Bucs Find Old-School Mojo in New QB

TAMPA -- A very amusing story died on Sunday. A better one might have been born.

We came not to bury the Bucs, but laugh at them with their rookie quarterback and creamsicle uniforms. Instead, the joke is on the Packers.

"I don't think it's embarrassing," Packers guard Daryn Colledge said after the 38-28 loss. "The fact is they are a professional football team."

Just barely. The Bucs were so inept in their first seven games they gave us real hope we'd see another 0-16 season.

It's not that I enjoy watching Raheem Morris suffer. It's just that if you're going to stink, you might as well really stink to keep things interesting. These Bucs will never be the novelty act their forefathers were.

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The original Bucs started 0-26, and a lot of them returned for throwback Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. The franchise wanted to honor the great Lee Roy Selmon and Tampa Bay's 1979 playoff team. But the day's color scheme reminded everyone of those lovable Yuks teams of 1976 and 1977.

In keeping with the era, disco played over the loudspeakers and a streaker jumped onto the field just before halftime. Nudity is the ultimate throwback uniform, and naked is how Mike McCarthy felt as the game went on.

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As galling as it was to lose to Brett Favre last week, at least he has 480 touchdowns on his resume. Josh Freeman had zero. It's quite a feat to lose to the oldest starting quarterback on earth one week, then to one of the league's youngest the next.

But the 21-year-old Freeman was downright Favre-like. That's not to say he's destined to throw 480 touchdown passes in the next 20 years, but Wrangler might want to lock him up as a spokesman before Levi's calls.

"The guy made plays," wide receiver Michael Clayton said. "You can just tell the kid's going to be something special."

Weren't people saying the same thing about Mark Sanchez?

New York was swooning after the rookie's debut. Then he threw five interceptions in a game and people remembered it takes more than two good games to become the next Joe Namath.

Freeman hasn't had that New York hype, but he has had a lot more skepticism than Sanchez. A lot of scouts thought he should have stayed at Kansas State one more season. They were the ones stifling laughter when the Bucs used the No. 17 pick on Freeman.


It looked like the first of many bad moves by the new Bucs regime. Actually, the first was hiring Morris, a 32-year-old who'd never been a head coach -- Tampa Bay was barely competitive in its first seven games, losing by an average of 15.2 points. It went through Byron Leftwich and Josh Johnson at quarterback, neither of whom made anyone forget those great Bucs quarterbacks of the past. I'd mention their names, but I can't think of any.

Well, Steve Young did toil here for a couple of seasons until the Bucs shrewdly traded him to San Francisco . He never looked right in creamsicle anyway. Tampa Bay fans can rest assured the team will not be trading Freeman anytime soon.

He's 6-foot-6, 248 pounds and can throw about 100 mph. So can JaMarcus Russell, but Freeman showed Sunday he has a definite feel for the game. He continually sensed the rush, rolled out of trouble and ad-libbed plays.

"We brought him in here to lead this franchise," Morris said. "I am sure you guys can feel how poised he was out there. He never rattled."

Not even when Tampa Bay trailed 28-17 in the fourth quarter. Freeman threw a 7-yard score to Kellen Winslow Jr., then drove the Bucs 72 yards for the go-ahead score.

It was seven-yard pass to Sammie Stroughter. On fourth down, no less.

"I didn't do anything spectacular," Freeman said. "I just played within myself. I just played my game."

He certainly displayed the requisite dose of rookie humility, saying he made plenty of mistakes and is already just looking ahead to next week's Miami game.

Don't expect him to throw another three touchdowns in that one. The Bucs will be back in their usual red-and-pewter uniforms and the throwback mojo will be gone.

It was good enough Sunday to ruin a good storyline. Now the Bucs are just another bad team. But they're a bad team with a quarterback who looks promising in any color uniform.