Catching up with Randy Hedberg After Steve Spurrier retired at the end of the winless 1976 season, the Buccaneers had no less than six QBs in camp the following season trying to lead the team into its second season And the man who won the job was 8th round pick Randy Hedberg from tiny Minot State college in North Dakota. After leading the Bucs to a 14-3 pre-season win over the then-Baltimore Colts, "Why not Minot?" buttons started appearing around Tampa and coach John McKay named Hedberg as his starter for the season opener in Philadelphia. "I was very young when my time in Tampa occurred and there are many things that I would do differently" remembered Hedberg earlier this week. "One thing I would not change is getting drafted by the Bucs. It was a great experience and one that I still remember in a fond way." Hedberg was initially given the No.11 shirt and is listed with that in the Bucs' 1977 media guide but the story of his switch is a good one. " I remember during my first training camp in 1977, there were about 6 QBs in camp and I had a duplicate practice jersey. One day early in camp the equipment guy came up to me and mentioned that tomorrow I would wear #14 because the current player in that jersey was going to be cut today. " I did some checking into that story and the player in question was the quickly-forgotten WR John Williams who never appeared in an NFL game for any team. "Another good memory was going to my first pre-season game and being just a tad nervous and then seeing (DE) Council Rudolph smoking a cigarette before the game in the locker room." And Randy has no regrets about 1977 being his only NFL season. "I do wish that I could have had some more practice time before I was traded after my second year. As with most young QBs and especially ones from Minot State you need this time to grow and learn the game and the speed of the game." "I treasure my time in Tampa and the many memories I have of Tampa and the area. I have been able to tour the new stadium and was in the Ft. Myers area this spring and ventured up to Tampa and took in a spring training game (Yankees vs. Twins). "I am currently the Head Football Coach at St. Cloud State University (MN). We are an NCAA Division II program that is looking to go into the Division I ranks in the next year. We have a 32-12 record over the last 4 years and have qualified for the NCAA playoffs." One of the nice footnotes to this story is that I recently obtained the Bucs v Eagles game that opened the 1977 regular season and that was Randy Hedberg's first game in the NFL. A copy of that DVD is on its way over to him so he can show all his players that the ol' ball coach really did play QB in the NFL!