Dilfer’s Departure Paved Ultimate Tampa Success

Walking among all those fans wearing New York Giant and Baltimore Raven jerseys, Emily Kundrat stood out like a sore Buccaneer fan in her red Tampa Bay jersey.

On the back, above the big No. 12, was the word “DILFER.”

Trent Dilfer quarterbacked the Bucs for six years through last season, when he was released after Shaun King was given the starting job late in the season.

Dilfer, who signed as a free agent with Baltimore, returned Sunday as the point man in the Raven offense and helped them to a 34-7 Super Bowl XXXV victory over New York.

“I called the Bucs to complain after he left,” Kundrat, 47, said. “I thought he was a good quarterback given a bad rap in Tampa. It’s hard for a quarterback to play behind a bad offensive line.”

Dilfer joined Doug Williams, Steve Young and Chris Chandler as former Tampa Bay quarterbacks to reach the Super Bowl with another team.

“It’s a coaching problem. They just blame someone else,” Kundrat said.

SOMEHOW WE FIGURED THEY’D COME OUT AHEAD

Las Vegas’ sports books came up nearly as big as the Ravens in the Super Bowl.

“We did great. We came out on the plus side this year,” John Avello, sports book manager for Bally’s and Paris-Las Vegas, said after Baltimore’s victory. “Overall most places did well.”

The Ravens were a three-point favorite, but they started out as low as a one-point favorite.

Most gamblers took the Ravens early and the Giants over the weekend, Avello said.

“From Friday it was all Giant money and that’s when the money shows up,” he said. “The public was in love with the Giants and they were wrong this year.”

PAIN IS THE SAME FOR ROOKIE, VETERAN

After battling side by side for more than three hours, Lomas Brown and Glenn Parker sat 15 feet apart telling reporters about their pain.

Losing a Super Bowl is bitter, but for these two veteran Giant linemen, the pain was multiplied by their years.

“This hurts bad,” said Brown, 37, the left tackle who waited 16 seasons to reach the Super Bowl, only to see the Giants lose. “I feel so empty inside right now and I feel drained because it takes so much energy to get here.”

Parker, the Giant guard from Huntington Beach, joined Cornelius Bennett as the only player to play in and lose five Super Bowls. He lost four consecutive seasons with Buffalo starting in 1991, but showed the same perspective he has shown in other losses.

“It’s not hard at all,” he said. “You can’t win it unless you get here and I’m proud of being here. I’m not gonna let the loss diminish my happiness of being here.”

THIS GAME DEFINITELY LIVED UP TO ITS HYPE

How boring was this Super Bowl? The statistics don’t lie.

Two individual Super Bowl records were set--for most punts and fair catches in one game.

Brad Maynard of the Giants set the record for punts with 11 while--surprise, surprise--Jermaine Lewis of the Ravens set the record with four fair catches.

The new team records also were revealing.

The Giants and Ravens set a record for fewest total yards in a game for both teams with 393.

They also set a record with most combined punts for both teams with 21.

Among the records tied: fewest first downs for both teams (24); fewest first downs rushing (eight); and most interceptions by one team (Baltimore with four).

THINK THEY’LL THROW A PARADE IN CLEVELAND?

For the second year in a row, the owner who accepted the Vince Lombardi Trophy was an owner who took a team away from a city.

Art Modell left Cleveland for Baltimore five years ago, and an expansion team plays in Cleveland now.

“I don’t really know how [Cleveland fans] feel. I can’t answer for them,” Modell said. “I would hope that maybe they would recognize this as something we did. I love that city and I love the people, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

Last year, St. Louis Ram owner Georgia Frontiere’s team won the Super Bowl five years after leaving Anaheim.

Can Oakland Raider owner Al Davis be far behind?

HE CAN’T WAIT FOR THIS RECORD TO BE BROKEN

Giant Ron Dixon set a Super Bowl record for least time allowed to celebrate a touchdown kickoff return, barely catching his breath before Jermaine Lewis returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards for another touchdown.

“It was unfortunate because I thought it was going to be a big emotional lift and things were going to take off,” Dixon said. “He took it all the way back and things went downhill.”

Dixon said he watched Lewis’ return on the scoreboard video screen.

“I saw it on the screen because on my return I started catching cramps on the 50-yard line,” he said, “and I was sitting there looking at the screen. I see the guy rolling and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, my.’ ”

THE FANS HAVE SPOKEN

Ray Lewis often spoke this week about how he was persecuted by the writers but understood by the fans.

Turns out, it may be the other way around.

Lewis was the MVP choice of the writers, but not the fans, whose Internet voting accounted for 20% of the final total.

Eleven of the 15 writers and broadcasters voted for Lewis, but Dilfer won the fans’ vote, 106,474 to 106,119. That gave Dilfer four votes, plus one from broadcaster Boomer Esiason.

Finishing third was cornerback Duane Starks, followed by Jermaine Lewis and cornerback Chris McAlister, a Pasadena native.

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--Compiled by JIM BARRERO