Wilder Says He Has a Lot Left to Give Redskins

James Wilder said that by the end of last season he’d pretty much reconciled himself to the fact that his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was over. “I could see it coming,” he said. “They were interested in starting a youth movement. They weren’t interested in me.”

Still, it was tough. He had to admit that this week as he slipped into a Washington Redskins uniform for the first time. He didn’t just play for Tampa Bay, he lived in Tampa, did a few thousand charity appearances for Tampa and was the older Buccaneer the young ones would go to for advice or counseling.

He was articulate, polite and polished, and before there was a Vinny Testaverde to pass or a Ray Perkins to coach, there was James Wilder--one of the franchise’s first stars. And even today, his popularity there is rivaled only by that of a pair from the Buccaneers’ glory days, Doug Williams and Lee Roy Selmon.

“I knew what was going on by the way I was being used at the end of the season,” Wilder said after a day of meetings and practices on the first day of the Redskins’ annual six-day minicamp.

“You realize it’s a business, and while you know that, it’s still a little tough to take. I left a lot of myself down there, and the thing of it is I still have a lot of talent and energy left. I wanted to stay, no question about that. But I didn’t want to ride the bench.”

When the Buccaneers “felt like they had some other guys they had to protect” in the NFL’s Plan B system of free agency, Wilder wondered what his future was. He knew sitting behind newly acquired Gary Anderson would be a waste of his talent. But he also knew that 32-year-old running backs with 5,957 career yards aren’t among pro football’s more precious commodities.

“I didn’t know,” he said. “You know what you can do, but you wonder what others think.”

Others agreed with him: specifically, the Redskins and the Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers. Both wanted him, and badly. He chose the Redskins for a variety of reasons, including playing time. And money. After making $550,000 last season, he stands to make more than that if he stays healthy. The Redskins are paying him a base salary of $505,000, but have loaded the contract with incentives.

“It made me feel great,” he said. “It takes a lot of the sting out of being left unprotected. And if you look at the history of teams like the 49ers and Redskins, they bring guys in they think can help them. It’s a real boost. Winning is something every player looks forward to. A franchise like the Redskins has set a high standard for itself and they don’t tolerate anything less.”

It’s unclear where he’ll fit in. Earnest Byner has been installed as the No. 1 running back. Gerald Riggs will compete for the job, and in some situations both will play. Barring injury or a radical change in philosophy, there may not be a lot of playing time left over.

“There’s going to be lots of competition, and running back is one area we’ll have it,” Redskins General Manager Charley Casserly said.

Coach Joe Gibbs agreed, adding: “We’ll let ‘em fight it out. We knew what kind of guy James is and he’s in extremely good condition. He’s a guy who can line up behind the quarterback and carry the ball a lot. He can catch the ball, he can play special teams. He can play a lot of roles. He’s the kind of guy you like to have on a team.”

Wilder started only four games last season, the fewest of his career, but still produced 100-yard total-offense days against Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Gibbs preaches often that teams are made up of both solid citizens and solid football players, and that surely is one of the reasons Wilder has arrived here.

Before the Redskins and Buccaneers played in Week 7 last season, Washington special-teams coach Wayne Sevier kept noticing Wilder in films of the Tampa Bay kick coverage. Sevier was impressed enough that he called Gibbs in for a look, and a highlight film of Wilder playing special teams was spliced together and shown to the full squad. The message was: If a veteran like this is willing to bust his butt on special teams, you should be too.

“That told me right there all I needed to know about him,” Sevier said. “He wasn’t carrying the ball as much as he probably would have liked, but instead of sulking, he went out and worked hard at what he was asked to do. It was to the point that I wanted to go over and say something to him before the kickoff. To see that from a guy of his stature ... it’s what you want and expect, but you don’t always get it.”

When Wilder was left unprotected last winter, that reel of special-teams film was a contributing factor. Monday, he reported with the other 11 Plan B free agents and 35 or so rookies. Just like starting over.

“I had a bad case of nerves,” he said after fumbling twice in early non-contact drills. “You get going and you want to run a little faster than you should, try to do a little too much. The system, the mental part of it, is falling together. The one thing I liked about the Redskins is that they spread the ball around a lot. They get it to all the running backs, so I’m real excited about that. Right now, I feel like a rookie. I’d forgotten how rookie jitters feel.”