Coaches Respected Him As A Throwback Along with his A-Train whistle, former Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Shula has memories of dialing up plays for Mike Alstott that he hopes he never loses. "He was one of my favorite players to coach," Shula said during a break in workouts at the Senior Bowl this week. "He was a guy who was just full of life and a love for the game that was pretty much unmatched." From Shula to Andy Reid, coaches and executives all over the NFL could do nothing but compliment Alstott upon hearing that he was retiring after 12 years of bulldozing his way through the league's defenses. Some, such as Lions president and CEO Matt Millen, labeled Alstott a throwback to a golden age. Others, such as Mike Tice, whose Vikings often struggled to stop Alstott, labeled him a pain in the neck. Some just said he was a pro. "No doubt, this is a sad day for the game," Carolina Panthers coach John Fox said. "The spirit he brought to the field and the way he conducted himself off the field was special. The NFL is losing a real pro." Alstott's career spanned 12 seasons, six of which ended with him representing the Bucs in the Pro Bowl. During that time, he scored more touchdowns than any other Buccaneer (71) and he ran for more yards than all but one Buc, James Wilder. With numbers like that, you would think some rival coaches would be happy to see Alstott leaving the game. Like Fox, though, most expressed only sadness over his decision to walk away. "He's been absolutely great for the game," Reid said. "He was everything you'd ever want in a fullback in the National Football League. He played every down hard and was a great competitor." Alstott's competitiveness is not what he will be most remembered for. Rather, it was his toughness and uncanny ability to bounce off defenders and carry several of them with him before going down. "He was a pain to stop," said Tice, who once watched helplessly as an assistant coach from the Vikings sideline as Alstott ran for 129 yards and three touchdowns on Oct, 28, 2001. "He was a tremendous runner. You needed more than one guy to bring him down. He was very consistent, very passionate; he played the game the right way, with class. Guys like me, NFL historians, are happy for guys like that." What made Millen happy was that Alstott found a way to play old-style football during a new age. He said he always was more impressed by that than Alstott's ability. "He was a throwback guy who found a way to play in today's game, and to me, that's a football player," Millen said. "He could have played with Chuck Bednarik, and yet he's playing now. He's just one of those guys that even 10 years from now, if you took him and threw him in there somewhere against someone, he'd still fit in. That's what I always liked about Mike, and that's how I'll always remember him." Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune 25January 2008