Former Buccaneer QB Trent Dilfer has officially retired from the NFL. He was wrestling with the thought of retiring this off-season and that decision became much easier when he tore his ACL in a pick-up game. Before I start reminiscing about Trent Dilfer’s Career as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, this says everything you ever needed to know about his tenure in Tampa:
If I could only pick one word to summarize Dilfer’s stint with the Bucs it would be: "Frustration". I started following the Bucs exclusively in 1997, the year Warrick Dunn made his debut. Like most kids I had converted over from following the 49ers/Cowboys as that’s all my father would watch and so naturally I grew to love the offensive side of football. Trent Dilfer single handedly ruined my love for Offense and converted me into a Defensive fanatic, thanks Trent (I guess Kiffin had a hand in that as well). Don’t get me wrong, Dilfer is a great guy, being a great character guy doesn’t make you a good NFL Quarterback.
He never made the adjustments needed to field a consistent (or entertaining) offense. Granted Head Coach Tony Dungy was pretty stubborn in his offensive schemes and to be honest I think he was a little pressed for talent much like Jon Gruden currently is in terms of the Wide Receiving Unit. Jacquez Green, Alvin Harper, Bert Emanuel, and Reidel Anthony don’t exactly strike fear in Defenses. But the burden in large part falls on Dilfer’s shoulders. I remember him being a tease, a guy who would keep you in the game, but (like clockwork) would give up a big interception and that was it; over and over again. I hated Trent Dilfer (although he was strong and resilient) at times along with Tony Dungy. It seemed as if they went out there week after week with the exact same game plan. Were it not for the defense, the Bucs would have continued to be a laughing stock in the league.
As much as I didn’t want any part of Dilfer’s tenure in Tampa, I was extremely happy when he took the Ravens to the Super bowl and won. He was probably the most deserving player in all of the NFL considering his hardships. I’m still baffled as to why the Baltimore Ravens did not bring him back the following season and elected to go with Elvis Grbac, oh Brian Billick. Although I loathed Dilfer’s career as a Buccaneer, I’m also grateful to him as Chestnut said in his Fan Post, the struggles throughout the Dilfer era made 2002’s Super bowl Championship that much sweeter. Good Luck in Retirement Trent!!! You were/are a class act…
NoahChestnut:
I am on a former first round Buc's roll. This just in - Dilfer tore his Achilles. He will soon be officially done with the league. Rumor had it that he might have wound up playing for the Raiders this year. I've always liked Trent as a person and I always thought that he would have made a better linebacker than quarterback (he made some great tackles after some of those picks). Like Dunn or Jurevicius, Trent is one of the good guys in the NFL and it is sad to see his career end on this note. I wish him a quick recovery and lots of good golf.
If you have any great memories of Dilfer post them. I know that there are a ton of bad ones, but at the end of the day, suffering through all of his mistakes just made 2002 that much sweeter.