, and the morning after we played the San Francisco 49ers in
27:29the playoffs, woke up to, oh my God, my water broke, and it was a little bit early, and got
27:35over to the hospital, and Michael was born.
27:38And, you know, typically when you hear a baby cry, gets wiped off, you get to hold your baby.
27:44Michael was just kind of whisked off right away, so just kind of already knew at that point
27:48that this wasn't the traditional birth.
27:51Born three weeks premature as Tampa prepared for the NFC Championship game, Michael Jerevicius
27:58is still in the hospital.
28:00His father stayed at his side.
28:03Michael was given 72 hours to live.
28:06Going from a playoff high to here's my first kid with my wife, and now you're gonna have
28:13a kid that might not make it 72 hours.
28:15just kind of hoping that he would have a shot.
28:22You just wanted to wrap your arms around him and try to comfort him as much as you can as
28:28a player.
28:29You know, your heart sank for the guy.
28:31It was a dire situation.
28:33I went in to John Gruden's office just to kind of talk it out with him.
28:41I didn't know whether I was coming or going.
28:43I didn't know what I was doing.
28:44He just told me, go be with your wife.
28:46I had during the week is terrible.
28:49Nobody expected Joe to be there.
28:52I couldn't even imagine.
28:54I asked myself if I would have played.
28:57I honestly don't know.
28:59And I don't know if he knew.
29:01We just wanted Joe to know that whether he come play with us in Philly or decided to
29:07stay back here with his wife, we were going to support him.
29:11Michael had a disease called xylidosis.
29:14The easiest way to describe what xylidosis is, it wasn't properly functioning cells.
29:19At the end of the week, doctor came in and said that you should think about going, that
29:25it wasn't until my mother-in-law and my wife said you need to go.
29:29If he beat those 72-hour odds, I figured the least that I could do is toughen my ass up and
29:35do something.
29:36I just kind of looked at him and prayed and hoped for the best that, you know, it was going
29:40to be the right decision.
29:42I remember landing in Philly.
29:49The first person I saw was Warren Sapp.
29:55And he came up to me and he asked how things were going.
30:07I don't know.
30:08So Warren, I don't know.
30:11That big son of a bitch grabbed me and kissed me on my forehead and said, I got you.
30:14You're going to be okay.
30:16He was one of the guys that when I needed a kind of a pat on the ass and let's get going,
30:22he told me he got me and it started to build a little bit of confidence.
30:26I grabbed my playbook and for the first time all week started to kind of study the game plan.
30:31And I remember John asking me if I wanted to play.
30:35Joe and I talked a lot of trash on the field.
30:38He would give me a hard time.
30:39He wouldn't say, hey, coach.
30:40He'd say, hey.
30:41He had a cuss word.
30:42He called me.
30:43He called me names.
30:44You can give it to me.
30:45He'd call me, hey, dickhead.
30:46Try not to fuck up the game today, moron.
30:49He would say stuff like that.
30:50And he said, hey, dickhead, I'm ready to go.
30:53Just like he normally does.
30:54I couldn't believe it.
30:56We were underdogs.
30:58Coach Gruden had told the team that Philadelphia had already packed their bags and had their equipment
31:01trucks ready to go to San Diego.
31:03I remember some of the announcers of the game.
31:05They would say, you know, in the unlikely event you win.
31:08Here's where you're going to be interviewed.
31:10Philadelphia Eagles were so sure they were going to win.
31:12I never really thought that we would get over Philadelphia because there was this myth in the air about the cold.
31:30And we could only play in certain temperatures because if it dips below a certain degrees, we was going to falter.
31:37The last game being played in Veterans Stadium, so the Philly fans had this big tribute that they wanted to do.
31:47I remember stepping out onto the vet field in typical Philly fashion.
31:53A lot of chirping going on.
31:56We were just confident that this was our time to overcome Philadelphia.
32:01I told the players, we got a great team here.
32:08We got a great game plan.
32:09We've had a great week of practice.
