Thursday, 4 a.m.
The Tampa Bay Bucs re-signed a mountain Wednesday. They re-signed an oak tree. They re-signed a piece of the landscape.
Tom Moore is coming back. Again.
Now, you can quibble with the timing if you want. The Bucs don't have an offensive coordinator yet, and the quarterback just walked away in order to sell sand, and the offensive players are still running round in tiny little circles like in an electric football game. Moore is a consultant on a team that needs counseling.
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But you have to trust in something in this world. The Bucs trust in Moore, the 84-year-old coach of forever. It was Moore's 47th career contract. Heck, even Tom Brady is only 45.
On the other hand, who said you get stupider when you get older? Those wise men on top of the mountains aren't exactly teenagers, you know.
Hey, you've got to give Moore credit. He was born in Minnesota in 1938, one day after the soon-to-be world champion New York Giants beat the Chicago Cardinals, 6-0.
The NFL approved the roughing-the-passer rule that year. They wouldn't invent the NFL shield for two more years. The Super Bowl wouldn't be played (it wasn't the Super Bowl yet) for 28 years.
Yeah, he's old. He joined the NFL in 1977, the year after the Bucs did. He's worked for nine pro teams since then, even though he has never been a head coach.
He was there when Terry Bradshaw left the Steelers. He was there when Peyton Manning left the Colts. Now, he's here as Brady has left the Bucs.
Now, he is ready to start again as the Bucs pick up the pieces of their dismantled offense.
From the looks of it, it may take him some time.