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A helmet in hand, a smile on his face, Mark Brunell pushed open the teal doors and walked out of Alltel Stadium for the last time as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
``It's kind of surreal, I guess, would be the word,'' Brunell said.
Surreal. What a perfect way to describe 2003 for Brunell and the Jaguars.
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While the quarterback's demotion and pending departure played a significant
part in Jacksonville's 5-11 season, it was hardly the only strange happening
at Alltel. Led by rookie quarterback Byron Leftwich and first-year coach Jack
Del Rio, the Jaguars kept things interesting -- sometimes laughably so -- from
the time training camp began until the very end.
``A lot of crazy things happened, things you don't expect,'' said Brunell, who watched the final 13 games from the sideline. ``But it's a crazy business.''
Three players succumbed to heat-related illness in the first week of training camp, spooking Del Rio and his staff and compelling the Jaguars to move some practices to night.
Jimmy Smith was suspended for four games for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
Three Jaguars were subpoenaed to testify in a drug case involving a businessman in downtown Jacksonville. None of the Jaguars were charged with any crime.
Even though Leftwich had held out for 19 days of training camp, and even though Brunell was clearly the best quarterback, Del Rio left the veteran hanging until the last day of the preseason to name him the opening-day starter. Three games later, an cut on his elbow essentially ended Brunell's year.
Punter Chris Hanson went on injured reserve after hacking his leg with an ax; Del Rio had the ax and a tree stump placed in the locker, as a way of driving home the message to ``keep chopping wood'' after the team started 0-4.
Linebacker T.J. Slaughter was arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at motorists in a passing car. No charges were filed, but a day after the arrest, the Jaguars cut him, citing his poor performance on the field.
The Jaguars looked on as the New Orleans Saints pulled off one of the greatest plays in NFL history, using three laterals for a 75-yard touchdown with no time left, only to miss the extra point and lose 20-19.
Most surprisingly, a team with all that turmoil became competitive as the season ended. The Jaguars went 4-4 after a 1-7 start, and their defense wound up ranked sixth in the league after finishing 20th the year before.
``I think we've got a lot of good players, a lot to build on,'' said the team's only Pro Bowler, defensive tackle Marcus Stroud.
While the future looks bright, it's hard not to think the Jaguars might have been even further along had they acknowledged last offseason that they were, indeed, a rebuilding team and not spent money trying to prove otherwise.
Veteran defensive end Hugh Douglas showed up out of shape and finished with 32 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 16 starts, numbers far short of expected after he got a $6 million signing bonus as a free agent. Keeping Brunell turned out to be a waste; he made $6.75 million for tutoring Leftwich.
``I think if you had hindsight, you could play that game,'' Del Rio said when asked about those decisions. ``What we said from the beginning was that we wanted to be as competitive as possible. Do I have regrets? No, I don't have regrets about that.''
Brunell, whose nine years as the cornerstone of Jacksonville's franchise came to a bittersweet close, said he's open to almost any offer on the free-agent market, assuming he'll have a chance to start and win.
The Jaguars should be busy in free agency, too.
They'll be in the market for a receiver to complement Smith. They could use some help at defensive back, where safety Donovin Darius' future is in doubt, and cornerback Fernando Bryant, a free agent, looks likely to be leaving. Douglas and tight end Kyle Brady might not be back, either.
Leftwich established himself as the quarterback of the future. Smith and Fred Taylor (1,572 yards) are under contract, the offensive line was good this year, and Stroud and John Henderson look like they could be solid anchors on defense for years to come.
``I think the future's bright
for this organization,'' said Brunell, stillsmiling, and well aware that his
own future lies somewhere else.