32:11We're going to kick their ass.
32:13John's got them.
32:16If John can score us some points, the Philadelphia Eagles ain't got a snowball's chance in hell.
32:22What an opportunity to silence these fools.
32:24Let's go.
32:25We've been waiting this for this.
32:26We've been preparing for this for all this year.
32:28We're ready.
32:32Mitchell.
32:37Mitchell.
32:41Down to the 25.
32:46Second player of the game.
32:47Touchdown, 11 yards.
32:52Switch down seven.
32:55Oh no, here we go again.
32:59Walked off the field, I said, that won't beat us, fellas.
33:02Seven won't beat us today.
33:03Huh?
33:04You hear me?
33:05And they all looked at me like, we good, we good.
33:06I said, all right, we good deal.
33:08He told us, don't panic, because I got them.
33:11And defense, do your part.
33:13Don't panic.
33:14We're going to win this game.
33:17Coming up here to Philadelphia, playing against this Philadelphia Eagles team,
33:22which has dominated them the last four times they've played them.
33:25We were struggling to get yards, to get a first down.
33:29And there's a particular play.
33:31359, next Slug OC proceed.
33:34Slowly, over the course of the season, this offense has been getting better and better.
33:39I remember when I caught that ball and I got to the 50-yard line, I can actually feel my lungs fill up with lactic acid, almost like they caught on fire.
34:02I felt them burning.
34:07And at that point, he's off to the races.
34:09It's caught, Jerovicious.
34:1135 to the 40, to the 45, to the 50.
34:13Oh!
34:14On the sideline, Joe.
34:1535, 30.
34:16Jerovicious to the 20.
34:1715, 10.
34:18I couldn't believe it, man.
34:19He ran like I've never seen Joe run.
34:22And it was kind of like, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.
34:25He out there looking like Calvin Johnson.
34:27He looking like Megatron.
34:28Ran for 70 yards.
34:29I can still hear Gene Dickerhoff.
34:31I have not seen Joe Jerovicious run that fast.
34:34Joe Jerovicious run that fast ever.
34:35You go, Joe.
34:36You go, Joe.
34:37You go, Joe.
34:38You go, Joe!
34:39You go, Joe!
34:40You go, Joe!
34:41You go, Joe.
34:42You go, Joe.
34:43You got me drunk.
34:44I see you.
34:45You go, man.
34:46I see you.
34:47And it was, uh, cool.
34:53Weird time but cool.
35:03That's the play that sparked our team.
35:10All-star again. Touchdown, Tampa Bay.
35:13I have to go back to Joe Jervicious.
35:16For that young man to have that kind of a play,
35:19I just can't imagine what his emotions are right now.
35:23Asked John Gruden if he was worried about Jervicious missing practice,
35:27and John said, I'm not worried about Joe.
35:30This crowd is stunned right now.
35:36You either feel pressure or you apply pressure.
35:38The next thing you know, we call fire.
35:41Quick throw, Johnson. Touchdown, Tampa Bay.
35:45Brad Johnson to Keyshawn Johnson, and the Bucs are back on top.
35:49It's the fourth quarter. We have a 20-10 lead.
35:53And Donovan's got the ball, and the Eagles are moving.
35:57And Donovan found a way to be superhuman.
36:01Sapp had him dead to rights. Greg Spires had him dead to rights.
36:04Simeon had him dead to rights.
36:05Escape, set up, make a play.
36:08Like, dramatically, big plays moved him down the field.
36:12He had great pocket awareness, McNabb.
36:14And he was driving the Bucs crazy.
36:16And so it was happening.
36:17And we had a lead that would have been cut
36:19to an uncomfortable position.
36:23I have a thing called BTSD, Bucs Traumatic Stress Disorder.
36:30And if you've been a Bucs fan long enough,
36:32you know what I'm talking about.
36:33And you know if we let them in the end zone,
36:36it's not going to end well.
36:38It was that time in the game where the rubber meets the road.
