National Football League

Grimm tries his best to blend in

Published Oct. 21, 2010 2:17 a.m. ET

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Bucs rookie recently took over starting safety spot.

By ROY CUMMINGS

rcummings@tampatrib.com

TAMPA - If you ran into him at the mall or saw him sitting a couple of tables over at a restaurant, you might never guess Cody Grimm is a football player.

At 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds, Grimm doesn't really look the part.

"I kind of blend in with the bar crowd a little better than a lot of these guys," Grimm said.

Grimm blends in well on a football field, too.

Good thing, because the Buccaneers desperately need him to blend in. With safety Tanard Jackson serving a one-year suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy, Grimm has been thrust into their starting lineup.

It's quite a jump for a rookie seventh-round draft pick, and in his first start two weeks ago against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Grimm looked like he might not be fit for the billing.

After only a handful of plays, Grimm was beaten badly on a 46-yard touchdown pass from veteran quarterback Charlie Batch to Mike Wallace. And that wasn't his only mistake.

"The first couple of plays I found myself not really disguising as much as I should have because I wanted to make sure I was in position and stuff like that," Grimm said.

"I just didn't want to be out of place and get there late or something like that. But after the first play or two you get the nerves out of you and it's like you're just playing football again."

In Grimm's case, it was pretty good football. That's how Bucs coach Raheem Morris saw it anyway. Though Grimm cost his team by failing to defend Wallace properly, he was solid the rest of the way, Morris said.

"Other than that (one play), he really looked good," Morris said of Grimm, who played linebacker and safety at Virginia Tech. "So we look forward to getting him out there and giving him another opportunity this week."

Grimm, who is slated to start against the Bengals on Sunday, is looking forward to another opportunity as well. After all, he believes he played well after that one play, but he knows how that one play has defined his debut.

"If I would've made that play I think everyone would have been saying I had a great game," Grimm said. "I'm excited to get back out there and have another opportunity."

Grimm has seldom failed to seize such opportunities. Though his size and average athletic ability have always been detriments, he's made his way in a game that is something of a religion in his family.

"A lot of people's families are lawyers and doctors and things like that," Grimm said. "With my family it's football. My dad is a coach, my brother coaches, my uncle played at Notre Dame. I just grew up in a football family."

Grimm's father, Russ, is the most notable member of that family. A former offensive lineman with the Washington Redskins, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in August.

Grimm's father also is the offensive line coach for the Arizona Cardinals, so he didn't see Cody's first start live. He watched the tape of it, though, and quickly offered up some advice afterward.

"He texted me before the game and said 'Good luck,' but after the game he watched the film and said he thought I played a pretty good game except for that one play. He said, 'Get your head around on that.'

"But that was pretty much it. I mean, he just said, 'You'll be all right, every safety gets beat. And he's right. I mean, there's 20 of those (plays) a week. Obviously I could've made a better play on it, but you live and you learn."

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979.

Photo Credit: Staff photo by PAUL LAMISON

Photo: Cody Grimm was a seventh-round draft pick for the Bucs this year.