MONDAY NIGHT NOTES

IT’S RAMS-BUCS ON MONDAY NIGHT.  IT SHOULD BE TIGHT   

Three consecutive meetings on Monday nights…with an NFC Championship Game thrown in! 

That’s the background as the St. Louis Rams host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week on ABC’s NFL Monday Night Football.  The teams met on Monday night each year from 2000-02 and preceded that series with a thrilling NFC Championship Game in 1999, won by St. Louis 11-6 en route to a victory in Super Bowl XXXIV. 

The average margin of victory in those four games – 6.75 points.

The Rams enter Monday’s matchup on the heels of a stirring 33-27 overtime victory at Seattle, rebounding from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to capture the win.  Quarterback MARC BULGER directed the comeback, completing 10 of 16 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns on the Rams’ final four possessions.  His 52-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver SHAUN MC DONALD was the game-winner.

“You just have to keep plugging away, even if it’s not one of your best days,” says Bulger.  “Even before I was starting, I watched the Rams’ teams in 2000 and 2001, and they could just come back quick.  It doesn’t work all the time, but this team never quits.”

The Rams’ comeback last week from 17 points down with less than six minutes remaining was the second largest of its kind in that time span in history.  The first is one the Buccaneers remember well.  It happened last season on a Monday night when the Indianapolis Colts rallied from a 35-14 hole to stun Tampa Bay 38-35 in overtime.

The largest deficits overcome with less than six minutes remaining in regulation -- all in the last two seasons:

* Monday Night Football

The Buccaneers earned their first win of the season last week, a 20-17 road victory over New Orleans.  Quarterback BRIAN GRIESE came off the bench to relieve an injured CHRIS SIMMS, completed 84.2 percent of his attempts (16 of 19) for 194 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, and finished with a 126.8 passer rating.

“Brian was outstanding, completing 16 of 19 in a very tough, hostile place to play,” said Bucs head coach JON GRUDEN.  “He’s a quick study and he has a history in the league that’s very impressive.  He’s a 29-year-old guy that we’re very excited about.”

Griese is no stranger to the Monday night stage.  He made his first start with both the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football.

As Griese prepares for his third starting debut on Monday night, a look at how he fared in his two previous “firsts”:

MONDAY NIGHT MUSINGS – TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS AT ST. LOUIS RAMS

FIGHTING FOR A CURE

• Rams head coach MIKE MARTZ has become one of the leading advocates in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease after watching his mother suffer from the illness for several years before she died.

In April 2003, Martz was invited to testify before the Missouri House of Representatives on the emotional and financial devastation caused by Alzheimer’s.

“In St. Louis, we have found that a high-powered offense wins football games,” said Martz in his testimony.  “Now is the time for Congress to line up on the offensive against Alzheimer's disease.  I am here to ask you to execute the game plan that will defeat Alzheimer's.  It is time for Congress to take the offense against the disease.”

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver TERRELL OWENS, then with San Francisco, appeared with Martz to testify.  Owens’ grandmother has the disease.

This June, Martz and Grammy Award-winning singer KATHY MATTEA, whose mother is battling the illness, spoke at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute Gala in Charleston, West Virginia.  The affair, to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research, was chaired by West Virginia Senator JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, whose mother died of the disease.  

SUSHI TO POPEYE’S

• Buccaneers running back MIKE ALSTOTT and tight end DAVE MOORE co-own Island Way Grill, an elegant restaurant in Clearwater, Florida that features Asian cuisine as well as Sushi and raw bars.

But if it’s chicken you want, visit Rams running back MARSHALL FAULK’s Popeye’s Chicken outlet in Houston, Texas.

FARMER’S MARKET 

• He’ll supply restaurants with their fare.  Rams guard ADAM TIMMERMAN owns a working farm in Cherokee, Iowa with more than 125 cattle and acres of soybeans and corn.  Each spring, Timmerman returns home to help his family plant crops on their 800 acres of land.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

• Tampa Bay cornerback RONDE BARBER and his twin brother, running back TIKI of the New York Giants, experienced febrile seizures in tandem from the ages of 2-5.  Doctors told their mother GERALDINE that it was extremely rare for twins to have seizures in unison, and that the boys could never participate in contact sports.

Thankfully for the NFL, the Barber Boys proved science wrong and went on to excel in organized sports.

From an early age, Mrs. Barber made sure her sons understood that a good education was more important than participation in sports.  Apparently they got the message.  Tiki was the valedictorian of the twins’ high school class in Roanoke, Virginia with a 4.0 GPA, and graduated with a degree in commerce from Virginia.  Ronde graduated with a business degree from the McIntyre School of Commerce at Virginia.

Geraldine maintains that despite both of her sons’ success in the NFL, her proudest moment was watching Ronde and Tiki graduate from college.

When the brothers were selected in the second (Tiki) and third (Ronde) rounds of the 1997 NFL Draft, Tiki told his mother, “I want you to quit your job tomorrow.  Ronde and I will take care of you now.” 

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