There is nothing colder than a football stadium turned silent, nothing in sports quite as chilling as some 67,000 bitterly disappointed fans booing the home team, and perhaps nothing more rewarding for the team that drove them to it.
A lifetime of therapy could not accomplish what Sunday’s 27-10 victory did for a city and a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that confronted its past, exorcised its demons and took its biggest step forward in defeating the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC championship.
“I remember when we were called the ‘Yuccaneers’ in San Diego,” said Bucs tackle Warren Sapp of an instance in 1996 when Tampa Bay was getting ready to play the Chargers. “I said to [Derrick] Brooks, ‘Hey, we’ve got to do something about this, man. This just isn’t right.’ “
“The bottom line,” recalled Brooks, “is we felt disrespected. And it’s so ironic and very fitting that we get to go back to San Diego and play for the chance to be world champions.”
Overwhelmed by the quickness and finesse of the NFL’s No. 1-ranked defense, Philadelphia committed three turnovers, including a fumble by McNabb late in the first half that halted a potential scoring drive at the Bucs’ 24-yard line and an interception of McNabb by Ronde Barber with 6:31 to play that the Bucs cornerback took 92 yards for the game’s final score.
