Buccaneer Looking to Reach Next Level

He’s the toddler, still a little wobbly and still a little sore from falling on his rump so often, but if Trent Dilfer ever graduates . . . ah, forget it.

Trent Dilfer remains a stiff until he proves otherwise.

“A lot of people think that,” said Dilfer, a better celebrity golfer, so far, than NFL quarterback.

“But there’s no pressure that anyone can put on me that I haven’t already experienced in the past few years. Hey, basically my job was on the line last year. Everybody knew it.

“And I wanted it like that. I was very excited that last year was a year of redemption for me, that I had the chance to show everybody I was ready for the challenge.

“This year I have another challenge, and I’m ready for that one too.”

Dilfer, a first-round pick from Fresno State beginning his fifth year in the NFL, is being called on to take his game to a higher level, a stratosphere that will allow the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 10-6 last season, to challenge the Green Bay Packers for the NFC Central Division title and greater glories beyond.

The Buccaneers, strong elsewhere but short at quarterback when compared to the Packers and their quarterback Brett Favre, are looking to Dilfer to close the gap, which left Tampa Bay a 21-7 loser in last year’s playoff encounter.

“I made it clear to my coaches,” Dilfer said. “I want them to put it on me. I love it when people say if we go to the next level it’s on me.

“If I do blow it, which I will as everybody does, I’ll have no problem standing up in front of people, and for the team’s sake, putting it all on me. I’ve had a lot of that on me already and I know I’m going to wake up the next morning and my kids are going to give me a hug and the city is going to forgive me as long as I go out and win the next week.”

Dilfer, like Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning, not only came out of college highly touted, but played right away--in Dilfer’s case, making his mark as one of the worst quarterbacks ever to play in a professional game.

“I’m so thankful for the way things started,” Dilfer said. “I feel bad for my teammates and I apologize to those people, but this boy needed to be humbled. It wasn’t just my ego, but I needed to be beaten down to become more mentally tough. I thought I was a really mentally tough person, but I learned I wasn’t. I needed some adversity to show myself I could overcome anything.”

He could have gone the way of Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler or Notre Dame’s Rick Mirer, and been lost forever.

“I thought I was too good,” Dilfer said. “I got carried away. I’ve always been confident, but now that I have been there, so close to failure, I know I also need preparation to make it all happen.

“All the great players have character, maybe not the kind of character you’d like to have your daughter marry, but athletic character. It’s something guys like Cal Ripken, John Elway and Brett Favre have inside them, making them a cut above everyone else. That’s where I want to be.”

His sophomore year with Tampa Bay, he threw four touchdown passes--and 18 interceptions--in 415 passes. But just as remarkably, in one stretch last season he threw 152 passes without an interception, and finished with 21 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions.

“There were some very very bad times,” said Dilfer, who has remained one of the most approachable athletes in football, despite a barrage of criticism for his play. “What I tried to do--with the help of my wife and the people who really care for me--was to make a decision the third or fourth week of the 1996 season, that whatever situation comes up, we’re all going to look at it as a growing opportunity.

“There was no doubt in any of our minds: I was going to be one of the best players in the NFL one day. It was just how quickly can I do that and how quickly can I allow these things that happen to me to make me better and not become bitter.”

The Buccaneers, perennial losers and flopping around under the direction of Sam Wyche in 1995, with Dilfer taking the heat, dazzled the football world last year with Coach Tony Dungy in control for the second season. Dungy, afforded the opportunity by General Manager Rich McKay to dump whomever he wanted, elected to stay with Dilfer.

But Dungy also chose not to let the outcome of each game last season ride on the performance of Dilfer. With a tight rein on Dilfer, Dungy kept the Buccaneers close with a stifling defense and relied on the running of Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn to carry the day.

“Here’s the thing: I won games for us last year by not losing them,” Dilfer said. “This year I’m going to have to go out and win them by pulling Brett Favres, John Elways and Dan Marinos. There will be two or three games, and I’ll get that look from Tony, and I’ll know what it means.

“And if it happens three times, I betcha one time I won’t get it done, but the other two I will. When I lay in bed and think about this season, I think about a bunch of guys working like crazy, and when the chips are down, great players emerging to win the day. And I think I’m one of those players.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Only the Beginning

Trent Dilfer has played four NFL seasons. A look at how his numbers compare to other quarterbacks’ numbers after four seasons.

*--*

Player G Att-Comp Pct Yards TD-Int Trent Dilfer 53 1,365-746 54.7 8,621 38-54 Steve Young 38 671-358 53.3 4,463 24-24 Joe Montana 56 1,130-713 63.1 8,069 52-32 Terry Bradshaw 51 1,079-522 48.4 6,739 41-73 Dan Marino 59 2,050-1,249 60.9 16,177 142-67 Fran Tarkenton 56 1,212-661 54.5 9,409 77-68 Roger Staubach 31 360-202 56.1 2,943 18-16 Dan Fouts 45 985-516 52.4 6,789 30-51 John Elway 58 1,748-9,44 54.0 11,637 66-65 Brett Favre 63 2,145-1,342 62.6 14,825 108-64 Bart Starr 45 550-289 52.5 3,661 19-32

*--*