36:41You know, I was getting a little tight
36:43because they were marching,
36:45and certainly they were a good team,
36:46and we were in a hostile environment.
36:49Rondae's just all over the field throughout that game.
36:52Rondae Barber, who's been making plays all day long.
36:55But I haven't seen anybody play better
36:56than Rondae Barber has today.
36:59It was the entire game.
37:00It was every screen fit.
37:02It was every tackle.
37:03It was every time he hit the quarterback.
37:05It was sack fumbles.
37:06It was all over the place.
37:08It was probably one of the better games
37:09I've ever seen from a corner
37:10in the National Football League,
37:12arguably the best.
37:14One of the most spectacular individual performances
37:17I've been a part of,
37:18those moments are dominated by men
37:21that are ready to seize it.
37:26I think Rondae always had a little chip on his shoulder.
37:29You know, his brother was this highly touted running back,
37:31Tiki, playing in a much bigger market of New York,
37:34and here is Rondae, a third-round pick,
37:36in Tampa, Florida.
37:38Rondae didn't have that personality, per se,
37:40like Warren Sapp,
37:42but he just went out there,
37:43and every game you could count on Rondae Barber.
37:48He might have had the most football intelligence
37:50of anybody playing in the league at that time.
37:53He examines film like he's an archaeologist
37:55looking at bones or something.
37:57Man, I just fell in love with his play style.
38:00When I first got to the Bucs,
38:02I was 28 years old,
38:03and I replaced Herm Edwards as the secondary coach.
38:06Rondae was about to become a free agent,
38:08and I probably got a little bit over-aggressive
38:11expressing my view of how important it was to retain him.
38:14We went to dinner at a steakhouse.
38:16I wanted him to know that I would put my hand in the pile
38:18and make sure that he was successful.
38:20He made the decision to come back.
38:22We really delved into dominating the nickel position,
38:26redefining it.
38:27Really, that's how he made his mark.
38:29In 2001, I made a name for myself, finally.
38:33Thief of the Back of the Year,
38:34led the league of interceptions,
38:35and by the end of 2002,
38:39I wasn't going to the Pro Bowl,
38:41I wasn't getting any recognition.
38:42It's as if they had forgotten the player
38:44that I had just proven myself to be.
38:50It's first and goal.
38:53Rondae's acting like he's blitzing.
38:56Rondae had set that up a few plays before.
38:59The one and only Rondae Barber.
39:01He's unbelievable at setting the bait.
39:02And I stepped into this B-gap like I was going to blitz.
39:08McNabb saw it out of the corner of his eye.
39:11And he thought I was going to blitz.
39:12And so he set up his own play.
39:14Who does that?
39:15I wasn't blitzing.
39:16I was just playing cover two.
39:19It's intercepted!
39:20And the 10 to the 20!
39:21Picked off by Barber.
39:26Barber to the 25, to the 30.
39:28Looked in the gap, looked back at Antonio,
39:30because I knew he was going to be sitting there.
39:32The ball hit me in the hands.
39:33It's that simple.
39:35All I had to do was run on a bum-ass knee,
39:38but I had to run a long way.
39:40A lot of people don't know the story,
39:41but Rondae had torn his PCL.
39:43If you watch that film close,
39:45he's kind of galloping,
39:46because his gate's not right.
39:48Right past Andy Reid
39:51and the rest of the Eagles,
39:53who were in absolute disbelief.
39:55Barber to the 30!
39:57Nobody's going to touch him!
39:58Rondae Barber!
39:58Going down that sideline,
40:00that is the quietest I've ever seen in that stadium.
40:02It's the most beautiful sound ever.
40:04You just took all the air out of him.
40:06It was a wrap.
40:07Wasn't no coming back, wasn't nothing.
40:08Like a funeral parlor, it's so quiet.
40:1110-5! Touchdown, Tampa Bay!
40:19My play has been validated.
40:21At that point, I was like,
40:22okay, I'm going to let everybody know who I am.
40:24And so I started pointing to my back.
