Ron Springs Is Surprised, Delighted by Bo Jackson’s Decision to Play Baseball

Veteran running back Ron Springs was as surprised as anyone that Bo Jackson chose a career in professional baseball over the National Football League, but he couldn’t be happier about the decision.

“One minute you’re in a situation where you don’t know if you’re going to traded or whatever and the next minute you’re in the limelight and have an opportunity to control your own destiny,” says the man the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are counting on to fill Jackson’s spot in Coach Leeman Bennett’s new two-back offense.

“That’s a great feeling,” added Springs, who would have been traded to the New Orleans Saints if the Buccaneers had reached agreement with the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner. “I enjoy the pressure and look forward to doing anything I can to help this team win.”

While he’s still considered one of the NFL’s most versatile backs, Springs was released by the Dallas Cowboys last summer and spent most of the 1985 season riding Tampa Bay’s bench. He appeared in 12 games for the Buccaneers, gaining just 54 yards on 16 carries and catching three passes in a one-back offense built around James Wilder.

He envisioned more of the same in 1986 and requested a trade after Tampa Bay announced it would make Jackson the No. 1 overall pick in this spring’s NFL draft.

“I don’t think there would have been enough footballs for me, James Wilder and Bo Jackson,” said Springs, who has rushed for 2,234 career yards and caught 229 passes for 2,073 yards. “And I felt I was too good of a running back to sit on the bench.”

Any trade, however, would be contingent on the Buccaneers’ ability to sign Jackson, who on June 21 announced he would spurn a five-year, $7-million offer from Tampa Bay to pursue a baseball career in the Kansas City Royals organization.

Springs, 29, was watching television in Atlanta when he learned of the decision.

“The deal (with New Orleans) was set and I was ready to go,” he related after a workout at the Buccaneers training complex last week, “and I look up and Bo Jackson’s putting a Kansas City hat on.

“When I saw that I was shocked. I thought the guy would play football and have an opportunity to make big money,” Springs added. “I guess he saw things differently. I may not understand it, but what went through my mind was ‘Hey, this is an opportunity to show people what I can do and redeem myself.’ ”

Bennett is proceeding with plans to use a two-back offense this fall, despite the loss of Jackson. Wilder will be the tailback, while Springs, 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, will play fullback.

“My role here is similar to the one I had in Dallas in 1983--catch the ball inside and outside, run the ball here and there,” Springs said. “I’m expecting a big year if they utilize me the way they’ve been doing in practice.”

The eighth-year pro enjoyed the finest of his six seasons in Dallas in 1983 when he rushed for 541 yards, caught 73 passes for 589 yards and scored eight touchdowns. He said Dallas released him because of differences with Coach Tom Landry.

“You don’t go from starter to released because of ability problems,” he said, adding one of the reasons he signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent last September was he thought he’d have a chance to play right away.

“It didn’t work out that way, but I didn’t get down on myself because I knew I could (still) play football,” Springs added. “I was in a situation where I didn’t want to question them or bring up any added pressure because it was enough pressure trying to win football games.”

Among his goals in 1986 is to recapture the form of his best years in Dallas and help create a winning attitude among the Buccaneers, who have won only 10 of their last 48 games. If Springs does, he could emerge as the kind of leader Bennett has said the team needs.

“I think I can be a pretty good leader because I don’t believe in losing. I don’t like to lose and I don’t tolerate losing,” Springs said. “I think if you have that attitude and can make it rub off on everybody else you’re going to win some games.”