SAN DIEGO -- Every kicker has a dream, to make the winning field goal in the Super Bowl. Most do, anyway.
Adam Vinatieri won it that way for New England last year. Scott Norwood's chance peeled off to the right a dozen years ago when Buffalo lost. A few feet one way or the other, a lifetime's worth of elation or dread.
Tampa Bay kicker Martin Gramatica has his own idea of how he'd like the game to be decided Sunday, and it's not with him lining up for a kick to win or lose.
"I want to win by a lot so I can enjoy the fourth quarter," he said. "It's terrible what happened to Norwood because that's what people talk about, but he had a great career. Hopefully, it doesn't come down to that. I want to win by a lot."
And what if it comes down to a final kick?
"I don't want to think about it. I'm trying to take this week as normal and relaxed as I can."
Bettis gets head start
Steelers Halfback Jerome Bettis isn't waiting until he recovers from knee surgery scheduled for Monday in Pittsburgh to begin getting into shape.
He has been working out ahead of time, something he normally does not do at this time of the year. Bettis, who has spent time here and in Los Angeles this week promoting Chunky Soup with his mother, Gladys, has put aside time to work out daily.
Dr. James Bradley will perform the arthroscopic surgery to snip some cartilage from Bettis' left knee Monday. Bettis expects to rehabilitate his knee in Pittsburgh.
Praise for Dungy
Tony Dungy isn't the forgotten man. Fired after he coached the Buccaneers to the playoffs in four of his six seasons, Dungy moved to Indianapolis, where his Colts made the playoffs as a wild-card team.
"Essentially, it's his team," said Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber. "The core guys here are his guys, defensively especially. He made them into the players they are. Jon [Gruden] inherited a quality football team."
Sapp respects history
Warren Sapp does not care that the Bucs are underdogs again. They've been underdogs since they were born into the NFL in 1976.
"You've got to realize what we are as a franchise. We were the laughingstock of the league for a long time, and we had to turn that around. We had to turn around years and years of bad football. That takes a whole makeover. It's just a great feeling to share this with the guys who played in the icicle orange and pewter before us. They helped keep this thing standing."
A little refrigeration
Sapp is a Florida native, so he can be forgiven if he's spoiled about the weather in San Diego, which has been sunny and in the 60s. Nice for golf, but poolsides are vacant, just like in Pittsburgh.
"It's cold," Sapp said, giving new meaning to relativity. "I read somewhere that this was supposed to be the most livable climate in the world. Somebody lied to me -- it's cold out here."
Sapp could be the next William "The Refrigerator" Perry, Chicago's big defensive tackle who scored a touchdown running out of the Bears' backfield in a goal-line situation in Super Bowl XX. Sapp on occasion blocks as a tight end or in the backfield in short yardage, as he did Sunday against Philadelphia.
"I actually started in the backfield, but [Gruden] called '15', and I ran '14', so he put me on the line so I would know where I was going. I don't care about scoring. As long as we're scoring as a ballclub, I don't care who gets it."
It's super after all
Attendance by the news media at Super Bowl news conferences is down. The economy has something to do with it as media outlets cut back on their coverage. The noticeable decline began last year when the game was pushed back a week in New Orleans because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
But Sapp has come away impressed by the turnout nonetheless.
"This is crazy," he said. "They talk about the thousands of credentials from around the world of people who will be here. And it is what it is. It's the Super Bowl. Wow! I'm just in awe. I've been in college national championship games, but that's nothing like the Super Bowl. I'm a witness now."
Gramatica would like big victory 
E-mail this story 
