Reinvention of Rice Former Illini star has something to prove in fresh start with Bucs

TAMPA--Simeon Rice says he is trying to reinvent himself, and whatbetter place for the soft-spoken defensive end to run his experimentthan next to one of the most feared pass rushers in the NFL, WarrenSapp?

Rice, formerly of the Arizona Cardinals, is the latest addition toa potent Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive line, and the 27-year-oldIllinois graduate is intent on extinguishing the "bad rap" he got ofbeing weak against the run.

"I think it's b.s., but I'm in a place where I can show people alot of things. You could say I'm in a place where I can prove thosedetractors wrong," said Rice after the Bucs' first day of trainingcamp at the University of Tampa. "I'd like you all to be pleasantlysurprised when I get out there, so to talk about it now kind ofdefeats the purpose of doing it."

Rice, who was signed as an unrestricted free agent in March, cameinto the league in 1996 with high expectations as the third overallpick in the NFL draft by Arizona. He registered 12.5 sacks as arookie and appeared to be on the fast track toward stardom.

"I think Simeon Rice was on the defensive line of the decade orthe century, wasn't it?" Sapp said. "Him, [Andre] Wadsworth and EricSwann, remember all of those guys? Twenty sacks between them? You'vestill got to go out and perform, that's what this is about."

Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli certainly sees the addition ofRice as a significant upgrade on the right side of the line, which issaying a lot considering the reputation Tampa Bay's front four hadlast year with Chidi Ahanotu at right end.

"Simeon's speed is amazing and very deceptive," Marinelli said."It looks like he might just be gliding until you start to see himpassing people up. He's got real nice timing, great hand-eyecoordination, and he's got real good feel, good instincts."

Rice's best season with the Cardinals came in 1998, when herecorded a franchise-record 16.5 sacks and was named to his first ProBowl. A contract holdout in 2000 resulted in Rice missing the firstweek of the season, and despite leading the team in sacks again with7.5, he wore out his welcome in Phoenix.

"There is a lot more energy and it's definitely very upbeat here,"Rice said of Bucs training camp. "Everybody has a really goodattitude here, and I'm not going to try and do everything at once.I'm going to feel my way, and continue to learn the defense."

Head coach Tony Dungy said Rice reminds him of another successfulpass-rushing specialist who played with the Minnesota Vikings whenDungy was defensive coordinator, Chris Doleman. And he rememberedDoleman was unfairly perceived as a weak run defender.

"I don't know what they [Cardinals] were asking [Rice] to do, butwe feel like he can do what we need to do in our run defense," Dungysaid. "I think Simeon is a guy that, he's learning how we do things,and he's got tremendous ability. He's got to be able to do it down inand down out and week in and week out, but if he does that I thinkhe's going to have a great year."

And that's just what the Buccaneers are counting on.