40:28It was me telling everybody else to fuck off.
40:33But in a lot of ways,
40:35he's doing this because he had
40:37the Buccaneer fan base
40:39and the organization on his back
40:41all the way
40:42from those 1976ers,
40:44the original Buccaneer fans.
40:46That's the greatest play in Buc history.
40:48Holy shit, we just did this.
40:50It just sealed it, right?
40:51It's done.
40:53We're going to San Diego.
40:55Other than my three kids coming out,
40:58that's still the greatest memory in my life.
41:00The Buccaneers are the champions of the NFC.
41:02How about that?
41:04We're going to the Super Bowl.
41:06All the emotions of Philly beating us
41:08all came out.
41:10I've been there since 1993.
41:21I've been called the yucks,
41:22been booed and laughed at.
41:25And to come that far,
41:27knock on the door,
41:28but never go away,
41:29get our coach fired,
41:30who we loved,
41:31and find a way to get there.
41:34We've done it.
41:35We haven't finished it,
41:37but we've gotten over one hump already,
41:39and that's the NFC Championship game.
41:41That was it.
41:42That was the moment you knew you were going to be in the Super Bowl.
41:44Everybody on the county,
41:45pack your bags,
41:46we out of here.
41:47California,
41:48head west, my son.
41:49And that game, to me,
41:50was also the most satisfying game I ever saw.
41:53There was something so magical about that,
41:56because it wasn't just one game against the Eagles.
41:59This was like going to see Rocky 1,
42:01Rocky 2,
42:02Rocky 3.
42:03We went up there,
42:03we got our ass kicked.
42:04We went up there,
42:05got our ass kicked.
42:06Went and beat the Eagles
42:08when it mattered the most.
42:09Hey!
42:10Hooray!
42:11Hooray!
42:12Hooray!
42:12Super Bowl!
42:13Super Bowl!
42:14Super Bowl!
42:15John Gruden,
42:24take one,
42:24Mark.
42:27John,
42:27who's,
42:28in your opinion,
42:29who's the greatest buck of all time?
42:35Greatest buck of all time?
42:38I gotta say,
42:39it's,
42:40I gotta say,
42:41it's Rondé Barber.
42:42The son of this played for 25 years, man.
42:44He played with broken arms
42:46and broken knees,
42:47and
42:47he played free safety,
42:50he played nickel,
42:51he played corner,
42:52he covered kicks.
42:55Barber.
42:56Give me Barber.
42:57Save it.
42:59For myself and for my half life.
43:02Save it.
43:03I've been on my own,
43:04do it for myself, like.
43:05Save it.
43:06From the pain and all the glory.
43:09Save it.
43:10Don't want it to be the same old story.
43:12Save it.
43:13Highs and lows,
43:14I suppose.
43:16Save it.
43:17The higher you get,
43:18the lower it goes.
43:19Save it.
43:20Saving your time,
43:21saving your toes.
43:23Save it.
43:24I've been praying for mine,
43:25saving my soul.
43:26Saving your heads.
43:45Saving your изб tissue.
43:48Saving your body.
43:49The higher you keep your toes.
43:50Take heat, take the league
43:52No fairy tales, no make-believe
43:54This the time when you make do
43:56Or take the reins to tame the beast
43:57Break the rules, we play for keeps
44:00It's that high composition, no opposition
44:03We back on the road, so we back to beat
44:04Back to business, back to wonder
44:06What's the spell that I've been under?
44:08What's the brain without the thunder?
44:10Wake up, you're not slumber
44:12For myself and for my health life
44:19I've been on my own, do it for myself like
44:22From the pain and all the glory
44:26Don't want it to be the same old story
44:30Highs and lows, I suppose
44:33The higher you get, the lower it goes
44:37Saving your time, stay on your toes
44:40The higher you get, the lower it goes
44:44Saving your time, stay on your toes
44:47Saving your time, and praying for mine
44:50Saving my soul
44:51Saving my
45:11You
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