TAMPA, Fla. — Brian Griese was off to a 5-1 start as the Bucs quarterback in 2005 when he tore the ACL in his knee against the Miami Dolphins. Tampa Bay made the playoffs that season but lost to Washington in the wild-card game.
Griese wanted to stay in Tampa Bay but got a better offer from the Bears as a free agent. A couple years, later, the Bucs traded with the Bears to get him back.
On Saturday, Griese recalled the quarterback room the Bucs had when he arrived in 2004. It consisted of Griese, Jason Garrett, Chris Simms, Brad Johnson and Kyle Shanahan, who was an offensive assistant. Of course, Garrett and Shanahan went on to become NFL head coaches while Sims is the co-host of Pro Football Talk.
Few have enjoyed a better career in the broadcast booth than Griese, however, now one of the stars of ESPN's Monday Night Football with Chris Fowler and Louis Riddick.
Griese will be part of the crew that will call Monday's game between the Bucs and Giants. At 45, he only is two years older than Bucs quarterback Tom Brady, a teammate of Griese's at Michigan.
The Bucs will be on MNF twice in the next month — at the Giants Nov. 2 and home against the Rams Nov. 23.
Griese spoke with the Tampa Bay Times on Saturday about his career, switching from calling college football to the NFL, Brady and the Bucs:
