Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Warrick Dunn is one of the real good guys in the NFL, a person who is universally admired for the way he conducts himself and for the charitable deeds he's done off the field.So it always feels a little uncomfortable criticizing him. But I find this awfully hard to believe:
Dunn and Gruden can't possibly believe that he's the same guy he was when he played in Tampa Bay seven years ago, can they? Dunn is 33 years old and coming off a season in which he averaged 3.2 yards a carry. As a good presence in the locker room and a guy who might help out on offense for five or 10 plays a game, he's a fine addition. But as an every-down back? That just doesn't make any sense."I would never consider myself a third-down back. It's not my mentality. I don't play the game that way," he said. "I don't think Coach Jon Gruden brought me here just to play on third down. He believes in me, and I just have to go out and prove it." ...
"I see him as being a front-line guy," Gruden said. "He is going to play a lot."
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Mr. Smith, I think it's horrible how you've spun this issue. He was talking about his mentality on the field. He never said anything rude whatsoever. Thats called confidence. I think you missunderstood what he was implying.
How do you think a undersized back should act? He's gotten this far (farther than most rb's)in a league full of naughty defenses because of his mentality. Injury free for the most part, I may add.
Yeah it's hard to bash the guy (I live in Bay area)but what you're doing is witch hunting. He never said he was better than anyone else, he just thinks he's still good enough for the first spot. After all, ATL didn't have much of a O-line, and he still played well. So it's safe to say he could bust out 1000+yds with a team that does.
Posted at 2:58PM on May 27th 2008 by don
2. He is gonna have a much better o-line to run behind in Tampa than he did when he was here before,and a lot better o-line than Atlanta
Posted at 3:44PM on May 28th 2008 by scott