TAMPA — Heads were bowed in silence inside Philadelphia’s locker room Sunday. Brodrick Bunkley’s was one of the few that was raised, but only to glare at a red Gatorade bottle tucked inside his locker.
Players kept their words short and refused to point fingers after the Eagles’ 23-21 loss — the second consecutive loss on a last-minute field goal.
Defensive end Jerome McDougle was prepared to speak. He needed to speak, mostly to say, “Sorry.”
McDougle gave the Bucs 30 yards in the fourth quarter; he was called for a face-mask penalty on Tampa Bay quarterback Bruce Gradkowski that nullified a 9-yard sack, then kicked the penalty flag. That allowed Tampa Bay to advance from its 36 to Philadelphia’s 43, and ultimately set up a 44-yard field goal by Matt Bryant that gave the Bucs a 20-14 lead.
After the Eagles rallied for a 21-20 lead, the Bucs won it when Bryant kicked a 62-yard field goal on the final play.
McDougle said he feels personally responsible for the loss.
“I lost my head, but there’s still no excuse to go out and lose it like that,” he said. “I have to keep my composure the whole time.”
He felt bad about the loss and worse about his behavior. McDougle wanted to reflect a positive image for himself, his team and his alma mater, Miami. McDougle was key defender for UM when it finished 12-0 and won the national title in 2001. He was a first-round pick by the Eagles in 2003.
On Sunday, he was a man who was ashamed and humbled.
“I know I messed up, but I thought, ‘Maybe the win won’t make it so bad,'” McDougle said. “I was going through a lot.”
McDougle said he prayed silently for Bryant’s kick to miss so that the Eagles could win. Philadelphia lost on a last-play field goal last week to New Orleans.
But Bryant etched his name into football history by nailing the third-longest field goal in NFL history.
“I was thinking, ‘No way, no way.’ I’m shocked,” Philadelphia tight end L.J. Smith said. “As a player, the cliche is you have 24 hours to celebrate and 24 hours to get a loss out of your system.
“But something like this, where it’s so close, is going to be on TV, national networks. Pretty much, this game is probably going to be on the highlight reel for the rest of the year.”
McDougle won’t be watching.
