Troupe Eager For Fresh Start Even at 25, and with four eye-opening years of NFL service behind him, there is still a lot of little kid left in Ben Troupe. It was evident last week as Troupe walked the halls of One Buc Place trying to orient himself with his new surroundings. A turn down one corridor brought the Bucs' new tight end face to face with quarterback Jeff Garcia; another resulted in a brief get-to-know-you session with running back Warrick Dunn; still another led to an exchange of pleasantries with linebacker Derrick Brooks. In each case, Troupe walked away with that can-you-believe-that-just-happened-to-me feeling a kid gets when he meets one of his heroes. "I was like, this is crazy," Troupe said. "I grew up watching these dudes; now we're on the same squad." The only person who might be more excited than Troupe is Jon Gruden. Hearing Troupe tell the story, you get the feeling Gruden has been eyeing him in much the same way as Troupe once eyed Garcia, Dunn and Brooks. "Free agency started at what, 12 o'clock midnight here. Well, it was 11 o'clock in Tennessee and Gruden called me at 11:01, 11:02," Troupe said. "All totaled, he called me three times. He even called me once when I was in Buffalo, saying 'You don't want to go to Buffalo, man.'" Gruden was right about that. Troupe visited Buffalo and experienced one of the city's infamous winter days (temperatures in the teens and so much snow that he nearly was stranded) and immediately scratched the Bills off his list of potential new teams. He thought about going to Carolina and New Orleans and also considered the Giants, but after hearing Gruden during the first minutes of free agency, the Bucs immediately became his choice. "It was like when I was coming out of high school in Augusta, Ga.," Troupe said. "I always knew I was going to go to Florida, but I took all the visits anyway. You want to enjoy the process and see what other teams have to offer. But I had a good feeling when I got off the plane here. It was a no-brainer." Based on Gruden's level of interest, the Bucs' decision to sign Troupe appears to have been a no-brainer, too. Though they toyed with the idea of signing Alge Crumpler, arguably the best tight end on the free-agent market, Troupe apparently was the tight end they wanted all along. Based on skill, it's hard to argue. At 6-foot-5, 271 pounds, Troupe has near-ideal NFL size. He complements that with near-ideal NFL speed (4.7 40-yard dash), exceptional hands and good route-running ability. Those skills, though, have not translated into top-tier production. Troupe comes to the Bucs as something of an underachiever, according to scouts who also question his on-field focus. Troupe argues that the knocks on him have little to do with a lack of focus. Rather, he said, they are the result of a lack of consistency at the quarterback position in Tennessee, where he spent his first four seasons. "Going into my third season, I'm thinking I'm going to have Billy Volek as my starter," Troupe said. "But then they take Billy out and a week before the season starts, Kerry Collins comes in. Now he has to learn the offense and he's learning the plays as he goes on Sunday, and the Titans start 0-5. So then they take him out and put a rookie quarterback Vince Young in and obviously he's trying to find his way." Troupe said his unproductive fourth season (five catches, 47 yards) was largely the result of Titans coordinator Norm Chow deciding that Bo Scaife and Ben Hartsock were the team's best tight ends. Chow is gone now; he took a job as offensive coordinator at UCLA. Troupe, meanwhile, is getting ready to embark on what he believes is the real start to his NFL career. "I'm fixing to have a head coach who is really going to push me, which is something I've never had, something I want," he said. The Bucs expect Troupe to do some pushing of his own. A key cog in their revamped tight end corps, they hope he'll push projected starter Alex Smith for the top spot on the depth chart. Even if he doesn't, Troupe should see plenty of playing time. He's part of a team now that makes generous use of two- and even three-tight end sets and he's eager to take advantage of the opportunity. "The best tight ends in the league don't come off the field, and that's what I want" he said. "When it's fourth-and-1, I want to be in there with my hand down on the ground because that's just as pivotal as catching the ball." Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune 25 March 2008